Before you start packaging design

The most common mistake in packaging is to finish the design and then go to the printer. A design made before the size, the material and the printing method are known usually has to be adapted from scratch. The order is the other way round: printer first, design second.

1. Ask your printer or manufacturer first

• The die line. The template that shows the box or label laid flat, with its cut and fold lines. The design is built on top of it. If you are using a stock box, the printer gives you this file.
• Material and printing method. Kraft board, coated paper and a clear label do not show the same colour in the same way. The number of colours printed also changes the design.
• Minimum print run. If you have many varieties, agree at the start whether each one gets its own print run or whether a shared package takes a label.

We explain briefly what a die line and bleed are in the glossary.

2. Prepare what the designer needs

• The vector file of your logo. If you are not sure which one that is, see the logo file guide.
• The product's name, varieties and weights.
• All the text that will appear on the packaging, in its final form.
• The barcode numbers.

The information that must appear on packaging depends on your product. If you sell food, cosmetics or cleaning products, settle this list with your manufacturer or adviser; the designer makes room for the information but cannot decide what it says.

3. Do not leave the barcode until last

A product sold in shops needs a barcode number from the GS1 organisation in your country. Once you have the number, the barcode generator turns it into a print-ready drawing at its real size.

The barcode needs a flat, sufficiently wide area on the packaging. The bars should be dark and the background light; a scanner cannot see red bars or a dark background.

4. What is a print-ready file?

The file that goes to the printer is not the image you see on screen. It is prepared in print colours (CMYK), has bleed around its edges, and its text is converted to outlines. You can work out the sizes and bleed for standard jobs in the print sizes tool.

5. Ask for a proof

The colour on screen and the printed colour are not the same, and the material changes the colour too. Before thousands of copies are printed, ask the printer for a proof and judge it in daylight, next to the product.

6. Think about varieties from the start

Even if you have a single product today, plan how the packaging will tell a second variety apart tomorrow. The usual answer is to keep the layout fixed and give each variety a colour. On the shelf the products then look like a family, and customers find the one they want by its colour.

Who handles the printing?

We deliver the print-ready design for the packaging and the label; you have it printed at your own printer. That way you choose your printer and your price yourself. What is delivered for each job is listed on the Services page.