Package Design | packagedesignmag.com

By Noel Jeffrey

Every pressure point in the packaging world, from shorter time to market to gaining a competitive edge at a lower cost, argues for eliminating some, if not all, hard copy proofing for graphics—from development through production. Today’s powerhouse soft/virtual monitor-based proofing systems from companies like Paxonix, ICS, and others go a long way toward doing just that. From e-mailed PDFs to elaborate color-managed collaborative systems, these relatively new offerings are catching on and proving effective.

“Online approval is not a fad,” says Steve Carter, director of technology at Alcoa’s Southern Graphics facilities. “It’s going to continue to be more dominant in our industry. People will have to get on the bus or be run over by it. As part of a workflow, it drives out cost and time to market. The biggest savings is in shipping charges for hard copy proofs. Even if it’s just a two-way exchange at $20 apiece for each proof, with multiple changes and over a range of products, it adds up to a lot of money.”
 

Robert Ziegler, president/ CEO of Brandimation in Morrisville, PA, points out that in package design, structure and graphics are usually separate processes that come together in the end. That’s an important concept to hold onto when discussing online proofing because packaging comp houses and prepress services use both 3D virtual reality tools to visualize structure and graphics and distinctly separate online 2D proofing tools to approve graphics for printing.

“The amount of changes to labels versus those to a structure are at least seven or eight to one,” Ziegler says. “Changing tool and manufacturing systems is a big deal compared to changing a plate on press. Graphics are the icing on a cake. They are essential to the communication of brand identity, downstream messaging, conveyance of ingredients, and the overall look and feel of the product. Structure, however, can be used as a competitive edge that is long term and sustainable.”