Automated Prepress Workflow Increases Efficiency

A striking example of what can be done with 3D design is shrink wrapping. Many prepress departments know of the burdensome chore of taking a package design and creating the distortions to assure that graphics appear correct when a label is shrunk around an odd-sized package. It typically involves shrinking a graphed plastic around the package, running it through the heat tunnel, and measuring the distortions. Then, the prepress department manually distorts the artwork to those measurements and tests the results by shrinking the design around a package, again… and usually again and again. Automated software can take a CAD design of a package, wrap around the label, automatically determine the shrinking factors, and apply them to the artwork to compensate for the shrinkage. The result is quicker time to market and a less expensive design and production process.