Custom Printed Tray Liners and Placemats

What are custom printed tray liners and who uses them?

A custom printed tray liner is a sheet of paper, cut to fit a serving tray, carrying your branding, menu, offer or artwork. It protects the tray from spills and crumbs, gives the table a branded surface and can double as a menu board or promotion. Quick-service restaurants, staff and school canteens, food courts, cafés, hotel breakfast rooms, bakeries with seating and fish and chip restaurants are the usual buyers.

Typical applications:

• Dine-in trays at burger and chicken chains, where the liner usually carries the brand pattern, the current promotion or a kids' activity
• Cafeteria and canteen trays in workplaces, schools, hospitals and universities, where the liner may carry menus, allergen information or wellbeing messages
• Serving boards and baskets in casual restaurants, pubs and street-food concepts, often in kraft or greaseproof paper
• Paper placemats on tables in family restaurants, pizzerias and diners, where they work as menu, activity sheet and sponsor space
• Events, stadiums and cinemas, where liners carry sponsor artwork alongside the venue brand

The same product family covers a lot of ground, so the first specification decision is whether you need a tray liner, a placemat or something in between.

Tray liner or placemat: what is the difference?

A tray liner is cut to the inside of a tray and used in a repeatable, hand-over-the-counter flow. A placemat is sized for the table or the place setting and is usually bigger and more design-led. In production they are the same type of product: printed paper sheets, cut to size. The difference is in use, which drives size, paper and print.

If a sheet will be handled with wet hands and hot fat, specify it as a tray liner and think about barrier and flatness. If it will be read at a table, specify it as a placemat and think about print quality and information. Design for the second case is covered in paper placemats for restaurants.

Which paper should a tray liner be printed on?

Choose the paper by the food on the tray and the print you want. Greaseproof paper (about 40 gsm) handles fried food and shows through lightly; kraft (about 70 gsm) gives a natural, matt look; offset paper (about 80 gsm) takes sharp colour at low cost; coated glossy or matt paper (about 90 to 115 gsm) gives the strongest photographic print. These are common market weights, not fixed specifications.

Two points catch buyers out. First, "greaseproof" describes a dense, highly refined paper that resists oil penetration; a coated art paper is not greaseproof, however glossy its surface. Second, if food sits directly on the printed face of the liner, the ink and coating choices matter more than they do on a wrap, because the print is the contact side. The full comparison, including 40 gsm against 90 gsm, is in tray liner paper: greaseproof, offset, coated and kraft compared. For how grease resistance is measured, see KIT test and grease resistance ratings explained.

What sizes and shapes can a tray liner take?

Size the liner to the tray's flat inner area, leaving a small margin so the sheet lies flat. In Europe, A4 (210 x 297 mm) and A3 (297 x 420 mm) are common starting points; cafeteria and QSR trays vary by supplier, so measure your own. Custom shapes and rounded corners are produced with a cutting tool and are quoted per project.

Options to put on the specification:

• Rectangular sheet cut to size: the standard, lowest-cost format
• Rounded corners: the corners are cut to a radius so they sit inside the tray's own corner and do not lift or tear; the radius is matched to the tray
• Custom shape: die-cut outlines for oval, round or branded shapes, trays with handles or cut-outs, or placemats shaped like a logo or character
• Interleaving and packing: sheets are normally supplied in counted packs inside cartons; the pack size is agreed to suit the dispenser or storage space on site

Rounded corners and custom shapes need a cutting die, which is a tooling cost to be weighed against run size. Details, a table of common tray sizes and a measuring method are in tray liner sizes. Wrap, sandwich and basket-liner sizing belongs to burger wrap and basket liner sizes.

How are tray liners printed?

The print process follows the paper and the run. Offset lithography is the usual choice for coated and uncoated sheets with sharp full-colour artwork. Flexography is widely used for greaseproof and kraft, especially for one to four spot colours and repeating patterns. Digital printing suits short runs and versions. The choice affects colour accuracy, ink coverage, drying and cost per thousand.

Heavy ink coverage on thin greaseproof stock can cause set-off or a stiff sheet, so full-bleed designs on 40 gsm paper are discussed with the printer before artwork is finalised. Brown and kraft substrates mute light and metallic colours. Results by paper are explained in tray liner printing; the general comparison of processes sits in flexo vs offset vs gravure vs digital printing, and the greaseproof specifics in printing on greaseproof paper. Colour consistency across a chain's sites is covered in Pantone vs CMYK in packaging.

What should go on a tray liner or placemat?

