Sharp Bag Artwork Specifications

Flexographic Printing

Involves polymer plates wrapped around a cylinder. Due to the fact that the plates are made of a flexible material, the printing results are different than other printing processes such as offset printing, which is done with metal plates. With this in mind, the art preparation process is a bit different. The following specs should help your design to be printed flexographically.

• Scanning Artwork/Logos
  Scan art at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) and at 100% scale. Artwork or logos taken from the internet will not reproduce at a high quality, the resolution is at 72 dpi which is too low for printing. If you have camera-ready art we can scan it for you.

• Macintosh or PC Software
  Our art department is Macintosh based. Our preferred program for building artwork is Adobe Illustrator for Mac. We also accept InDesign, Quark XPress, or Photoshop files. We are able to convert PC based files as well.

• Sending Artwork
  You may send your artwork on CD-Rom, DVD-Rom, or through e-mail as an attachment (limited to 10mb folders - please be sure to send a PDF). Send all file components and both printer and screen fonts. Please be sure to send a color printout with your file.

• Dielines
  Please contact us to see if we have a dieline that is compatible with your art. When designing your artwork, please maintain 1/8" margin from all perfs, 1/4" margin from all seals/holes and 1-1/2" margin from bag opening, unless it is an intentional bleed. Please create new dielines in Adobe Illustrator.

• Type Specifications
  Minimum type size is 6pt for positive and 8pt bold for reverse. Sans serif fonts work best for type smaller than 7pt. Type reproduces best as one color, not as a process-build. PLEASE do not set type in Photoshop, this is best done in Illustrator, for trapping purposes. If there are technical drawings in your design make it positive print and try to keep all the rules above 1pt. Please contact your sales representative for suggestions.

• Common Plates
  You can keep costs down by keeping common design pieces in the same place on each separate part number.

• Screens or Gradients
  When creating screens or gradients in an artwork file, be sure to take the file from a minimum 5% to a maximum of 100%. Anything under 5% may not reproduce well. The finest line screen we can hold is 100 lpi (lines per inch).

• Bar Codes
  Try to keep barcodes at 100% or higher. We can go as low as 80%, but we can not guarantee it for scannability. Please keep barcode size in mind when creating small designs. Bar Codes print and scan better if they are printed in a dark color on a white back up. It is recommended that the bar code direction be consistent with the web direction (see unwind direction)

• Unwind Direction
  The unwind direction is the direction that bags or sleeves will come off the roll. If this is a non-automated application (bags will be filled by hand or sleeves will be applied by hand), the unwind direction is not important. When machines are used, that specific machine will have a necessary unwind direction. Please contact your sales representative with questions on unwind direction.

• Re-creating ArtworkUnwind Direction
  If you have a sample bag/sleeve, we can re-create your artwork for you, for an added charge. Be sure to send the best print sample you can find.