Spent thousands on your private number plate? Don’t forget to get a good print; or your great number plate won’t have the visual impact it should have. Number plate printers use different technology to print plates, and although they all should adhere to the standards that the DVLA set, they may not be of equal quality. Quality is often affected by price, so trying to save a few pounds by going for the cheapest plate, may end up costing you the visual pizzazz you have paid for.

One of the best places to look for a reputable number plate printer is online. Look for customer reviews on independent websites; find one of the better plate printers. Even though it may be tempting to do a price comparison, remember that a low price is likely to show up in the quality of the print, and a low price may also mean that the print does not meet DVLA standards. The better plate producers use fully computerised laser printers and thermal printing, with manual assembly at the end of the production line.

It is very important that you make sure that the plate print you are buying meets DVLA standards. DVLA standards include rules on the reflectivity of the plate (which can be affected by the manufacturing technology) as well as the typeface type, spacing between letters and the exact background colours. There are also elements in the number plate design that are mandatory, such as the flag design and prefix letters.