Put the one message the customer will read while eating at the centre, and keep everything else quiet. Strong designs usually have a clear hierarchy: a current offer or menu, a brand pattern behind it and a small call to action such as an app, loyalty scheme or QR code.

Common uses:

• Brand pattern with a seasonal promotion zone that changes per print run
• Menu or "how to order" guide for canteens and food courts
• Activity sheet, colouring area or puzzle for children's meals
• Allergen, nutrition or recycling guidance where the operator wants the message at the table
• Sponsor or partner artwork at events and venues

Artwork rules are the same as for other print: dielines for the cut shape, bleed beyond the trim, safe margins away from rounded corners and tested contrast on the actual paper. The full checklist is in packaging artwork preparation. Menus, advertising and kids' designs are developed in paper placemats for restaurants.

Are printed tray liners food-contact materials?

Treat them as food-contact materials whenever food, wrapped or unwrapped, can touch the sheet. In the EU that points to Framework Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 and the good-manufacturing-practice rules in Regulation (EC) 2023/2006, including controls on printing inks. In the US, FDA food-contact rules apply to paper that contacts food. Sheets that never touch food are in a less sensitive position, but few operators can guarantee that.

Three practical consequences:

1. Ink and coating choice matters because the printed face is usually the face that touches the food or the food's wrapper. Printing a pattern on the underside only is rarely what a brand wants.
2. PFAS rules reach grease-resistant papers. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR), sets PFAS limits for food-contact packaging from 12 August 2026, and several US states restrict PFAS in food packaging. Greaseproof liners should be specified as fluorine-free; see PFAS-free food packaging.
3. Whether a tray liner counts as packaging for EPR and PPWR purposes depends on how it is used. That question has its own page: are tray liners packaging?

Broader rules are in food-contact packaging compliance in the EU, UK and US. Obligations depend on your role as producer, importer or distributor and should be confirmed with the relevant authority or compliance scheme.

Where do tray liners end and printed greaseproof paper begin?

Tray liners and printed greaseproof wraps share papers and some print processes, but they answer different buying questions. Wraps are about folding, sizes by product and grease barrier on hot food; tray liners are about tray fit, sheet flatness and the printed message.

If you are wrapping burgers, lining baskets or buying rolls and reels, go to custom printed greaseproof paper. If you are covering trays or tables, stay here. Many chains buy both: the wrap in the customer's hands and the liner under the tray, printed from the same artwork family so that colours and patterns match. Buying them together can also simplify the specification discussion, as described in packaging for restaurant chains and franchises.

What are tray liners called in each market?

The names below all describe the same product. Use the local term in your own documents, but state size, paper and print explicitly so suppliers quote the same sheet.

How do you specify and order custom printed tray liners?

Give the supplier the tray dimensions, the paper type, the print requirements and the volumes. A quotation then covers the paper, the cutting tool if needed, print setup and packing. Minimum order quantity depends on paper, size, print method and run configuration, and cost comparisons are easiest when every quote is built on the same specification.

Specification checklist:

• Tray inner dimensions (length and width of the flat area), with a photo or sample tray if possible
• Intended size, or the current liner you want to match or improve
• Corner style: square, rounded (with the tray's corner radius if known) or custom outline
• Paper family and weight: greaseproof, kraft, offset or coated glossy or matt
• Colours: spot colours or CMYK, and whether the design is full bleed
• Food-contact and PFAS statements required by your market and your own standards
• Pack format: sheets per pack, carton and pallet limits, dispenser type if relevant
• Annual volume, number of designs and delivery destination

Use the packaging RFQ guide and the RFQ template to structure the request, what determines MOQ and cost drivers to compare offers, and lead times to plan artwork approval and shipping. For buyers in the EU, UK and US importing from Türkiye, see sourcing packaging from Türkiye. Weight conversions between gsm and US basis weight are handled by the paper weight converter.

Related production guide and products

For how printed paper sheets are converted from reel or sheet to finished product, see the production guide for greaseproof wraps and printed napkins; it covers the same printing and cutting stages that tray liners go through. Paper grade terms are defined in the packaging glossary and compared in packaging paper grades explained.

Tray liners usually sit in a branded set with other table and counter items: custom printed napkins, custom printed greaseproof paper for the food in the customer's hands, and custom printed takeaway bags for orders that leave the restaurant. Operators planning a whole branded set can also read packaging for burger restaurants.

What to send for a tray liner or placemat quotation

Samples of your current liner and tray, sent with the checklist above and your artwork or design brief, are the fastest way to a correct first proposal. Send your specification via the contact page and the paper, tool and print options will be confirmed at quotation and technical review.

Tray liners sit in the food wrap and papers category alongside greaseproof wrapping paper.