Pre-press packaging
What is packaging prepress?
Packaging prepress can best be seen as the graphical work preparation needed to convert your packaging design into a tangible product. It consists of the processes that are necessary for cutting and printing the packaging you need for your product. This graphical work preparation entails, among others, dielines and proofs, all needed to make sure the end-product will be completely up to standard. This process will take as long as necessary to make sure all the possible problems and mistakes are eliminated.
Understanding prepress packaging
Fundamentally, prepress packaging involves the meticulous preparation of a design for printing. This intricate process necessitates meticulous attention to detail and specialised knowledge. Without a thorough comprehension of this process, the risk of errors significantly increases, leading to costly mistakes when producing packaging in large quantities.
An essential aspect of the prepress process is its iterative nature, where designs are continuously refined until all potential issues are resolved. A discerning eye is indispensable during prepress to minimize the occurrence of mistakes, guaranteeing that the final product aligns flawlessly with the intended design.
So, prepress packaging plays a vital role in translating your conceptual packaging design into a tangible, market-ready product. It involves meticulous preparation of graphical work, encompassing various steps such as dieline creation and proofing. These steps guarantee that your end product aligns flawlessly with your vision while adhering to industry standards. With comprehensive expertise and meticulous handling of the prepress process, the likelihood of errors or unexpected surprises in the final package can be greatly minimised.
Dielines in packaging prepress
Each package will have dielines. They are an essential component of prepress packaging and act as the blueprint for the design. A dieline is the outline of the box formed when the box is completely unfolded and laid out flat on a surface. They are both a guide to being able to correctly position the graphic material that will be printed on the packaging and a guide for making sure the packaging is cut correctly.
Dielines are essential and need to be checked multiple times during the prepress packaging, because they will determine whether or not the packaging will be usable. They are made to digitally replicate the precise cuts that the machines will need to make when manufacturing the packaging. There are different types of dielines: trim lines, bleed lines, safe zone lines and fold lines. Each element serves a distinct purpose, ranging from determining the precise location of the final cut to indicating where the content should be positioned to avoid being cropped or folded over.
Proofing in packaging prepress
After the correct dielines are determined, the next important part of prepress packaging is proofing the design. This is the step where the design is sent to you. Proofing means that you will be able to check whether the design is up to standard and contains no errors. The proof looks similar to the dieline design, but it contains extra notes on how to optimise the design for manufacturing. This is a very important step, so it is important that the proof is thoroughly checked.
The importance of prepress packaging
Prepress packaging is an important step in ensuring the best results of your final package. It is the process that removes any possible errors before the packaging process commences. This step is very important, as it ensures that the final packaging product is exactly what you want it to be. Since the packaging is often produced in high quantities, even the tiniest mistake may cost a lot of money. Having to re-do it would therefore be expensive, both in terms of money and in time.
Ecobliss Retail: your packaging prepress specialist
Without proper in-depth knowledge of this process, there is a good chance that errors will still occur, even with packaging prepress. That is why Ecobliss Retail has specialists who know what they are doing. Our prepress packaging specialists will always be very critical in the process of a pre-press, to minimise the chances of mistakes. Moreover, we are extremely meticulous about graphical design. Like you, our goal is to ensure the best possible finished result. When you supply us with a design, you can expect transparent and honest feedback about the feasibility of that design. And if possible, we even give an improvement proposal from our designers to solve any problems we may foresee in the production process.
