In the concept of modern packaging, color boxes and color boxes have changed from the protection of products to the promotion of products. Consumers judge the quality of products by the quality of color boxes and color boxes. Therefore, whether the color box and box design can quickly attract the attention of consumers in many colorful packages becomes the key to the success of color box and box design. It can be seen that the prepress design and plate making technology of color box and color box is unquestionable as the key technology of prepress technology. Its technical ability and level determine the competitiveness of a company's market. Its design platemaking staff can be said to be the “baby” of the corrugated color box and color box enterprises. With superior conditions and excellent treatment, it is the object of contempt for the same industry, and it is also the easiest to be “crooked”.
Design and plate making are two completely different but closely linked two processes or types of work, and can also be regarded as technologies. The following authors combine the actual situation of the author's company with the prepress and design techniques of color boxes and color boxes. Explain.
Prepress design technology for color box and color box layout
The layout design technology is generally divided into original design and imitation design. Under normal circumstances, in the layout design work requires the following equipment: a high-performance computer, matching printers, scanners, and some also have color separation device, and the corresponding professional design software.
The layout of the original design, also called creative design, is a professional design company according to the needs of the company's product performance, characteristics of the outer packaging carton layout design. This kind of layout design has higher requirements on the technical level, professional skills and professional knowledge of designers. This kind of design is generally a professional design company to do, the company engaged in this design is less, but large-scale carton packaging companies also have such professional designers for creative design. The key to layout design of color boxes and color boxes is color separation and printing network control. The first is pattern design and layout design. These two designs must highlight the characteristics of the products being packaged so that consumers can be deeply attracted to the package once they are seen. This is also a kind of packaging design. Congratulations to the design approach. Followed by color separation, color separation must be based on the company's equipment and personnel technology to determine. If the company has several multi-color offset printing equipment, it can be divided into several colors. Try not to use spot colors. On the contrary, it is less. Once again, the distribution of outlets must be determined according to the requirements of the printing and the performance of the equipment. It is also necessary to faithfully respond to pattern appeals and highlight product features and quality.
The layout of the layout, also known as the secondary design, is based on the original design changes, the layout of the basic design of the layout, only to adjust individual patterns, fonts, and some need to increase the relevant content. For example, increase the QS safety mark. If the content of pure grain solid fermentation is added to the alcohol cartons and cartons, the design of the carton layout needs to be adjusted and corrected. This design technique is relatively common in carton manufacturers. This layout design method is also the most practical and useful for corrugated box manufacturers.
The following describes the application of the secondary design technology. There are also two methods for the so-called design of the second layout. One is to ask the cartons procurement company to directly provide a well-designed layout, and the layout designers of the carton manufacturing enterprises handle the processing, distribution, and distribution. After the proofing, the clear proof is requested to be printed and produced by the cartons purchasing company after confirmation; one is provided by the carton purchasing company. The layout designer of the carton manufacturing company saves the pattern of the carton layout to the computer through the scanner, and the computer After the color separation processing is performed through the professional design software, the layout pattern is the same as the layout pattern of the carton layout, and the sample is sent out. Please confirm with the customer. After the customer confirms, the carton manufacturer can conduct plate making and printing production. The above two layout design methods are common practice in carton manufacturing enterprises. Of course, the former method needs to pay attention to: whether the design software used in the previous layout design is compatible with the design software used by the carton enterprise. The problem, if it is compatible, is that the secondary design will be very quick and accurate; if it is not compatible, special attention will be paid to the accuracy of the fonts and patterns. Remember to compare them with the original; for designs with dots, special attention must be paid Changes in outlets. The author's company once had such a problem and repeated it many times before it was resolved.
Plate making technology
Platemaking is divided into the following types: hand-engraved, laser-engraved, sun-cured, soft-finish tanning (PS version), and die-cutting. The above plate making technology is a technique often used in cartons. According to the size of the company, the plate-making technology used is different. Most of the small carton factories use hand-engraving process technology. This technology is low in cost, but the requirement for engraved personnel is relatively high. Now, this type of plate making technology is also relatively small, but it is still relatively common in some small carton factories in the Midwest.
Laser-engraved flexo (rubber plate): In order to reduce production costs, some cartons manufacturing enterprises mostly use laser plate-making technology to produce layouts for small batches of scattered orders. This plate-making technology is used by medium-sized carton manufacturers across the country. Both are more common. This plate-making method is more convenient. It requires a computer and a laser engraving machine. In the process of plate-making, a plate-making method adopted by a computer-designed layout will be used.
