The Best Method to Use When Printing on Corrugated Boxes

Everyone loves choices. And you’ve got multiple options when it comes to selecting the best method to use when printing on your corrugated boxes. Budget, time constraints, and quality desired are all going to influence your decision. Whether the boxes will be used for primary retail packaging or shipping will also influence the type of printing you require.

Let’s look at the different printing methods on corrugated boxes followed by the different print processes that are typically used for printing on corrugated.

There are two basic ways of printing on corrugated boxes: pre-printing and direct printing.

Direct printing means printing directly onto the box. It’s the most common way to print on corrugated and is usually done with flexography or digital printing.

Pre-printing means printing on a sheet of paper first and then gluing it to the corrugated box. There are several ways to accomplish this:

1. Printing on the Linerboard

Printing on linerboard first, before it’s glued to the medium, can yield better quality than printing on the linerboard once it’s attached to the medium. The print quality is considered to be better than direct printing but not quite as good as litho label. Your volume must be high since linerboard comes on a huge roll, and you must usually purchase the entire roll. Even though this requires a high volume, it results in a very low cost.

2. Laminating Paperboard onto Single-Face Corrugated

This method offers the options to use litho and rotogravure printing and offers a more durable outer linerboard than the standard corrugated box linerboard, which provides more strength than any paperboard folding carton could offer.

3. Litho-Labeling

This involves printing on a label using a lithographic printing press, then gluing the label to a combined board. Flat-screen television boxes are a typical example of this. You get excellent print quality using a 4-color process that yields high-quality photo graphics.

Let’s look now at the three most common processes for printing on corrugated boxes:

• Flexography
• Offset lithography
• Digital printing

Flexography (Flexo)

Flexo printing is like using a “very sophisticated rubber stamp.” It prints easily on rough and smooth materials and is a very popular choice because of good printing speeds and relatively quick setup time. Flexo is great for printing on shipper boxes and primary retail packaging.

When using corrugated for primary retail packaging, it’s often desirable to use litho label for eye-catching colors and outstanding graphics quality. However, flexo can print photo-quality images and do an excellent job in the right hands.

Offset Lithography (Litho)

Litho’s print quality is excellent and is cost-effective for high volumes. However, it’s predominantly used for printing on labels (called litho labels), which are then glued to the corrugated box instead of any kind of direct litho printing on corrugated boxes. Litho is used when you want stunning photo-realistic images, as well as embossing, foil stamping, spot glass, or any other exterior embellishments.

Digital Printing

Digital presses aren’t unlike digital printers used in homes. Since they use digital files, there’s no need for expensive printing plates, and there’s also virtually no setup required. It offers higher-quality graphics than flexo, and low volumes are ideal, fast, and cost-effective. With digital printing, as time goes on, printing speeds will continually increase, quality will become preeminent, and costs will get lower for both low and high volumes.

What’s the Best Method to Use?

That depends on your needs. Ask yourself a few questions first:

Will I need primary retail packaging, POP, or shipper boxes?

• Use flexo printing for shipper boxes. Depending on the type of product, litho label yields much better results if you need printing on primary retail packaging or stunning POP displays.

How many colors will I need?

• If you only need a few PMS colors, flexo is probably your best bet.

Will I need photo-quality printing?

• If the answer is yes, go with litho label for high volume and digital if you don’t.

What is my volume?

Litho, including litho labels, generally requires the highest volumes to be cost-effective. Flexo is generally less expensive, so having low volumes isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker. But, digital is the way to go for low volumes. It’s important to have these questions ready when you talk with your Korpack representative. They’ll be best at advising you as to what type of printing you’ll require for your specific needs.