Optical elements such as microlenses or optical fibers are printed with liquid ink, by known scanning printing techniques such as for example flexography. Each optical element has a transparent core printed by a first ink layer, that is sufficiently distant from the closest cores so as not to amalgamate with them by coalescence, before being hardened. This core is then covered with one or several so-called additional layers which can be flat tint layers in order to finalize the shape of the optical element in question. The section of the optical elements is determined by the difference in surface tension between the additional layers and the printing substrate.