Packaging prepress

What are the tools and technologies used in packaging prepress?

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The term ‘packaging prepress’ covers the operations and processes carried out prior to printing an item of packaging. Today, specialist packaging prepress technology is available to streamline prepress at every stage to secure high-quality packaging printing.

In this article on the tools and technologies used in prepress, you’ll learn how an innovative prepress strategy can deliver cost and time efficiencies at every step of the prepress process – including colour management, image retouching, printing plate production (i.e., sleeves and plates) and pack shot generation (i.e., 3D modelling).

Packaging prepress technologies and tools

Packaging reprographic and prepress experts use specialist prepress technologies to check, adapt, enhance and monitor digital files for packaging printing, as well as to produce printing plates and sleeves for each colour.

The printing industry is constantly evolving. Printing methods are improving and production workflows becoming increasingly automated. Prepress technology innovation has a vital role in securing cost and time efficiencies from the outset.

Essential prepress technologies

IT provides support to prepress operators' daily work. However, it cannoft replace it. Reprography is a technical and intricate skill. Experienced prepress operators add significant value to brand owners by tailoring reprography to the texture and printing substrate of packaging materials. Beside, they also adjust reprography according to the printer's press and its printing parameters.

This is why repro experts are highly sought after in the packaging industry.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the essential technologies in prepress and consider how they optimise packaging print production – whether reducing time to market through online approvals or speeding up printing plate production via web-to-plate technology.

Plates and sleeves used in prepress

Printing plate production used to be a painstaking laborious process that could take several expensive and time-consuming attempts to get right. These days modern web-to-plate automated technology allows digital files to be uploaded to a central packaging prepress platform like Millnet so you can begin printing plate production in just a few clicks.

Colour management and proofing

Accurate colours on your packaging are essential to securing brand consistency and identity. These days the technology is available to accurately calibrate the physical with the digital. Prepress monitors can be calibrated to reflect physical CMYK colours on press and prevent a disconnect between the two. ICC (International Color Consortium) profiles can be imported onto prepress monitors and act as a vector between the digital image and physical print production. A prepress workflow that favours an ICC approach will secure vital colour consistency between monitor and printing press.

Centralised print production management systems like Millnet also have an important role here. Their centralised design favours collaboration to streamline approval and proofing loops, improve inter-departmental communication as stakeholders interact with a single centrally-located version of a digital file, and accelerate the packaging process for a shorter time to market.

Automated preflighting systems

Once a graphic design file is made available, prepress technicians carry out initial ‘preflight’ checks that relate to basic details like colours, dimensions and fonts. Once these have been validated, technicians will move on to adapting and improving files in preparation for the print run.

Clearing these fundamental details at the start of the process prevents basic errors from slipping through the net at the outset. Thorough preflight checks mean time isn’t wasted working on imperfect files and also minimise the chance of costly reprints or reworkings that snarl up workflows and eat into precious time.

Prepress technologies have evolved to incorporate automatic preflight checks, enabling rapid large-scale testing and minimising human errors. Automation enhances productivity and establishes the foundation for excellent packaging printing.

Innovative tools for packaging prepress

Prepress technology continues to develop apace with many innovative prepress tools now available. Through their prepress partner, brand owners can enjoy:

Optimising their packaging artwork for printing (i.e., flexo, helio and offset)
Reducing time to market by shortening artwork approvals
Producing accurate and attractive 3D packshots from graphic design files so marketing teams can secure visuals more quickly – prior to printing and with no need for a photo shoot

Advanced image editing software

Prepress operatives use specialist advanced image editing software to optimise any pictures that feature on a packaging design. While remaining faithful to the approved graphic design, they use this tech to retouch, correct and manipulate images so they look clean, clear and striking on printed packs.

To support brand owners with their omnichannel distribution, prepress technicians enhance visuals for the printed version – the physical packaging – as well versions viewed on different devices (i.e., digital packaging). This prepress tech also makes it possible to create 3D packshots stills and animations for the web, click and collect shopping (i.e., MRHI) and e-commerce (e.g., promo videos and simulations).

3D packaging design software

Prepress operatives can model 3D versions of packaging concepts to visualise how a product would look in the real world – before it even exists.

At prepress 3D modelling is an ally for visualising and validating packaging concepts in a way that far outstrips 2D representations.

Packaging prepress workflow management platforms

Modern workflow management systems like Millnet streamline and centralise complex prepress processes for brand owners. Internal departments can interact in real time on a single centrally-held version of the artwork and third-parties like design agencies and printers can also access files.

For brand owners, this digital approach to the packaging process helps them stand out in a competitive market by: