At Rose City Label, we love helping our customers get the best results from their label designs—both visually and financially. When it comes to flexographic printing, a few smart design adjustments can make your artwork more efficient and cost-effective to print.
This post is the first in our series on making label designs flexo-friendly. Today’s focus is on reducing color complexity and improving print registration.
Why Simplify Colors?
Flexographic printing uses individual plates and stations for each color, so every additional color adds time, cost, and complexity. The fewer colors required to create a specific tone, the better your label will run on a flexo press.
Example: Adjusting a Red Color Build
Let’s say you have a red area in your design that’s built using all four CMYK colors—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. While this may look fine digitally, it’s not ideal for flexo printing because:
More colors = more risk of misregistration (colors not lining up perfectly)
More complexity = higher setup time and cost
Here’s how we make it better:
Start by identifying the key colors. For red, we know magenta and yellow are essential. Cyan and black are often used to darken the tone, but they aren’t always necessary. For your color, look at which colors use the largest percentages of CMY or K. Colors with low percentages are more likely to be able to be successfully removed and compensated for.
Remove unnecessary components.
Try removing black first. If the color becomes too light, that’s okay—we’ll compensate later.
Increase cyan in order to compensate for the lack of black.
Adjust remaining values.
Increase magenta and yellow to deepen the red.
Result: You now have a red that’s built from just two or three colors—a huge improvement for flexo production. If it looks similar enough to what you want, it’ll help us out. If not? Maybe try looking at different low percentage color (removing Cyan for example, and compensating with black). It will print more clearly and consistently, and it sets up faster on press.
What About Small Text?
Even if you simplify large areas, fine type—like government warnings or ingredient text—can still be a challenge.
When small text is built from multiple colors, any slight misalignment can make it:
Blurry
Unreadable
The wrong color entirely
A Simple Fix:
Ask your designer or prepress partner if you can change fine print to black only. This single-color solution:
Removes all registration risk
Prints clearly over other colors (like yellow)
Ensures legibility, especially in small fonts
The Payoff
By reducing the number of colors used in large areas and simplifying your fine text, your label design becomes much more flexo-friendly. That means:
Faster press setup
Lower production costs
Cleaner, more reliable results
Want to see how this looks in action?
Watch the video below to follow a real-world example of optimizing a label for flexo printing. Our team walks you through the process, showing before-and-after adjustments in real design files.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the series, where we’ll examine grading two Pantone colors together to simulate the look of a CMYK gradient.
As President of Rose City Label, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with outstanding brands, helping them share their stories through beautifully crafted labels. The Celebrate Series is particularly special, bringing together modern aesthetics and lively character—perfectly embodying Kramer Vineyards’ spirit of celebrating life’s everyday moments.
The journey began with Kramer Vineyards’ desire to elevate their sparkling wines with labels that captured the fun and uniqueness of each varietal. Kim Kramer, winemaker and visionary behind the series, partnered with Rachel Tourville of Graphic Lime Creative to transform these wines into a unified, yet distinctly expressive collection.
Each wine’s personality is wonderfully captured in the design: bold colors inspired by past iterations, wraparound labels featuring striking vertical typography, and thoughtful imagery connecting directly to each wine’s story.
“The modern design is chic and eye-catching. This is the perfect example of how a series can be done beautifully.”
Judge
We’re incredibly proud to have printed these labels, and to see our partners recognized for their creativity and vision. It reaffirms our belief that a well-designed label is more than just packaging—it’s a powerful storyteller.
Congratulations again to Kim Kramer, Rachel Tourville, and everyone at Kramer Vineyards. We’re honored to be a part of your journey and excited to continue celebrating everyday successes together!
One of the most common issues we see at Rose City Label is label artwork submitted without all the necessary files. We get it—file prep can be confusing. But don’t worry! We’re here to help you get it right the first time so your labels print perfectly.
When you create a label in Adobe Illustrator, it’s essential to understand that the final .ai file often doesn’t include everything it needs to print correctly—mainly if you’ve used custom fonts or imported images.
Packaging your file is a critical step before you send it to us.
Why You Need to Package Your File
When you send only the Illustrator file:
Custom fonts may not display correctly on our end.
Linked images may be missing entirely.
The layout might shift, causing unexpected print issues.
Packaging gathers all the assets—images, fonts, and artwork—into a single folder. It keeps everything clean, tidy, and ready for print.
How to Package in Adobe Illustrator
Here’s a quick walkthrough:
Open Your Final File: Ensure everything looks correct on your end—images are linked, text is in place, and you’re happy with the design.
Go to File > Package: This tells Illustrator to gather everything needed to reproduce your file correctly.
