Label and Packaging printing products hide in plain sight. You find them in every aisle at the grocery store, retail outlets, and what arrives at your door. As more products come to market, so do more labels and packages. As products become more customized and personalized, so do the labels and packaging to support them. It’s the inkjet sweet spot!

Preparing print for inkjet production is similar, but not identical, to the preparation required for electrophotographic, flexo, or offset production. The fundamental elements covering color management, image and print preparation, format optimization, and deadline management still form the infrastructure, but the configuration files may require inkjet-specific tuning. And there are the standard concerns for die-line and template accuracy, how to handle proofing and approval when complex shapes and finishing techniques are involved, and growing regulatory compliance. Your shop requires the correct software tools set up for workflow automation.

Before going shopping, draw a box around your current workflow. What is your approach to these elements:

• Color Management: What is your current process for ensuring accurate color reproduction across your different production devices – monitors and presses -   and materials, from paper to board, vinyl to film? What is your color profile strategy? Variations in color profiles, substrates, and printing technologies can lead to inconsistencies in the final printed output.As with all software, it should be updated when the vendor makes new features and versions available. In a modern workflow, the color management steps should also be automated. If you have more than one solution in use, consider streamlining. If you are missing a comprehensive color management solution from your workflow, investigate these:

Esko Color Engine: A cloud-based solution, it can be used to manage colors across various devices, including printers, scanners, and monitors. There are a variety of features targeted to the needs of L&P printers, including color profiling, gamut mapping, and color correction.

GMG ColorProof: This a cloud-based color management solution that can be used to ensure color accuracy across a variety of devices and workflows. It offers color profiling, gamut mapping, and color correction.

X-Rite i1Profiler: This popular color profiling solution can be used to create accurate color profiles for many devices. It offers color calibration, gamut mapping, and color correction.

• Resolution and Image Quality: L&P producers require the ability to control print and image resolution, up to the highest levels, to maintain quality for the final product. Most industrial prepress tools have features to control resolution, even during resizing, and handle tasks like image sharpening and noise reduction.Look at your current tools, which may include solutions from Adobe and Alludo/Corel, and others. If you have more than one tool, chart a path to a single, automated solution. If your current team hasn’t had formal training on the newest versions of your software suite, consider setting it up. It is an investment, but it pays off. It also helps to uncover poor practices passed down among employees as they take on new tasks.
• File Format Compatibility: Packaging design files can come in various formats, from print-ready PDF to source files from popular tools like Adobe PhotoShop or Illustrator, or one of the application-specific tools. Ideally, you should not encounter compatibility issues once the files are rendered to the PDF format, but years of evolution show that not all PDF is created equal. Two types of tools to review are preflight and optimization tools.In the best automated workflows, files go through preflight before they reach prepress to ensure they are complete and ready to print. You may have tools like Callas pdfToolbox, Enfocus PitStop, Markzware FlightCheck, Eco3 Apogee Prepress, and Kodak Prinergy to preflight, but having these tools isn’t enough. They should be part of an automated workflow so that every file that arrives is preflighted before entering the next workflow steps.

In addition, consider tools focused on print file optimization like the BetterPDF addition to Ultimate Technographics Impostrip Scalable or Solimar Systems ReadyPDF. They can ensure that the file is not carrying unnecessary baggage through the rest of the workflow and into the print processes.

If you have multiple preflight and optimization tools, this would be the time to standardize on a single solution. Talk to your existing vendors and ask them to show their value.

• Die-line and Template Accuracy: L&P prepress is not complete unless you verify the accuracy of the die-lines and templates. No one wants the logo tucked into a flap or falling off a label.While you can find a number of cloud-based die-line checkers as standalone tools, look to the vendors with integrated, automated workflow suites to gain the most efficiency. Most have or integrate software to perform this essential task. If you are operating with multiple solutions, consider adopting one and de-installing the rest. Consider these options if you are looking at options in the market: Esko Studio: This solution brings you 3D previewing for PDF and TIFF files and a toolkit to clean up die-line drawings. A bonus is the Visualizer to show how the design looks across various substrates. IC3D: This all-in-one design package includes 3D previewing, modeling for film-wrap products to help correct distortions, and dynamic backgrounds for visualization. It has several variations in terms of features, so review the options. OneVision: The Automation Suite for labels includes automated file preparation to correct cut lines and confirm template accuracy. Also, look at options from Durst, Kodak Prinergy, and Callas if they drive your workflow.
• Variable Data Printing: Barcodes, serial numbers, and customization all call for tools that enable the integration of this variable data into the design while maintaining consistency. Review all the tools installed and verify they are all required. Talk to your vendors and ask them to show how they can meet all your needs.Hybrid PACKZ, eProductivity Software MarketDirect, CHILI publish, FusionPro, and even the FIERY digital front ends have VDP solutions to consider.
• Proofing and Approval Process: These processes can be a bottleneck, but they shouldn’t be. Created automated notifications with programmatic follow-ups can take the people out of the process and add speed, eliminating the back-and-forth iterations.Most Label and Packaging automation suites include sophisticated solutions for proofing and approval. If you have them, use them. The setup can take time and resources, but the investment pays off quickly and frees team members for more valuable work.
• Regulatory Compliance: As the printer, compliance issues shouldn’t fall onto your hands. However, if you also create design files, even to customer specifications, you should review your obligations and risks. Labels and packaging often need to adhere to industry and segment regulatory requirements, which can vary by state and country. There may be different requirements for material that stays within the United States and what is exported. Ingredient lists and how they are specified, nutritional information, and safety warnings may have specific size requirements for the text and placement requirements for the labels.If you create label and packaging designs that include regulated information, consider looking into labeling regulation and compliance solutions embedded in your artwork management tools that include audit trails or standalone solutions like Aptean Lascom, Loftware.

The last thing to review is your current Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Manufacturing Execution System (MES). You may use enterprise-class tools like Oracle or SAP, or industry-specific solutions. The ERP and MES are only valuable if they are kept up to date, and the data they see is kept current. Even in highly-automated environments, connections require review and maintenance to ensure that dashboards are accurate and reports contain the correct information.

The most important practical advice is to review the software you have. Be prepared to discover unused, outdated, and poorly configured solutions in use. Make plans to correct that. Review all automated connections to see if they are still pointing to the correct data and feeding the correct systems. Talk to your peers, reach out to your user groups and associations, and try to attend at least one trade show each year to keep current. Happy labeling and packaging!

For more of the latest capabilities in label printing, see also Inkjet Shopping Guide for Label Presses - part 1