Custom Tin Trays
Printed metal serving trays, pressed and lithographed in our own factory
A tray is the one piece of tin packaging that never gets put away. A tin box goes in a cupboard once it is empty; a printed metal tray stays out on the counter, on the coffee table, on the café pass — carrying cups, holding keys, serving the biscuits that arrived in a tin of ours the year before. That is the whole commercial argument for trayware, and it is why a tray earns its print budget for longer than almost anything else a brand can put its name on.
Masaş presses and lithographs trays on the same lines as our tins, in our own factory in İstanbul. The tray is an open format — there is no lid, and that is the point: nothing hides the artwork. The full face of the tray is the print area, edge to rolled edge, in Pantone-matched offset on food-safe lacquered tinplate.
Masaş has manufactured decorative tinplate packaging in İstanbul since 1979 and exports to more than 50 countries. Design, tooling, offset printing, forming and food-safe lacquering are all done in our own plant. We hold moulds rather than finished printed stock, so every printed tin is formed and printed to your order. The figures below apply to anything on this page.
- Moulds we hold
- 141
- Lead time
- 4–6 weeks
- Certification
- ISO 9001 · ISO 22000
The eight pressings we already hold
Trayware runs on moulds we own, so most projects need no new tooling at all. The rectangular family covers 250 × 160 mm, 265 × 205 mm, 270 × 200 mm, 285 × 175 mm, 304 × 234 mm and a long 400 × 205 mm banquet runner; there is a Ø325 mm round, and a 263 × 263 mm heart for seasonal and wedding work. Between them these cover the sizes trayware actually sells in: the small retail bundle that ships beside a tin, the tea-service proportion, the breakfast size that takes plates and glasses, and the narrow bistro runner. Choosing an existing pressing means your project carries no tooling cost and your artwork is the only thing being made.
Why the print matters more on a tray than on a box
On a tin box the lid competes with the body, the shoulder line breaks the image, and half the print is facing the shelf rather than the room. A tray has one uninterrupted face. Whatever you put there is what people look at every time they pick it up — which is why trays reward illustration, pattern and full-bleed photography in a way that boxes rarely do, and why the same artwork budget goes further here. We print offset on the flat sheet before pressing, so the image is in the metal, not on a label that can lift at the rim.
Rolled edges, stacking, and what a pressed tray can and cannot do
Every tray is pressed with a rolled edge — the raw cut is curled back on itself so nothing sharp is exposed and the rim keeps its shape under stacking. An open tray also ships flat and stacked rather than as a rigid box of trapped air, which is what keeps freight sensible on a large footprint. What a pressed tray cannot do is hold liquid to a seal or survive a dishwasher cycle indefinitely: this is decorative and serving hardware, hand-wash, not catering equipment. We would rather say that now than have it come back.
Food contact, and where trays sit in the rules
Trays intended for direct food contact are lacquered with the same food-safe interior coating we use on our tins, and produced under the same ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 certified systems. If your tray is a promotional or display piece rather than a serving surface, say so on the brief — the specification changes, and there is no reason to pay for a food-contact lacquer on a piece that will only ever hold keys and business cards.
Quantities, lead time and new shapes
Printed trays follow the same minimum as our printed tins: 5,000 to 25,000 pieces per design and per size, depending on the pressing. Plain unprinted trays from moulds we already hold start lower, from 1,000 pieces, with digital print on ready colours and a one to two week turnaround. A custom-printed run on an existing pressing is roughly four to six weeks. If none of the eight shapes fits — an unusual footprint, a silhouette tied to your brand — new tooling takes around eight weeks before production begins, then four to six weeks to produce. The mould stays with us in İstanbul and does not move; your artwork is exclusive to you, the shape is not.
Real trays from our factory
A few of the decorative trays we have designed, printed and formed in-house.
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Frequently asked questions
What sizes of tin tray do you make?
We hold eight pressings: 250 × 160 mm, 265 × 205 mm, 270 × 200 mm, 285 × 175 mm, 304 × 234 mm, a long 400 × 205 mm runner, a Ø325 mm round, and a 263 × 263 mm heart. Any of these can be printed with your artwork without new tooling.
Do your trays come with lids?
No — a tray is an open format by definition, and that is what makes the whole face available for print. If you need a lidded shape, our tin boxes cover fitted, domed, hinged, inner-plug, screw, window and crystal lids.
Are the trays safe for direct food contact?
Yes, when specified that way. Trays for food contact carry a food-safe interior lacquer and are produced under our ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 certified systems. Tell us at briefing whether the tray will serve food or is a display and promotional piece — the specification differs.
What is the minimum order for printed trays?
5,000 to 25,000 pieces per design and per size, depending on the pressing. Plain unprinted trays from moulds we already hold start from 1,000 pieces with digital print on ready colours.
Can you press a tray in a shape that is not on your list?
Yes. New tooling takes around eight weeks before production starts, then four to six weeks to produce. The mould remains ours and stays in İstanbul; your artwork is exclusive to you, though the shape itself is not reserved.
Can trays be washed?
By hand, yes. They are decorative and serving pieces, not catering equipment — a printed tinplate tray is not intended for repeated dishwasher cycles, and we would rather set that expectation before you order than after.
Ready to develop your tray?
Send us the size you have in mind, your artwork or a rough sketch, and whether the tray will serve food. We will come back with the pressing that fits, the print finish and a lead time.