What are my color graphics options for

printing on bags, signs and packaging?

Custom Poly Packaging offers four-color spot printing of line art for flexible packaging and four-color process screen printing on coroplast signs.

Spot Printing of Line Art

Spot colors are used to print multiple single color images in layers. Ink for each image is chosen in one specific PMS (Pantone Matching System) ink color. Line art is essentially a (line) drawing or cartoon where all printed areas are filled with a solid specific ink color.

Custom Poly Packaging uses the Pantone Matching System (PMS) "c" or "coated" ink colors to print on plastic film. Please note that the coated ink colors (ending in "c") are not the same as the uncoated ("u") ink colors used on paper. If you already use an uncoated ink color for other printed items, the best matching coated ink color may not be the same number when printing on flexible poly films. Be sure to check the Pantone book to find the best match between uncoated and coated ink colors.

The Pantone Matching System of ink colors is a printing industry standard used to choose ink colors that will be consistently transferable from printer to printer, media to media. The PMS color number tells the printer exactly how to mix the inks to produce the desired color.

Poly bags can be printed using any ink colors in the PMS book that end in "c" except the fluorescent inks. We can simulate fluorescent ink colors by selecting bright regular PMS color inks. Metallic ink colors are available at additional cost. If you do not have a PMS ink color book, you can go to a local print shop and ask to look at their copy to select your ink colors.

Mid - run ink changes are available for large orders of a single bag (type, size, thickness). It is more economical to run a combination of print images on a single bag [type, size, thickness & feature(s)] by changing the ink(s) within the total quantity of the order. For example, an order for 100,000 bags (all the same type, size, thickness, feature(s)) may be composed of 10 jobs of 10,000, each with a different UPC, flavor or other change in the ink color used. Sometimes when ink(s) change, a plate will also change.

Four-Color Process Printing

Process print is primarily accomplished using CYMK (Cyan Yellow Magenta Black) ink colors and assumes a white background. Process print involves using screens or tiny dots of ink that visually blend together to form shades of color or other colors than the actual ink colors used to print on the plastic film. The appearance of process print is similar to a photograph.

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