Soft Proofing:
 Is It Hard?

Online approval (a.k.a., "soft" or "virtual" proofing) represents a substantial advance in terms of shortening cycle times and documenting the history of packaging projects. Among the factors driving its acceptance are the significantly shortened product life cycle of consumer goods, coupled with a greatly accelerated rate of product development and market launch.

There also has been growing –acceptance of the medium—from both the print community as well as from clients—as people have become more accustomed to viewing files on a monitor. Underpinning these developments, of course, is an understanding that the transmission of proofs and prototypes by mail can substantially delay the proofing process. With time at a premium, companies involved in the development and approval phase of package design are under more pressure than ever to implement processes and process controls that will streamline and advance communication between the service provider and the customer—without incurring any degradation in quality.

The ideal—Unlike traditional hard copy proofing, in which handling and transmission of the physical proof increases both cycle time and the –potential for error, soft proofing –depends on workflows in which color-accurate proofs can be viewed on calibrated computer monitors under controlled lighting conditions.

The reality—Soft proofing options range from sending PDFs as email attachments for content approval to browser- or server-based collaborative solutions, whereby multiple –individuals may be invited to review and annotate a single file for reasons that range from compliance with legal labeling requirements to –language and shelf aesthetics. The most –sophisticated solutions on the market permit viewing for color and content, as well as –editing and annotating; predict how an image will print on a designated stock; and/or enable the viewing of spot colors, the comparison of proofs, and online collaboration. Homegrown systems may add elements reflecting the unique the characteristics of the business and its relationship to the customer. Properly implemented, all soft proofing options will reduce the number of pre-contract hard copy proofs, along with the cost of their creation and transport. Since there's no delay in printing out a proof and shipping it to the client, the instant a job has been produced, it can be made available for approval.

"Certified" PDFs are widely used for proofing in the packaging industry. These differ from "standard" PDFs in that each file contains a history, an edit log, tracking information, and is matched against predefined technical standards. Quality and traceability are the key concepts here. Benefits include shrinking production cycles, elimination of rework, faster time-to-market, and cost reduction.

Soft proofing in practice: 
Short and sweet

Winston Packaging, located in –Winston-Salem, N.C., is a folding carton manufacturer specializing in vivid color printing and precision finishing. Established as a commercial printer in 1911, the company made the bold decision to venture into the packaging market in the mid 90s, and never looked back. Today, the fourth-generation, family-owned company's retail folding cartons are used by many of the best-known consumer product companies in the U.S.

Dan Tingler heads up Winston Packaging's prepress operation, which provides structural design, graphic design, and prototyping for clients in segments such as food products, health and beauty, home fragrance, cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals, photo-finishing, and tobacco. The company employs EskoArtwork's Nexus prepress workflow integrated with ArtPro packaging preproduction editor to open and save documents to PDF format containing the edit and history trail of all modifications made in ArtPro.

"We take our customer's original PDF, InDesign, or Illustrator file and import it into ArtPro, which automatically flags any issues with the file and exports a certified PDF," Tingler says. "We try to have files proofed within 24 to 48 hours of receipt, before returning it to the customer for review and approval via email or FTP."

Version control and permissions are managed via a homegrown system of file labeling and routine purging of previous versions when a file has been approved. To add an extra level of customer service, adds Tingler, "We don't email the file directly to customers from prepress, but instead let our CSRs handle the transmission."

Typically, a single exchange of PDFs is all that's needed to resolve content issues. For matters related to color, however, a hard copy contract proof output on one of the company's Epson 10600 digital inkjet printers calibrated to Winston's packaging presses provides the last word in customer approval.

Hard copy contract proofing using inkjet or laser printers is still common practice in packaging preproduction environments for the simple reason that contract soft proofing adds a layer of complexity. Soft proofing requires such things as monitor calibration, control of ambient lighting conditions, and the implementation of appropriate viewing conditions. Still, Tingler says, the ability to exchange virtual soft proofs for interim approvals throughout the process saves on shipping costs and shrinks the proofing stage from 3-4 to 1-2 days. Not surprisingly, press checks also have become a rarity for the company, which used to conduct at least one or two of them every month.

Sacrificing to save?

Content may be sacrosanct, but Tingler believes some customers may be prepared to trade off color accuracy for lower costs. Just recently, he explained, "Our customer's end customer had a designer work on and submit the files to us. The colors, built out of four-color process, were truly outrageous. In order for the design to run consistently on press, we knew we'd have to convert to Pantone colors, and while those we ultimately picked were close, they were not a dead on match. Based solely on an exchange of electronic files, however, the customer approved the file, effectively sacrificing the overall look from a color standpoint," but saving the cost of additional handling.

Tingler foresees the day when virtual proofs will be routinely accepted as contract proofs—although he readily admits he's not holding his breath. For Winston Packaging and others, one of the keys to its advancement is likely to be further developments in 3D modeling technology. For the present, whether or not soft proofing is feasible for packaging workflows depends on the specific application and the substrate in question. Some customers may want new graphics for an existing substrate, for example, while others may want to change some text or graphic on an existing label to meet a new requirement. It all depends.

Without exception, however, and no matter which technologies are –deployed to facilitate its success, effective soft proofing of any kind depends on good discipline, an atmosphere of trust between printer and client, and the promise of a mutually supportive relationship.