Digital Print in Packaging: What You Need to Know

Digital print has revolutionized the landscape of packaging design. But when should you use digital print, and how can it help your company? Here are some of the top uses for digital print that can help you get the most bang for your buck, increase brand loyalty, and wow your customers.

1. Save on Small Runs

Are you running a limited edition product? Maybe you want to run smaller quantities to test a new marketing strategy? Print plates generally pay for themselves over large runs. But if you only need a small number of packages, the upfront cost may seem excessive. Luckily, with digital print, print plates aren’t required. This can significantly reduce the cost of your packaging, and open up options for test runs, quick design changes, and smaller product releases.

2. Personalize Your Packaging

With digital print, you can print multiple design variations without paying for additional print plates per design. This opens the door to a wide variety of creative personalization solutions. Coca-Cola is perhaps one of best-known examples of this. Their “Share a Coke” campaign printed some of the most common consumer names on their bottles and prompted sharing on social media. The campaign was a massive success, increasing their soft-drink sales in the US by over 2% and reversing a decade-long decline. However, you don’t need to literally print customer’s names on your packaging to make it feel personal. Take advantage of this technique by targeting different customer segments with different messages, patterns, or imagery.

3. Stand Out With Color

With flexographic printing, every color you add to your package means the purchase of an additional print plate. This can add up, making myriad color prints unfeasible for any but the largest runs. But when it comes to color in digital, the sky is the limit. CMYK printing allows for the reproduction of a huge variety of colors. And spot colors are available for those that can be difficult to match, like neons. Taking advantage of these vivid colors and the possibility for photo-real prints can help your packaging stand out from the crowd.

Digital print has revolutionized the packaging industry. And with a market projected to exceed $22.0 billion by 2022, it’s safe to say it isn’t going away any time soon. Take advantage of this type of print to help your packaging evoke excitement, evolve with consumer needs, and stand out from the crowd.