10/18/16
We often receive requests for printed colored bags and for full coverage print on bags. A few things to relay for each to help determine the best design for each end use.
Printed Colored Bags
- We cannot color match poly material to a specific pms color. We can offer a “stock” blue, green, yellow, red, pink, gray, black and orange colored bags.
- Inks are translucent in nature. Without white behind, inks can appear washed out and or off-color. The “Alfa” picture shows white ink on a blue bag material. The white ink appears a bit washed out.
- The degree to which the ink is affected depends on the ink color and the material color. For example, black ink on yellow material prints very well. Green ink on a red bag will appear a darker shade of green. We cannot color match pms ink colors when print is on colored material.
- To acheive more vibrant pms colors on colored material, white ink can be laid down first and the colored ink is placed over the top. The white “base” provides the white background needed for better color matching.
- Colored polyethylene (LDPE) material typically carries higher minimums than white or clear polyethylene. Colored material is also more expensive than white or clear.
Full Coverage Print
- We can 100% print the bag with 1 color (we can print up to 8 colors but only one of the colors can print 100%). The imagery on the bag cannot bleed off the edges.
- The 100% coverage color print plate is “knocked out” in places to reveal the imagery desired. The “Texas Farm” bag pictured is a white bag with 100% blue ink. The white seen is the actual bag itself (not white ink).
- To achieve 100% coverage, the “gap” that exists where the ends of the plates butt up against one another is covered by an additional hit of ink. The additional hit to “cover the gap” shows as a darker shade of the color where the two hits overlap. The darker color is generally seen as a 1/8″ wide ban along the seal of the bag. The “Texas Farm” picture shows a darker blue bag along the right side seal of the bag.
- Print plates are a larger expense to consider with full coverage designs.
Full Coverage or Printed Colored Bags? Why one over the other? It depends. It depends on the material color, bag size, budget, ink colors and end use to rightly determine appearance and cost for each. If the look and feel for the bag needs to be crisp and clean, opting for the full coverage may be the way to go. If the print is minimal and not a focus of the end use, saving large plate costs and using a printed colored bag may make sense. Samples of various bags made in the past are available upon request.
We hope this helps.
Thanks for reading!