Understanding the Difference Between Digital and Flexographic Printing
At Rose City Label, one of the most common questions we get is: What’s the difference between digital and flexographic printing? The answer depends on a few key factors, like quantity, design complexity, and cost.
Let’s break it down in simple terms.
Digital Printing: Best for Short Runs and Complex Designs
Our HP Indigo digital press is ideal for small to mid-sized label orders. Here’s why:
- Low Setup Costs: Digital printing doesn’t require physical plates or manual ink mixing, so it requires minimal setup time and cost.
- Perfect Registration: The digital press delivers crisp, accurate color placement—every dot of CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) goes precisely where it’s intended, without color shift or trapping issues.
- Press Proofs Available: Want to see a sample before your full run? We can produce a low-cost press proof directly from the machine.
- Flexible Color Options: Digital is great for full-color artwork, smooth gradients, and photography, especially when the design uses more colors than our flexo press can handle.
When to choose digital:
- You need fewer labels.
- Your design includes many colors, gradients, or screens.
- An immature design that may change often.
- Variable data, barcodes, or serial numbers (different on each label).
- Textured materials, typically used for wine or spirits labels.
- You want lower initial costs.
Flexographic Printing: Ideal for High Volumes and Thoughtful Ink Choices
Flexographic (or “flexo”) printing is a traditional, high-speed method using physical printing plates and ink. It’s perfect for larger print runs.
- Ideal for Stable, Established Products: Once the prep and plates are paid for, the ongoing cost can be significantly lower on flexographic designs that print on an ongoing basis.
- Fast, Efficient Runs: The flexo press runs at high speeds once set up, making it very economical for high-volume jobs.
- Fast Turnaround Times: Multiple presses of different sizes allow for scheduling flexibility.
- Pantone Matching: For solid colors, especially brand-specific Pantones, flexo can deliver precise color with a single ink station.
- Metallic Colors and Inline Foil: Although we can create simulated metallic colors on digital, flexo printing offers true metallic PMS colors and possibly inline foil stamping, depending on the design
- More Flexible Finishing: Flexo labels can be delivered in sheets or rolls, can have top scores, perforations, and even back printing on the adhesive or on the backing paper
Flexo-Friendly Design Tips:
- Use spot Pantone colors for linework and text when possible, but be aware of using too many colors, particularly when paired with CMYK.
- Fewer colors can mean less expensive labels, and avoiding screened colors can help too.
- If it works with your design, CMYK linework can be outlined in black for better registration.
However, flexo presses have a limited number of color stations. If your design exceeds those limits, even at high volume, digital may still be the better fit.
So, Which One Is Right for You?
Based on quantity, a job might look like a good candidate for flexo, but if the design has too many colors, digital might be the only option. On the flip side, a simple, Pantone-based design in large quantities can be perfect for flexo.
- Quantity: Generally, lower quantities are better for digital
- Complexity: Very complicated designs, fine screens, or more than seven colors, all lean toward digital
- Cost: Smaller runs are less expensive on digital, while larger runs have a lower unit cost on flexo
- Design Stability: A known, mature design that will reprint often is often better on flexo
Still Unsure? We’re Here to Help.
At Rose City Label, we evaluate every job individually to determine the best print method. Our goal is to provide you with beautiful, high-quality labels on time and on budget.
Contact us today if you’re not sure which print method is right for your next project.
Watch the video below for a side-by-side explanation, label examples, and design tips from our production team.