The truth is, digital printing has so many benefits that it can be hard to keep track of them all. Compared to traditional flexographic and rotogravure printing, digital printing is more economical, produces higher-quality graphics, and is much (much) better for the environment. Not only that, but digital printing offers many design options that allow you to customize your packaging to your heart’s content!
So, whether you’re already a digital printing convert or are looking for a reason to switch over, there’s always something new to learn when it comes to choosing digital!
1. Sustainable
Yes, it is true – digital printing is more sustainable than traditional printing methods. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons for this is digital printing doesn’t use printing plates, meaning small design changes or fixes are easy and don’t result in wasted printing supplies. Often, a design that has been reviewed by a handful of people on the client’s side can still make its way to production with content errors – with traditional printing this means a wasted printing plate and making a whole new one, while with a digital printer it’s a couple of simple clicks of the mouse and you’re back in production.
Similarly, unlike traditional printing, the inks used in our digital printers are void of any harmful chemicals, so less toxic waste is being released into the environment! Here at Rootree, we use compostable inks on all of our packaging, not just on our compostable line. While this doesn’t give non-compostable packaging the ability to sustainably break-down, it does ensure that the inks used on our packages won’t release harmful waste into the earth.
Digital printing is also less of a guessing game when it comes to accurately printing the packaging’s design. As technology allows colours and dimensions to be applied to the package more precisely, there are fewer test-runs needed to perfect the printing process!
2. Customizable
Adding customized features is a much simpler, economical, and time-saving process with digital printing. Not only are some of these customizable features not available with traditional printing, but the rest of them will take much more time and ink to complete, therefore costing you significantly more for the same end result.
a. Windows
Adding any number of windows to your packaging (customized shapes included!) is no sweat for our digital printers, meaning it doesn’t cost extra in the process! Customized windows can help you create a packaging you love, show off your amazing product inside, and will draw special attention to your products on the shelf, ensuring you stand out against your competitors. What more could you want?
Image credit: veggie-confetti.com
b. Metallic
If you’re looking to add a bit of ✨shine✨ to your packaging, adding custom-placed metallic features is one of the best ways to achieve this! Our printers are able to create a metallized effect in almost any colour anywhere on your packaging! Metallic effects help add an essence of luxury to your packaging and can make your product pop against your competitors’!
c. Collage
Did you know you can create inter-changeable collages with digital printing that vary from package to package? Our printers easily take a pre-set pattern and slightly differentiate it between each package, creating unique-yet-uniform packaging! Take a look at this example to the right:
Image credit: hp.com
d. Mosaic
Similar to the collage feature, our printer software has the ability to create a unique design for each individual package! The HP SmartStream printer’s software automatically creates designs based on core patterns that it’s supplied, meaning you choose the elements and patterns you want featured and it will randomly apply them in different positions and sizes! You have the ability to decide which patterns/colours you would like applied together, so you have total control over how the final products will look!
e. Variable & Personalized
Perhaps one of the best examples of personalized packaging comes from Coca Cola. Do you remember their campaign where they released personalized bottles? If you were lucky enough, you were able to find a bottle of Coca Cola with your name on it. From an outsider’s perspective, it could seem like taking this large of a campaign would be time-consuming, expensive, and nearly unachievable to a small business. But we have good news for you: this style of marketing is easily do-able for your own company, and it doesn’t just pertain to names! You can easily customize an individual package with certain images, text, colours, etc. so your packaging feels as though it’s speaking directly to your consumers. It’s wild what technology can do, isn’t it?
3. Shorter runs, multiple SKUs
Say goodbye to mandatory minimums and needless waste! 👋 Because we don’t use printing plates, you’re able to order as many units as you need without worrying about paying extra or having a surplus of products. This also means you can easily say ‘hello’ to multiple SKUs, as it’s never been simpler to split your order up by flavour, product, and more at no additional cost! This way, you’re able to focus more of your energy and resources into your business, and less on unnecessary purchases! One of our favourite ways to take advantage of this feature is to create specialty holiday packaging! You’re able to order any number of packages just for the holiday season without worrying about paying extra! This is a great promotional way to get your product out in the world!
In general, digital printing has a quicker turnaround time than traditional! This is because we can skip over a lot of the labour-intensive processes of traditional production and just hit “print”, creating shorter lead times for you. Just another bonus to digital printing!
4. Economical
As we’ve mentioned previously, opting for digital printing is an economical decision, making it the perfect choice for small and medium-sized businesses. Not only are we entirely based out of Canada, meaning there’s no extra cost for importing your packaging, but we don’t use printing plates! This means you can change your SKUs and quantities on every order – just send us your new artwork and you’re all set.
As quality is generally higher on digitally-printed packaging and you can add extra features that give your packaging a premium appearance, you can also receive more bang-for-your-buck and gain more credibility with future consumers. Sign us up!
5. Unlimited colour options
If you want the rainbow, you get the rainbow! 🌈 Because our presses have the ability to print unlimited colours, you never have to choose between your colourful (and very expensive) dream packaging and a more plain, less expensive 2-3 colour option. You can always incorporate as many colours as you desire. Just another great reason to switch over to digital!
Final Thoughts
Are you a digital believer yet? Have we successfully converted you to go green, save money, and create great looking packaging that’s 100% designed, produced, and distributed in Canada? If your answer is yes, that’s great! You can start your journey to digital here by talking to one of our sales reps!
If your answer is ‘This sounds interesting, but I’m not convinced yet’ or ‘Maybe, but I have more questions’, we can definitely help. Our sales team loves to chat about our products, processes, and all the cool things we can do. Head here to talk to one of them, and don’t be afraid of asking them your hard-hitting questions; they can handle it, we promise.