The specific operation is: the engraved staff will cut the base plate according to the size of the design layout, place the base plate in the laser engraving machine as required, and perform positioning according to requirements. The computer outputs the engraving instruction, and the laser engraving machine carries out the engraving. After engraving, the laser engraving machine prompts, engraver personnel need to continue engraving, you can simply follow the above procedure to replace the base plate and operate. After the layout is engraved, the plate-making staff needs to clean up the layout and remove the unneeded parts. Then the plate-making staff will check the finished layout against the sample and confirm it is correct before submitting it to the production unit for use or making the hanging plate. If making hang-up version, the plate-making personnel will need to check the layout again after the hang-up is done, and then send it to the production department after use. Otherwise, it must not be put into production use.
Laser cutting: In general, it is done by a professional plate making company. The advantage of this plate making method is that plate making speed is high, accuracy is high, and it is relatively durable. The disadvantage is slow tool change and high cost. Under normal circumstances, this version is made by the carton companies in accordance with the specifications of the carton specifications publishing surface, through the network to the professional plate-making company, professional plate-making company according to the pattern for layout production, do a good job and then sent back to the carton business and designed After the personnel review, it will be used by the production department. There is also a way to make a die-cut version that is hand-made, draws drawings from the computer, and cuts the pages manually. Manually enlarge the drawing on the base plate, use professional equipment for punching, sawing the wire, hand-knife line and steel wire, after the completion of the review and confirmation, can be used after the production department to use. However, this plate making method is inefficient, not durable, and error-prone. Nowadays, few companies use manual plate making.
Shaifa flexo (resin plate): A computer designed layout is used to print the sample, and the proof is confirmed after the sample is delivered to the carton purchasing company. The paper is made of sulfuric acid paper or film film, and the resin base plate is cut according to the size requirements of the layout, the film is covered on the resin base plate, and the surrounding is covered with a light-resistant material to prevent overexposure and affect the normal use of the layout. . After everything is ready, the base plate is placed in a dedicated plate printer for exposure. The exposure time is about 30 minutes. After completion, the plate is removed and put into a professional plate washer for cleaning. After the cleaning is completed, it is placed in a baking box for baking and setting. Detachment treatment is required after setting. After all this is done, the professional designers will have to review the layout, make a mistake and then make a copy or send it directly to the production department for use.
Tanplate (PS plate): Designed and proofed by a professional design platemaking company. This proofing is color separation and proofing, so as to facilitate carton printing enterprises to keep consistent with the proofing ink color during printing, especially multi-color printing, dot printing, and attention should be paid to the control of dot and color sequence. Plate makers should pay particular attention to exposure time and cleaning of the exposure equipment when doing lithography. When the plate-making staff performs the tanning process, the plate-making machine must first be cleaned, the exposure surface should be kept clean, the device must be opened and started, and a base plate that meets the requirements must be placed in the middle of the plate-making machine. According to the printing machine's pull gauge and the former rules, leave a good positioning line, place the film (film) according to the position of the positioning line, and lay it flat on the lithographic plate. Close the printing machine and start the vacuum machine, set the exposure time, start the exposure device, and perform the exposure according to the set exposure time (usually the time is set between 20 seconds and 2 minutes, the length of the specific setting time is made by the plate making The staff is set according to the needs of the printing plate). After completion, the exposing device is automatically cooled and then closed, the printing machine is opened, the film is taken out, and the lithographic plate is placed in the developing machine for automatic development. After the development is completed, the layout is rinsed with clean water. The plate-making staff trims the layout, removes dirt, dirty lines, etc., to facilitate printing, make the layout clean, and transfer it to the production department for use after completion.
The above is a combination of the author's actual experience in individual carton manufacturing enterprises, and a summary of the actual practice of domestic large and medium-sized carton manufacturers. In terms of specific operations, we must do it according to the actual situation of the company and the specific conditions of the plate making equipment used. The current design and plate making technology can be said to be changing with each passing day. In particular, some professional design and plate making enterprises in the country have done quite prominently in one aspect of design and plate making, and have become leaders in the design and plate making industry. However, as a carton manufacturing company, it must be based on the actual needs of its own company in designing the plate, and it must not be greedy and demanding. Of course, some large and ultra-large carton manufacturers are able to meet the requirements of customers more quickly, improve the efficiency of design, and introduce professional proofing equipment. Normally, it is still a professional company. This kind of cost expenditure is more suitable for enterprises. development of.
