Rotogravure printing for custom packaging

The rotogravure printing process is a popular choice for flexible packaging. It allows to build bags to your specifications, including the bag format, structure of the material, shape, features and your artwork.

Despite the high starting cost, it’s the most popular choice for custom printed packaging in the coffee and food industry.

How does rotogravure printing works?

rotogravure printing

The main reason of the high startup cost for rotogravure printing are the printing cylinders, also called print drums. With rotogravure printing, the graphics are engraved directly into a print drum. The print drums transfer the graphics directly on to the printed material.

The graphics are carved into the print drums using acids. Depending on the intensity of the colour, the depth of the pattern can vary. The process of creating the print drums is quite long and can take up to a week for all the print drums to be ready for printing.

Each print drum can hold just one colour. We can use both CYMK or pantone colours for the print. To ensure that there is no ink on the non printed areas, we use a doctor blade that removes all the ink that is not inside the pattern. For this reason is very important that the depth of the patterns carved into the cylinders is accurate.

Advantages of rotogravure printing for custom packaging

    • print drums can be reused for multiple runs without degrading
    • good quality image reproduction
    • low cost per unit
    • can customize the shape, material and every aspect of the bag
    • Lead time 12-16 weeks
    • Can print max 10 colours

Disadvantages of rotogravure printing

    • High MOQ to start. 10.000 units for bags between 250g and 1kg
    • higher start up cost compared to other printing techniques
    • longer lead time due to print drums and engraving process.
custom packaging

Tell your story with custom printing

We specialise in custom printing for your business in order to put your identity on the front of your bags. Regardless of whether you’re a food company or a coffee company – our printing service is here to help you to build your brand from the bottom up with flexible packaging solutions and bespoke bags tailored to your needs.

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