Scott Pillsbury, Author at Rose City Label

Digital File Problems to Avoid

by Scott Pillsbury | Mar 24, 2021 | Label Design, Technical, Uncategorized

Certified Professionals

Our success at Rose City Label is due to the quality of our people. The people that do the work in our business every day are dedicated, experienced, and committed to our customers. Our job – as a business – is to provide them the tools, training, and motivation to be excellent at their jobs. Part of that effort includes ongoing training and certifications. In the last year, our prepress graphics team was Level 3 certified by FIRST – the leading authority in our type of long run, traditional press printing. This certification was largely a review, but also had good reminders about the basic principles of printing, ink, dot gain, and other factors. All these play into our ability to create beautiful labels for our customers.

Top Graphics Errors

Fonts not included or Outlined. The font used in a label is actually a separate file that must be delivered with the label art file. We have many, many fonts on our system, but if you have a very specific font you need on your label, please include it. Or, as an alternative, you can outline your text. This basically turns the text into a graphic element so spell check won’t work and we don’t have any way to edit the file.
Images missing or incorrect. If your design includes a placed photograph or other image, please include the original image. Again, like the fonts above, this is generally a separate raster image file (not vector). Also, make sure the resolution is sufficient for a clean, crisp printed label. 300dpi or higher resolution is preferred.
Asking for Edits when No Fonts Provided. This is related to #1 above. If you send your wine label without fonts, and outline the text, then we will have no trouble printing your label this year. But, for next year when we have to update the vintage and alcohol percentage, we won’t be able to since we don’t have the required fonts.

More Advanced Errors

White Ink Layer. If you are printing on clear or metallic label stock, you may want a white layer beneath some of the graphics. This has to be a specifically named layer in the file. If it is not clearly labeled and called out in the design, the layer can easily be missed. Depending on the press platform, white layers can be omitted if not properly formatted.
Overprint layers incorrect. In printing, the inks can often only be laid down in one order. This is usually lightest color to darkest, but if you are using layers or special effects of one color on top of another, please contact us to discuss. This is especially true with foil stamping and embossing – it is always down last, so no ink can print over those effects.
Legacy File Formats in Adobe Illustrator. We are on a subscription program with Adobe so we always have the latest versions of Adobe Illustrator and other front end software. However, the back end RIP and imposition software that does the heavy lifting is not updated as regularly as Adobe Illustrator so please save your files in Legacy format so they are backward compatible.

Your Artwork Matters

We have talked about quality design previously in this post, but by working with our team and following these tips, we can bring your beautiful creation to life. The design, the prepress, and the printing press all have to work together to get the desired results. Thank you for partnering with us and allowing us to print beautiful labels for your products. We appreciate you and the faith you put in our team.

Precision Quality Printing – Watch Details

by Scott Pillsbury | Feb 9, 2021 | Label Design

Precision Details Matter

Everything in the label business requires a very high level of attention to detail. Precision details matter. Even the smallest defect in a product or process can cause an entire job to be rejected. We always check and double check all the details on our work. We also rely on our customers and designer partners to provide correct artwork and check their proofs carefully. Sometimes, even with all these QC procedures in place, we still miss things and have to go back to the drawing board.

In this case, the ORDER of the colors was not fully contemplated in the design process. As good as computer design software is, it still can’t simulate every situation on press.

Foil Always Down Last (mostly)

In our company, hot stamping foil and embossing are nearly always the last operation in the label production process. It is possible to add other embellishments to a label after foil, but in general, the foil goes down last. This means, the foil layer can’t be spread to print under the adjacent colors. This is a part of the trapping process, which is explained in more detail here. The important thing for us to catch internally, and for our designer partners to keep in mind, is that foil is always down last. The image above shows an outline of the digital printing, and the foil set to underprint the digital print, which is not possible. The result, in this case, was an unwanted part of the foil showing an ugly effect over the primary digital printing. It took quite a bit of work to figure out the problem, but after a few hours of troubleshooting, we found it.

