In an increasingly green world, everyone wants to reduce the impact their lives and work have on our shared environment. The label printing industry is no exception. As a fast turnover printing sector that uses high volumes of inks, pulps, and adhesives, product labelling and packaging is of particular interest to environmentalists. Disposable packaging for expendable products has increasingly come under fire for being an unsustainable, irresponsible waste of resources.

Labels play a key part in promoting your client’s business as a reputable, professional organisation. As the first thing that customers usually see, even before the product itself, it’s vital to convey their brand in a positive and engaging way - this builds trust and loyalty. To achieve this, print must be eye-catching and appealing but without imposing over-demanding burdens on your finances.

Would the same image, printed by several different printing companies, always produce the same quality output? It’s an interesting question and one that can be addressed by considering the importance of print and packaging standards in the UK and global printing industry. For print businesses, standards help to boost their productivity, resolve workflow problems and offer customers a clearer vision of how their print orders will look when complete. Understanding printing industry standards is beneficial to brands for whom quality and cost are key aspects as they can make informed comparisons between providers before deciding who to place their orders with.

Flexographic printing imprints a crystal-clear image onto a substrate from flexible print plates wrapped around rapidly rotating rollers, enabling the fast printing of long-run orders with no loss of quality. You’ll be familiar with the method if you’ve seen film of newspapers being churned out at incredible speed on long sheets of paper, but flexographic printing is also used to produce food packaging, gift wrap, wallpaper and self-adhesive labels. As modern technology has improved the ease with which the print plates can be created and customised, flexo has cemented its position as a leader in high-volume label and packaging printing.

Investment in digital label printing machines is a core priority for many companies. When making the shift, training can be an invaluable resource. Printing technology companies such as Focus offer demonstrations on how to get the most out of a printing machine. Is it worth it? Here’s the evidence.

The worldwide switch to digital is in full flow. Even flexographic printing machines – the stalwart and reliable workhorses of the packaging industry – have been given a 21st Century makeover in the latest generation of hybrid presses. However, when moving forwards, it helps to have the information to make good investment choices. Today, we answer four of the most frequently asked questions about balancing quality and cost in digital upgrades.