Every product we see nicely packaged, whether it’s a box of chocolates or a smartphone, begins with a concept. But an idea alone is not enough. It goes through a series of steps before it becomes a tangible reality, with the packaging prepress phase being the most important one. It’s where packaging prepress services come into play, ensuring that the final product meets the design standards and accurately represents the brand’s vision and identity.
Keep reading as we learn about the role of prepress in packaging production. We’ll focus mainly on the steps involved in the packaging prepress process and see how packaging prepress services lead to high-quality results, streamlined compliance, and faster time to market for brand owners.
What is Packaging Prepress? Understand The Basics!
Packaging prepress is the essential process of preparing your packaging design for production. It involves various steps, such as creating dielines and proofs, to ensure that the final product meets industry standards and accurately represents your brand.
Taking the time required can eliminate mistakes in your prepress artwork. The crucial stage lies between design approval and printing and plays a key role in the printing industry.
Brand owners often entrust this task to their printers or engage packaging prepress companies. During the packaging prepress phase, every aspect of the design undergoes thorough checks, aiming to detect errors, retouch and correct images, and prepare files for a successful print run.
The Key Stages Involved in Packaging Prepress Process
Here are the primary stages of the packaging prepress process:
Preparing the Artwork:
Packaging prepress begins with the preparation of the artwork, typically handled by a prepress graphic designer. To ensure optimal print production quality, the expert provides the prepress files in a vector format, such as a high-resolution PDF with a minimum of 300 dpi (at 100% scale).
Once the brand owner approves the design, it is sent for packaging prepress through one of two options:
The design is forwarded to the printer, who often subcontracts the packaging prepress process.
OR
The design is sent to packaging prepress specialists who specialize in handling the work.
Traditionally, these files were shared via email. Many packaging prepress services providers now use advanced platforms to get approval and feedback loops across different departments involved in the process (e.g., marketing, purchasing, quality assurance, and compliance) and external suppliers. This platform allows:
- Packaging design agencies to upload design files securely.
- Printers can access proofs directly on the platform.
Once received, a prepress service provider conducts a series of meticulous “preflight” checks on the artwork, including:
- Confirming that no fonts are missing.
- Converting spot colors to CMYK for printing.
- Identifying low-resolution images that need to be re-submitted as vector files.
- Spotting any issues like insufficient bleed margins or poorly placed crop marks.
The prepress service provider then works on the submitted graphics file, employing their expertise to improve the final printed product. This stage is essential to guaranteeing your packaging design is optimized for production and meets the highest quality standards.
Color Management:
Color management is an essential part of packaging prepress. We are often attracted to specific colors while shopping or browsing online. Brands use color to establish their identity, and any deviation can negatively impact them. If a packaging color doesn’t match the brand or product range, it must be reprinted, resulting in extra costs and delays.
Setting up ICC profiles on prepress monitors is recommended for the best color match. These profiles ensure that digital design images accurately represent the colors of the final product by communicating color adjustments to the printer.
Image Retouching and Enhancement:
High-quality images are important for packaging to leave a positive impression on consumers. Skilled prepress photo editors use specialized software to retouch and enhance images, making them sharp and perfectly colored. Techniques like contrast correction and color balancing pinpoint the ideal colors, heightening the overall packaging design and improving the brand’s impact.
Layout and Imposition:
A well-designed layout is essential in packaging prepress. During this stage, a prepress service provider reviews details like line splits, font spacing, and image size to ensure clarity and visual appeal. They also ensure that all content is positioned within the safe area of the design. Additionally, prepress professionals focus on efficient printing by arranging print jobs on the sheet to minimize waste and maximize efficiency.
Step and Repeat Technique:
The “step and repeat” technique allows for printing multiple images simultaneously in prepress. This technique is commonly used in reprographics, where offset and litho-printing plates are exposed to create patterns or images. Step and repeat reduces production costs by allowing several elements to be printed in a single print run.
This technique is especially useful in printing and label production when multiple images must be reproduced simultaneously. By optimizing printing efficiency, the step-and-repeat process performed by the packaging prepress services provider improves productivity, particularly for large-scale printing projects.
Checking Dielines in Packaging Prepress:
Dielines are implied in packaging prepress, serving as the blueprint for the design and guiding the correct positioning of graphic material. They are crucial for ensuring that the packaging is cut accurately and will determine the usability of the final product. Dielines digitally replicate the precise cuts needed for manufacturing the packaging and include trim lines, bleed lines, safe zone lines, and fold lines, each serving a distinct purpose. Thoroughly checking dielines multiple times during prepress is essential to guarantee the quality and usability of the packaging.
Proofing and Approval:
Before proceeding with the printing process, obtaining client confirmation of the design’s accuracy is a must. It involves creating a physical proof in high-definition PDF format, against which the print job will be checked. Some brand owners may request a ‘print proof,’ which matches the final product using the planned ink and stock, providing a tangible preview of the finished item. Proofing offers a visual confirmation of the package’s design and allows for a final round of corrections and adjustments, ensuring that the final packaging meets the brand’s quality expectations.
Producing Printing Plates:
Following prepress proof approval, the next step involves creating printing plates, typically made from aluminum, to serve as the master copy for the packaging print. Each color in the design needs a separate plate, aligning with the traditional CMYK printing process (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black). These plates are essential for non-digital print runs, as they are mounted onto the press to facilitate the printing process.
Quality Control:
Specialized software is used by the prepress printing services providers during this stage to check the files and create printing plates, ensuring they match the repro quality proof. This prepress quality control process is important for identifying and correcting issues before printing, ensuring that the final packaging meets the brand’s high-quality standards.
Finally, Sending to Print:
Once the final proof is approved, the packaging prepress services expert sends it to the brand owner’s printer, serving as a template for the print run, along with the necessary printing plates. It marks the transition from the prepress stage to the actual printing of the packaging, bringing the prepared designs to life.
Take an Ultimate Step — Outsource Prepress Service!
Taking the last and final step in the packaging prepress process, prepress proves to be major in assuring design accuracy quality control, and fostering innovation and creativity. As packaging evolves with the changing landscape of technology and consumer preferences, prepress becomes increasingly vital in transforming concepts into tangible, physical packages. Brands must partner with reputed expert and outsource prepress service to optimize their packaging design process and create visually attractive and impactful packages.