The Solution was a New Plate

In this particular situation, the answer was to buy a new printing plate. This is a lesson learned for everyone in the process – especially us. This is the kind of thing we work very hard to catch in prepress, but it is a small, obscure detail that is easy to miss. After a few hours of frustration, and some hand wringing about missed schedules, we were able to come up with a solution. This job will be back on press with a new plate in about a week, and the end result will be very satisfying for us, the designer, and the end client. Go team!

Call Us Today – We can help

Since 1928, we have worked hard to solve complicated printing problems to create beautiful labels. Our collective expertise, along with excellent designer partners, has allowed us produce some beautiful, award winning labels for our customers. Our ultimate goal is to help the producers – wine, beer, food, and other consumer product companies – connect with their end users. Beautiful labels help with that.

Marketing in a COVID-19 World – Dave DeMots

by Scott Pillsbury | Feb 4, 2021 | Business Tips

Marketing Update with Dave DeMots

Dave DeMots from DHX Advertising presented a great marketing overview recently. He hit on great points for all businesses to consider as we come out of this COVID-19 slump in the economy. One of the major points he highlighted is that all business is seasonal – we have different times of year, or points in the economic macro cycle that each business thrives. Now, for the first time ever, all our businesses are reset to the same point in their personal business cycle. Everyone has been impacted – some more than others – and everyone will come out of the COVID-19 lockdown at the same time. This provides an interesting way to recallibrate and reconsider your business plans going forward.

Don’t Let a Crisis Go to Waste

This is a scary time – both personally and professionally – but what can we do to take advantage of this time? Dave suggests that we make use of this time to make sure we come out of this as a strong, well structured business focused on the future.

Start with the Brand Promise – what is the promise to your customer?
Why? Watch the Simon Sinek TED Talk and remember WHY you are in business
Make hard decisions about markets, products, and people – don’t wait
Retool your marketing infrastructure – be ready for the future

About DHX

We’re an independent ad agency from Portland, Oregon. We’ve been at this for over 20 years, which is to say we’ve sharpened every tool in our toolkit. And while we have been there and done that more times than most, we still approach each and every project with the talent, raw enthusiasm and hunger that got us into this business in the first place.

Click Here to Download the Slides

If part of your retooling includes new labels, we can help. As Dave noted in his presentation, don’t let this time go to waste? Do you need a brand refresh and an updated label to better reflect your organizational vibe? Have you shifted your focus? Should your label reflect a new strategy, product lineup, price point, or other special feature? If the answer is yes to any of these, we can help.

For anyone with a product in a bag, box or bottle, your label is a critical touch point with the customer. Along with your logo, website, recipie and retail environment,, make sure your labels reflect your new strategy and brand promise in the post COVID-19 business world. Call us today – we can help.

Label of The Month – Beautiful Blakeslee Vineyards Rose’

by Scott Pillsbury | Jan 28, 2021 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples

Label of The Month

This is the first in our series highlighting beautiful, eye catching labels. We will select labels that showcase excellent design from our designer partners, but also highlight the technical expertise of Rose City Label. Our aim is always to communicate the desired message on your product, and to do it in the most cost effective way possible. By using our expertise and maximizing the capabilities of our equipment, we get the very best outcome for you – our very important customer.

This first label is the Rose’ of Pinot Noir from Blakeslee Vineyard Estate in Sherwood, OR. This premium wine producer has a tasting room with indoor and outdoor seating (very COVID-19 safe) and a breathtaking view. On top of that, the wine is fantastic and Bill and Sheila Blakeslee are wonderful to work with. If you love good wine, this is definitely one to put on your list for tasting.

Design and Execution

This amazing Label of the Month was designed by our friend Chris Noud at Now Design Creative Services. We are happy that Chris trusted us to execute his design for our mutual client. We take this responsibility seriously. Using our Premium Digital Printing and Foil/Embossing presses, we are able to deliver these labels reliably, on time, at a very fair price. Another important part of this label is the premium paper we use that is specifically designed for wines that are stored in cold, wet conditions. This is specifically designed to survive an ice bucket – the killer of lower quality labels.

Key Challenges

Very tight tolerance embossing and foil stamping
Fine, closely spaced parallel lines that have to be foil stamped cleanly
Detailed image of bird logo
Durability in Ice Bucket environment

Label of the Month

If you have a great product, and a passion to connect with your consumer, please call us today. We are label experts! Challenging labels that allow us to elevate your brand – these are the things we love to work on. Maybe if we work together well, your label could be featured as a Label of the Month in a future post. Call us today at (503) 777-4711.

