1-866-244-2214Retail packaging has come a long way in the last century, with printing presses that turn plain cardboard and clear plastic into modern marvels for the consumer market in mere seconds. If you have products to sell, whether you advertise them in stores or ship them directly to customers, you have a wide range of choices that extend far beyond the typical brown box or paper wrapping. From plain cardboard displays to four-color printed specialty die cut boxes with high-end printing, there are custom printing options to suit virtually any retail business need. Interested in learning more? Read on and we explain how modern package printing works, from plain boxes to full-color displays, for enterprises both small and large.
Choosing a Design
Before you can submit an order for printing, you must have an idea of the design, type of box or display, and level of printing quality you are looking for. The design you choose will likely depend on your logo, as well as other considerations such as whether black ink is sufficient or if you require full-color, the number of colors you would like to include, and whether you want additional accents. There are plain boxes without printing, boxes with one-color direct printing, boxes with two-color direct printing, and boxes with high-end printing. There are also counter displays, floor displays, signs and banners, and many other in-store display items you may choose for in-store promotions.
The Prepress Process
Once you have settled on a design and saved it in an acceptable file format, then you will send your files to your printer along with any other specifications such as the type of boxes and level of printing quality. Choosing to partner with a high quality printer will ensure that you’re trusting your project is in the hands of talented print technicians, who review each file they receive and inform the customer of any changes that may be necessary to ensure a quality-printed final product. Your printer should offer to prepare the files and set up the design to take to the printing press for you.
On to the Printing Press
Depending on your needs, budget, and other specifications, you may choose flexographic printing, digital printing, or lithographic printing. Creative Displays Now is one of the few U.S. corrugated packaging companies with a fully equipped lithographic prepress front-end, in addition to flexographic and digital printing options. Machines such as the respected Speedmaster line of presses make it easy to offer a full range of four-color printing services for practically any customer specifications. Here’s how these processes work:
- Flexographic Printing: A simple process of printing logos and simple artwork with no more than three colors on basic shipping boxes made of corrugated board.
- Digital Printing: A cost-effective process of printing full-color designs directly on boxes and displays made of corrugated board.
- Lithographic Printing: Litho-laminating is a more complex process of printing high-resolution graphics on paper, which is then mounted on corrugated board.
So, now that you know a little more about retail packaging, are you ready to design the kind of boxes and displays that will get your products noticed?
