Digital label printing takes a digital file of your design and prints the image directly on to a selected label material on press. Unlike flexographic printing, all colours and images are produced in one step. These presses run slower than flexographic presses so they are ideal for smaller order quantities.
Digital printing is quickly becoming a popular choice for printing product labels and stickers. And there are plenty of good reasons for this including reduced cost, high-quality, quick turn-around and small batch capabilities.
Digital printing is ideal for labels that require at least 4 colours. If you want your label to help sell your product and speak for your brand, the print quality is key. Colour consistency, image registration and colour vibrancy are all addressed with digital labels. Most of the labels we print on our HP Indigo presses are the primary product label. For instance, beverage labels, food pouch labels, and private label brands are frequently running in our digital room. If your label will be used for branding then chances are it’ll be a good fit for digital.
Digital printing allows for a much lower minimum than flexographic printing. If you’ll need 500-25,000 colourful labels per product then there’s a good chance digital labels are a good fit for your product. With short runs you won’t need to hold on to inventory you don’t need.
Variable data printing is a form of digital printing, including on-demand printing, in which elements such as text, graphics and images may be changed from one printed to piece to the next without stopping or slowing down the printing process. VDP uses information from a database or external file.
Flexo printing requires plates for each unique image and colour so variable printing on a flexographic press is impossible. Digital presses can print consecutive numbers, variable data and almost any other label-to-label difference. When your labels are printed on a flexo label press, a new label die (which trims the label into a shape) may be required for unique shapes or sizes. These can cost hundreds of dollars. Flexographic presses also use metal plates, just like regular printing presses, to create the images for each colour of the design. A 6-colour label will need six plates.
Digital label orders do not require a charge for a die to cut the labels and, because there are no plates, you’ll only be paying for one thing– your labels. One of the best features of digital label printing is artwork flexibility. As your product line develops you might want to make updates to your label.
If you have questions about digital labels or want to talk a specialist about your product labels, contact Labelservice today.