Precise Color Matching for Amazing Labels

by Scott Pillsbury | Jan 20, 2021 | Label Design

Precise Color Matching is something we are very good at. Here is how we do it. On our HP Indigo Premium Digital printing press, in nearly all cases, images are printed using the four primary colors – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK (known as CMYK in the print industry). Though it is technically possible to purchase premade ‘spot’ colors, they are expensive, problematic, and not used at Rose City Label.

Photographs and complex, multicolor images are quite easy to print on this press. There are density targets for each of the process colors (C, M, Y and K) and if those color densities are within the proper tolerance, then the image will look correct to the human eye.

Simulating and reproducing solid, spot colors is a bit more complex. Depending on the color, sometimes just a few percentage points difference in one of the color components make the resulting color visibly different from the target. This is where color matching comes in.

‘Spot’ Colors – We need a target to match

When we are trying to match a specific color in a large solid area, like a logo element, border, or type, we need something to match to. The press needs to know what it is trying to print so it can keep that color within a very tight tolerance around the target. There are two types of targets we can work with – PMS colors and Custom colors.

PMS Colors – the universal language of printed color

Precise Color Matching Pantone is the de facto standard of color communication. According to the company website, over 10 million designers and producers around the world rely on the Pantone color system. You can read more by clicking here. There are hundreds of colors in the Pantone Matching System – also known as PMS colors. New colors are added every few years as design trends and tastes change. The beauty of this universal system is that our press knows these colors. Because they really are a worldwide standard, these colors – and how to print them – are built into our press. The other huge advantage of using PMS colors is that many designers already have a printed PMS book in their studio – it is a very common design tool. With this printed color swatch book, we eliminate the time and cost of creating press proofs.

Custom Colors – when PMS isn’t enough

Sometimes despite all the choices available in the PMS library, the color just isn’t right. In this case, we need to create custom colors. This is an additional step, but it isn’t difficult if we have a correct, printed standard to work from. Often to dial in these custom colors, we will provide physical printed press proofs with different variations on the same color. The customer would review this color proof and pick the color that most closely matches their desired color.

From that chosen printed color sample, we scan that color into our custom color library, and it is retained within the press computer for future runs. These colors are given a specific, descriptive name for future use, such as ‘Acme Company logo blue’.

Designers – Please read carefully!

The most important thing for designers to know about using ‘spot’ colors in jobs printed on the HP Indigo Premium Digital Press is that you must specifically select the proper color in your label design file. The computer can’t guess the color you want – it must be very specific.

PMS colors – you must pick the PMS color from within the graphics program (typically Adobe Illustrator).
NEW Custom Colors – you must specify this as a custom color and coordinate with our graphics department to get a press proof (for an additional fee) to finalize and confirm this new color.
Existing Custom Colors – you must specify the exact name of the custom color that was previously decided. If you submit a future ‘Acme’ label design, but you call the color ‘Acme logo blue’ as opposed to the previously decided ‘Acme Company logo blue’ the computer will not link this new graphic element to the previously designated color.

How we make the colors match

Once these colors (either PMS or designated custom) are properly identified in the label artwork file, then the press magic takes over. Because the press has a digital image of these colors as a reference, it has a standard to compare Precise Color Matching the color to. Throughout the run, as the job is printing, the color is scanned in real-time while the press is running. Those scanned images on the label are compared and corrected during the run. The color accuracy during the run is fantastic.

No Standard = No Color Match

Just to restate – none of this magic can happen without a standard to match to. This standard must be either a PMS color selected within the graphics program, or a custom color that is properly created, named, and used in the label.

Still Not Sure? – No Problem – Call Us Today

We love to provide detailed technical information to help our customers work more efficiently with us. Ultimately this helps us work together to create the best possible labels as quickly and cost effectively as possible. But, if you prefer to chat directly with a live person, we are happy to accommodate that too. Our graphics team is always available by phone or email to answer your specific questions. Together, we can collaborate and make sure your labels are beautiful.