Printing
How Your Artwork Gets onto the Bag
Four printing processes are used across packaging, and only two of them make sense on flexible film. Which one you land on decides your tooling cost, your minimum run, and how close the printed colour lands to the swatch you signed off.
ProcessesGravure and digital
ColoursUp to 10, plus specials
ProofingFlat, 3D and press proof
ToolingCylinders held for repeats
The Four Processes, and Where Each One Belongs
| Process | Belongs on | Tooling | Sensible run |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gravure | Flexible film — pouches, laminates, roll stock | Engraved cylinder per colour | Medium to high |
| Digital | Flexible film, short runs and variable data | None | Low |
| Flexo | Labels, corrugated, simple film work | Photopolymer plate per colour | Medium |
| Offset | Paper and board — cartons, sleeves, boxes | Plate per colour | Medium to high |
Why We Run Gravure for Pouches
Gravure prints from a cylinder with the image engraved into its surface as millions of tiny cells. The cells fill with ink, a doctor blade wipes the surface clean, and the film presses against the cylinder to lift the ink out. Because the cell depth controls how much ink transfers, gravure lays down a heavier, more even film of ink than any plate-based process.
On packaging that shows up as three things you can see across a shelf: solid colour that stays solid across large flood areas instead of mottling, brand colours that hold their exact value from the first metre of the run to the last, and fine reversed-out type that stays legible instead of filling in. A cylinder also lasts for millions of impressions, so colour does not drift as a long run progresses.
The cost sits at the front. Each colour needs its own engraved cylinder, and those cylinders are made for your artwork specifically. That is why gravure earns its keep on a committed run and not on a fifty-unit trial — and why we ask you to sign off a digital proof before anything is engraved.
When Digital Is the Better Answer
Digital printing has no tooling at all, which changes the arithmetic completely below a certain quantity. A market test, a seasonal edition, a set of flavour variants that each need only a few thousand units, or artwork that carries a code unique to every pack — these are digital jobs. The trade is ink film weight: digital lays down less ink, so very large solids and some metallic effects do not reproduce with the same density.
What We Need from Your Artwork
- Vector files — AI, EPS, PDF or SVG. Fonts outlined, or supplied with the file.
- Colours specified — CMYK build or a Pantone reference. A screenshot of a colour is not a specification.
- 3 mm bleed past every trim and seal edge, and critical elements kept clear of the seal land.
- Images at 300 dpi at final printed size, not upscaled from web assets.
- Barcodes as vector, with the quiet zone intact. We check scannability on the printed substrate.
If you do not have a designer, our graphics team builds the dieline and lays the artwork out against it. You still approve the proof before we engrave.
How gravure works
One Cylinder per Colour, Dried Before the Next One Lands
Gravure prints a colour at a time. Each station carries its own engraved cylinder and ink tray, and the film passes under a drying hood before it reaches the next one, so colours sit on top of each other rather than into each other. That is where the density and the edge definition come from — and why the cylinders are a cost you pay once and reuse on every repeat.
Gravure Against Digital, on the Points That Decide It
| Criterion | Gravure | Digital |
|---|---|---|
| How colour is laid down | One engraved cylinder per colour, dried between stations | All colours from one inkjet head in a single pass |
| Tooling | A cylinder per colour, engraved once and kept for repeats | None |
| Spot and Pantone colours | Yes, mixed to the reference | Simulated from process colours only |
| Ink film thickness | Heavier, so solids stay dense and opaque | Lighter, so large solids can look thin |
| Colour across a long run | Holds, and matches a retained sample on repeats | Drifts more between batches |
| Running speed | High, which is what makes long runs cheap | Moderate |
| Where it wins | Production quantities, repeat artwork, brand colours | Short runs, many versions, trials before tooling |
Cost
Where the Two Lines Cross
Gravure carries a tooling cost and almost no cost per metre after that. Digital carries no tooling and a higher cost per metre that never comes down. Plotted against quantity those are a step and a slope, and they cross.
- Below the crossover — a first run, a seasonal edition, a dozen flavour variants, a trial before committing. Digital costs less and you find out whether the design works.
- Around the crossover — the point where the cylinders pay for themselves within one order. Worth asking us to price both, because it moves with colour count.
- Above the crossover — and on every repeat afterwards, gravure is cheaper by a widening margin, because the tooling is already cut and is reused at no further charge.
The number of colours is what moves the crossover most: each colour is another cylinder to engrave, so a two-colour design reaches the crossover far sooner than an eight-colour one. Send the artwork and the quantity and we will price it both ways rather than argue the principle.
In practice
What We Would Actually Recommend
Start digital when the design is unproven and the quantity is small. It is the cheapest way to see your pack on a shelf, and a short run tells you more about the artwork than any proof does.
Move to gravure once the design has settled and the volume is repeating. Expect a small colour shift when you switch, because the ink films are different thicknesses — we match to your approved digital pack as closely as the process allows and show you a draw-down before the full run.
Stay with gravure for anything where a brand colour has to be exactly itself every time, where large solid areas have to look dense rather than thin, or where the run length makes the tooling irrelevant. That covers most coffee, pet food and supplement work we do. What we need from you before any of this starts is set out on the customisation page, and the terms used here are defined in the packaging glossary.
Send Us the Brief
Product and fill weight, the format you have in mind, quantity per SKU, and where it ships. That is enough for a real quote rather than a range.
Or go straight to us
+86 134 2131 8657
WhatsApp & WeChat
[email protected]
Shenzhen, China
Frequently asked
Print Process, Tooling and Artwork Questions
Gravure or digital — which one is right for my run?
Gravure once the quantity justifies engraving cylinders, because ink film weight and colour stability are better. Digital below that, where zero tooling beats everything else.
What does a cylinder cost and who owns it?
One cylinder per colour, charged once on the first run. It is made for your artwork, stored here, used only for your repeats, and never for another customer.
Can I start digital and move to gravure later?
Yes, and it is a sensible way to test a design. Allow for a small colour shift at the changeover and ask for a draw-down before the first gravure run.
Why do large solid areas look thin in digital?
The ink film is lighter. Gravure lays down more ink, which is why solids read dense and edges stay crisp at the same magnification.
How close will the printed colour be to my Pantone?
Close enough to pass a side-by-side check, and consistent from the first metre to the last. Substrate changes the result, so for a colour-critical launch we run a press proof on the real film.
Can you print white on a clear or metallised film?
Yes, as an opaque white base laid down before the colours. Without it, everything printed over a metallised or clear ply shifts.
What exactly is a press proof and when is it worth it?
A short run on the real substrate with the real cylinders. Worth it for a series launch, or where one brand colour has to match across several SKUs printed at different times.
Can you print variable data, batch codes or QR codes?
Variable data is a digital job — gravure cylinders are fixed images. Static QR codes print on either process and we check them on the printed substrate, not on screen.
Which holds colour better across repeat orders?
Gravure, matched to the retained sample from the first run. Digital drifts more between batches, which shows when two production dates sit on a shelf together.
Does gravure print well on kraft paper?
Yes. Kraft is warm brown, so colours print over it rather than onto white; a solid white base restores accuracy where you need it, at the cost of some of the paper look.