Refined Data Handling in the Packing Industry

(NPES International E-commerce Website, July 14, 2008) Individually packaged small items and elaborate finishing enhance the image of a brand, and lotteries, the possibility of reusing packaging as a container or the inclusion of fun items all provide extra incentives to buy. Another facet where no effort is spared is the prevention of counterfeiting through the use of hidden image technologies, hologram applications and packaging seals to halt the distribution of fakes.

Packaging prepress requires special software. Classic applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark Xpress or Indesign play a role but the actual preparation and output of the data is handled by other programs that take into account packaging design and the economic exploitation of the format. Besides standard output formats for proofing and printing forme imaging (PDF, PostScript, Tiff), CAD data also need to be generated for die-cutting patterns and optimized for multiple up printing. CAD data are not freshly generated on each occasion. Rather, packaging product ranges can be developed from databases.

Coating forme data, which in many cases depends on the correct set of glue point cut outs, often needs to be generated, too. The particular features of the various printing processes are reflected in special ICC profiles, tonal value increase curves and types of separation. Color space expansions are achieved through packaging specific Hifi Color solutions. Hexachrome, which is familiar from advertising printing, remains largely restricted to offset.

Due to the frequent use of spot colors, graphic files may have up to 16 color channels and these have to be handled with the aid of Photoshop Plug-ins. Conversely, in other instances the number of inks is deliberately reduced. For example, in flexo printing color spaces may sometimes be calculated in which color tones that occur frequently in the motif are separated into the special and appropriate additional colors. By replacing CMYK with what are usually three colors, a cleaner dominant color tone can be achieved and significant amounts of ink saved. For the printing of spot colors, many packaging printers hold a basic range of inks for color mixes; but, whilst offset printers mix printable basic inks, large flexo printers are increasingly often turning to so-called concentrate systems.

Lotteries - an advertising draw
Daily lottery type games have achieved enormous popularity in the English-speaking world. The small number of offset printers active in this field is confronted by big task. Often it is only possible to semi-automate the handling in instances such as the organizing and checking of bingo cards, which need to be printed, mixed and packed. Delivery logistics need to be honed. Here too, data once entered is used in the cross-promotion media mix. It may first be used for the printing of tickets, for example, but the same data is then also used as the basis for the printing of flyers, advertizing pages or the creation of Internet pages.

Another type of application is the on-pack promotion in the form of a printed code on a drinks container. Rub-off specialists lay down a printed code and then cover it with a special rub-off coating (thermochromic or other security inks might also be applied at this point). The print data are also forwarded to a display manufacturer, who creates a plinth for a PC and these PCs are then placed in discos or pubs. If the code is a winning one, a picture of the drink's packaging appears on the screen. The visitor wins but of course he or she also remembers the advertising message. The code on the packaging drives a digital process and vice versa.

In the USA branded goods are promoted through combined marketing campaigns. A packaging material finisher, for example, might produce a printed product from which a transparent film could be pulled off and held in front of a specific field on a PC screen. This can be used to trigger an Internet search game. An added bonus here is that the brand owner, with the aid of the packaging printer and the necessary print data and winning codes, can also carry out customer mailings.