Getting your artwork ready for nine gravure cylinders
A design that looks right on screen still has to be separated, sized and checked before it can be engraved. Here is what our pre-press desk needs from you.
Between the design your agency signs off and the pouch that comes off the line there is a step most brand owners never see. Pre-press turns a finished design into instructions for a set of cylinders. Getting the file right at this stage saves a round of corrections and, sometimes, the cost of re-engraving.
Send editable vector artwork
Logos, text and line work should be vector, not a flattened image, so that they stay sharp at any size and can be separated cleanly. Convert fonts to outlines or send the font files with the artwork. Photographs should be supplied at full resolution and linked, not pasted in at screen quality.
Think in inks, not in screen colours
Our press prints up to nine colours, and each one is a separate cylinder. Brand colours print best as their own mixed ink, so give a colour reference for each one and do not rely on how it looks on a monitor. On clear or metallised film a layer of white is usually printed behind the design so the colours stay opaque, and that white counts as one of the nine.
Keep clear of the seals
Part of every pouch is taken up by heat seals, and features such as a zipper, a tear notch or a hang hole take up more. Ask us for the keyline for your pouch size before the design starts. It shows where the seals, folds and fitments fall, so that no text or barcode ends up under a seal or across a gusset.
Small type and barcodes
- Very small text is safest in a single dark colour. Fine type built from several colours, or reversed out of a multi-colour background, depends on perfect register.
- Thin lines and hairlines can fill in or break up. Give them some weight.
- Barcodes need a dark bar on a light, solid background with clear space on both sides. Let us check the size and direction before engraving.
A short checklist
- Editable vector file, fonts outlined
- A colour reference for every brand colour
- Pouch size, format and fitments confirmed
- Barcode number and any statutory text supplied
- One person named to approve the proof
Have a product to pack?
Tell us what it is and how it is sold. We will reply with a laminate, a format and a price.
