With digital assets representing a large investment by brand owners, organization and management are of critical importance. WHAT'S IN A package? Prior to the addition of cereal, hand cream, aspirin, or bug spray, the essential elements of a package or label include text; graphics; regulatory information; photos; CMYK, RGB, and 3D images; templates; line art; logos; layouts; and PDFs—to name just a few. The process of making that package involves every stage in the packaging supply chain, from engineering to marketing and legal to purchasing and production. Factor in additional legal requirements and regulatory information for food, pharmaceuticals, and other regulated industries, version
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Industry experts lend their advice on the best ways to approach remote proofing for packaging. IT HAS BEEN observed that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except that she did it backwards and in high heels. It's the same with proofing (Fred) and remote proofing (Ginger). Throw in the complex proofing requirements of packaging printers and a straightforward series of dance steps becomes an intricate high-wire act, in which the accurate long-distance reproduction of graphics, text, placement, and structure—as well as the matching of special brand or logo colors—can make or break an important job. Like commercial printers, packaging printers can save
PDF (portable document format) may be the greatest thing since sliced bread (or at least since PostScript), but it takes more than bread to make a sandwich that will satisfy a hungry customer. TODAY'S SHORTER PRINT runs depend on reliable, high-quality print output, delivered with minimal turnaround. The addition of JDF (job definition format) production language to PDF-based workflows increasingly is seen as a way to dramatically reduce print production time and costs while ensuring consistent, reliable output—even when last minute changes are required. In packaging applications, the benefits of JDF-enhanced or JDF-enabled workflows show up in better customer service; faster time to
Extended color printing could be the next best thing to the eye of the beholder in the package-printing industry. PHILOSOPHICALLY SPEAKING, THE exact nature of color may be in dispute forever. As far as brand owners and the package and label printers who work with them are concerned, however, color is a concrete, measurable reality and the most critical component of print quality. If the job of the packaging or label designers is to create shelf appeal and ensure brand recognition, the job of packaging and label printers is to lock in those attributes by reproducing those designs as faithfully, efficiently, and affordably as
Soft proofing technology can do the job, but its success depends largely on good discipline and the printer-client relationship. "SOFT" PROOFING GOES by several names—monitor, virtual, online—and comes in an array of "flavors." No matter what you call it, however, the ultimate goal is as straightforward as it is universal: shrink production cycles, eliminate rework, reduce costs, and move everything faster. Unlike traditional hardcopy 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.
When it comes to packaging, commercial printers could take a page from flexo's book. EXTRA! COMPUTER-TO-PLATE goes mainstream! Granted, it's not much of a headliner these days. The basic principles of computer-to-plate (CTP) are well-established in both the offset and the flexographic worlds, both technologies having come to market about a decade ago. Since then, however, their adoption curves have differed sharply. Offset CTP took off primarily in the commercial side of the business, where concerns about its viability and the expense associated with its adoption were quickly overcome. The same has not been the case in the flexographic market—until recently. According to
Automation in prepress can significantly improve time to market through workflow process integration. THE AIM OF workflow automation is to be able to respond to customer requirements quickly. This is accomplished by minimizing or eliminating, as completely as possible, the manual steps that can lead to the costly waste of time, materials, and labor. While developments in workflow automation for packaging tend to mimic those in the commercial printing world, software and equipment vendors continue to develop and refine a variety of integrated tools designed to accommodate the special needs of packaging operations. According to Jan De Roeck, marketing director for packaging
Presentation is everything—up to a point and down to a dot. WITH RESPECT TO proofing, package printers must be prepared to be all things to all customers, or nearly so, and still be able to assure their customers that the proof they receive will reproduce accurately and consistently on both plates and press. To accomplish this, the printer will choose the technology or technologies that will provide him the tools to keep that promise. Few would argue that packagers have special proofing needs. These include: • Ability to proof on a wide range of packaging substrates, whether coated or uncoated, glossy or flat,
AGFA Offers the Thermostar P970-ideal for VLF applications-and the Thermostar P971 thermal imaging plate. Write 207, Visit www.agfa.com, ANDERSON & VREELAND Offers digital prepress systems and conventional photopolymer processors and plate mounters. Platemaking materials include a range of solvent and water-wash sheet photopolymer, liquid photopolymer, rubber compounds, matrix and accessories. Write 208, Visit www. andersonvreeland.com BETA INDUSTRIES The Betaflex 334 Flexo Plate Analyzer eliminates bad plates early in production cycle. Measures flexo plates, negatives, proofs, prints for true dot area, ruling, dot quality. Write 209, Visit www.betascreen.com BPS Printing Systems Offers state-of-the-art nyloflex® and nyloprint® brand photopolymer printing plates for printing
Integrating packaging design with the realities of process capabilities is key to a project's success. WHY DO WE reach for one package and not another on the grocer's shelf? What makes a package unique? On the continuum from concept to production, where does innovation live? The answer, in a word, is design. The transformation of an idea into a dimensional shape with identifiable characteristics begins with a designer's aesthetic and emotional connection to that idea. As the creative cycle builds, additional factors come into play: the requirements of the product engineers, marketers engaged in product development and brand extension, procurement personnel, and printer/converters, whose