Choose a Destination: Pick a folder location (like your Desktop), name your package something clear (like Sarat_2023), and make sure these options are selected:
✔ Copy Links
✔ Collect Links in Separate Folder
✔ Include Fonts
✔ Include Linked Files
Click “Package”: Illustrator will create a folder that contains your .ai file, a Links folder for images, and a Fonts folder with any custom typefaces you’ve used.
Zip the Folder: Right-click the new folder and choose “Compress” (Mac) or “Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder” (Windows). This ensures nothing gets lost in transit.
How to Send It to Us
Once zipped, you can send the package in whichever way works best for you:
Email
FTP
Dropbox
WeTransfer
Or any file-sharing method you prefer!
Taking a few extra minutes to package your file correctly saves time, avoids production delays, and ensures your labels look as great in print as they do on screen.
Thanks for working with us—we’re excited to bring your label to life!
When submitting your label design, a few last-minute checks can save you from costly errors and reprints. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through essential final checks—from clipping masks to text placement—so you can be sure your design is ready for press.
Watch the video below for a step-by-step demonstration, and read on for a concise overview.
1. Verify Your Die Line & Clipping Masks
Check shape alignment. If you’re using a custom shape, offsetting the path Object > Path > Offset Path (for example, by 0.2 inches) helps reveal any misalignment.
Clean up your clipping masks. Make sure your image and die line match perfectly. If there’s a stray or incorrect mask, remove it and create a correct clipping mask with the right object.
2. Maintain a Safety Margin
Offset the die by 1/16″ (0.0625″). This margin is your die “safety zone.” Any critical text or artwork that crosses this line risks being cut off.
Move the text inward. Keep important details inside the safe area so the final cut won’t clip your design elements.
3. Align & Center Your Elements
Use alignment tools. Double-check that text or graphics are centered and look balanced on the label.
Watch for off-center text. Even small shifts can be noticeable when printed, so take a moment to make it perfect.
4. Remove Extraneous Objects
Path Clean Up. In Illustrator, use Object > Path > Clean Up to get rid of unwanted points or stray elements.
Check your links. Ensure there aren’t any hidden images or random objects hanging around that you don’t actually need.
5. Final Review
Hide/unhide layers. Temporarily hide layers to see if there’s anything still lurking on the artboard that shouldn’t be there.
Set up for success. With everything cleaned up and properly placed, you’ll avoid surprises once the job hits the press.
Watch the Video
Curious about how it’s done in real-time? Check out our quick demonstration of these final checks. You’ll see exactly how to offset paths, manage clipping masks, and keep your design safe and tidy.
Have Questions?
If you’re still unsure about your file setup or need help finalizing your design, feel free to reach out to Rose City Label. We’re here to help make your label printing process as smooth as possible!
Custom shapes are a fun way to make your labels stand out, but the process can be trickier than working with standard shapes. Below are our tips to help you set up a file for a custom die line—so you can get the exact shape you want without any surprises.
Watch the Tutorial
1. Set Up Your Artboard to Match the Desired Label Size
Size matters. Make sure your artboard size matches the final label size you want. In the example, we used a 3″ x 4″ artboard.
Align carefully. Position your shape to align perfectly with the artboard’s boundaries. This positioning will help ensure accurate cutting and printing.
2. Watch for Sharp Corners & Tight Curves
Die limitations. If your design has extremely sharp corners or tiny details, the die-maker may be unable to produce them. It’s best to avoid tiny or delicate shapes or simplify them so they can be cut cleanly.
Adjust as needed. If a corner is too sharp, remove or smooth it out so it meets manufacturing requirements.
3. Use a Dedicated Die Line Layer
Keep the die line separate. Place your die line on its own layer named something like “Die Line.”
Stroke only. Set the die line as a stroke rather than a filled shape to differentiate it from the rest of your design clearly.
4. Create a Spot Color for the Die Line
Define a spot color. Name it something like “Die Cut” in your swatches. This should be set as a Spot Color, not CMYK or RGB.
Check separations. In your Separations Preview (if you have one), you’ll see your new die line spot color listed alongside the usual CMYK inks.
Overprint. Set the stroke to overprint so it doesn’t knock out or alter the artwork underneath.
5. Don’t Forget Bleeds
Set bleed values. If your design extends to the label’s edge, ensure you have the proper bleed (usually around 0.125″ beyond the cut line).
Avoid white slivers. Proper bleeds ensure there aren’t any thin white edges after cutting.
Why All This Matters
Following these tips will save you time and headaches. The die line is crucial for telling our manufacturing equipment exactly where to cut the label. Clear setup and proper spot color designation mean fewer revisions, lower costs, and a quicker turnaround for your project.
Need More Help?
Check out the video for a step-by-step demo of creating a custom die line. Or reach out to our team here at Rose City Label for guidance—we’re always happy to help you get the perfect shape for your project.
