Of Proofs and Mock-Ups

Packaging printing has a special place in the graphic arts industry. The reasons for this are the significantly higher demands on quality, and the more complex production techniques in comparison with commercial printing, which is usually handled on the basis of standards. Standardization of this kind is hard to implement in packaging printing, where the work involves a wide variety of substrates, printing processes and ink systems.

Changed Framework Conditions

The life cycle of consumer goods has become much shorter as a result of new products being developed and launched on the market at an ever-increasing rate. In addition, the growing differentiation of the consumer structure has led to a substantially higher degree of individualization of packagings. This has given rise to greater pressure of time in the design phase, and thus to a corresponding increase in demand for high-speed technologies.

Packaging Proofing

The new GMG software solutions for packaging proofing are capable of achieving dramatic time savings and significantly greater flexibility in comparison with analog systems. In addition to which, the costs for consumables can be reduced by up to 90%.

Thanks to new generations of inkjet printing systems from manufacturers like Canon, Epson, Roland and HP, the ColorProof and FlexoProof packaging proofing software from GMG makes it possible to achieve very high color quality on packaging proofs on a wide range of materials, such as paper and film. The combination of GMG software and the Epson WT7900 can noticeably simplify the workflow for color-accurate print simulation on transparent films - a development that has been given a very good reception in the industry. "I think this combination is the best and most economical solution for color-accurate packaging proofs. We've succeeded in achieving 75% time savings, because all the manual steps previously required have been eliminated,«"sums up Kenneth Hostyn, Proofing Manager at Athena Graphics, a prepress company for packaging printing.

Color-Accurate Mock-Ups

For color-accurate mock-ups, the GMG ColorServer / SmartProfiler color management software can be combined with a wide variety of output devices, such as the UV inkjet printers from Mimaki, to permit production of consistent, accurate color results on virtually any substrate. The Mimaki printers are optimized for digital proof and mock-up production in the packaging industry, and deliver high resolution on such substrates as metal, tin, acrylics, glass, styrene, PET, polycarbonate, shrink film and PLA, as well as coated and uncoated papers and composite cardboard. The unusually resistant, high-quality UV printing inks used mean that the same finishing processes can be applied as for the end product. As a result, consistent colors can now be printed digitally on almost any material.

The Huber Packaging Group is the first company in Europe to use GMG in combination with Mimaki. »We're now in a position to produce digital proofs on tinplate, and color-accurate mock-ups on the original substrate. And the deformability of tinplate is no problem either. That makes it far easier to reach a decision, and the customer can give his approval much sooner,« says Thomas Stock, Head of the Print Service Centre at Huber.

In mock-up production, the Roland LEC-330 inkjet printers with integrated cutter are additionally suitable for finishing steps, such as cutting, contour cutting and kiss-cutting. The VersaUV LEC-330 supports a wide variety of substrates including paper, paper compounds, transparent films, aluminum foils, PE and PET foils, plastic, polycarbonate and other rigid substrates which are used for offset, flexography, roto-gravure and screen print production.

Regarding the capabilities provided by GMG color management in combination with the Roland VersaUV LEC-330 printer, Stéphane Romano, Project Manager Packaging at Packpool, an agency for packaging design and printing with branches in Germany and Switzerland, says: »As a supplier to the packaging industry, it's increasingly important for us to be able to provide customers with high-quality, color-accurate mock-ups or prototypes of the future product. Thanks to the new LEC 330 printing system from Roland and the GMG color management software, we can give our customers high-quality results in a very short space of time.