5 Most Important Cardboard Box Printing Options For Packaging Boxes
Cardboard Box Printing Options 1: Offset Printing
Offset printing finishes is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or “offset”) from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film (called “fountain solution”), keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.
Offset paper box printing
Offset printers have very speed to print, so it need there is MOQ for bespoke box printing, for examples, 500pcs at least or more, which is depends on different structure of box. Meanwhile,we suggest to print color file to make your designs more attractive and impress heavy for imagine.
Custom Gift Box
Die Cut Box
Corrugated Box Printing
Printed Box
Color Format: CMYK and PMS
CMYK is first letter of “Cyan Magenta Yellow Black”, which is 4 based colors for physical color on paper or other real materials. It’s different from RGB color, which is shown on screen. Due to CMYK is different shown when it’s on different material. So the best color is from most experienced worker.
PMS is short of “Pantone Matching System”. In order to provide a standard for color printing, pantone company make a color chart with exclusive code. The code is most useful to make the printer to match the color you want, due to the color chart of PMS is fixed.
Cardboard Box Printing Options 2:Flexco Printing Options
Flexography (often abbreviated to flexo) is a form of printing process which utilizes a flexible relief plate. It is essentially a modern version of letterpress which can be used for printing on almost any type of substrate, including plastic, metallic films, cellophane, and paper. It is widely used for printing on the non-porous substrates required for various types of food packaging (it is also well suited for printing large areas of solid colour).
Cardboard Box Printing Options 3: Digital Box Printing
Digital box printing is printed by digital datas from the professional digital printing machine. It could print digital files such as PDF, AI, Words, Excels.. directly on the paper,fabric,plastic and other materials. The best advantage of it is fast, which have no complex processes as offset printing. Also, it don’t need MOQ to print. So it’s best to print sample, due to small quantity. Meanwhile, it also have disadvantage. It’s expensive for unit price beacuase it have to print one copy one time.
Here is the video of sample box for a client in Europe. This client only need one copy of sample. So it’s best to print by digital printing.
Cardboard Box Printing Options 4: UV Printing
UV printing is a form of digital printing that uses ultra-violet lights to dry or cure ink as it is printed. Compared with the traditional litho offset printing, the UV printing is expensive but has the better vivid and crisp color printing. Also, it can produce the very good quality printing on the specialty papers,such as kraft box printing.
Advantages of UV printing
- Highlight: it make your brand will be much more expressed.
- Fast drying: it help you save time when you have urgent lead time of printing.
- Friendly to environment: it don’t have bad things for environment and the paper to be printed is recycled.
- Strongly: it won’t be easy to drop and fade as time going.
- No need design: it don’t need separated file to print, which could be printed based on your printing file.
UV printing of Umbro logo
As a box supplier of famous brand Umbro, we help them to highlight their logo on leather feeling paper in order to make it more luxury. Please check the video of this shoe boxe on right.
This UV printing is thicker than normal and also have a little embossing on it to make it similar as 3D effective.
Tips: the best effect will be when the material is in dark color, such as black,blue, due to transparent uv. And the effect is not good when the printing area is too small. Or else, it will be blurry.
Cardboard Box Printing Options 5: Silk Screen Printing
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh apertures with ink, and a reverse stroke then causes the screen to touch the substrate momentarily along a line of contact. This causes the ink to wet the substrate and be pulled out of the mesh apertures as the screen springs back after the blade has passed. One colour is printed at a time, so several screens can be used to produce a multi-coloured image or design. (from wikipedia)
When we need screeen printing?
Firstly, it will be used when the material is not suit to common printing, such as offset printing, digital printing. The material as fabric, plastic, or the special paper which don’t suit to printing.
Secondly, it could be used when the products finished. Because the printing must be finished one time. Then common printing is not suit when there is some printing error.
As below, you could see how the screen printing is working.
