A Brief of Print Labels Technology and Print Labels Type

The print labels are used for product or brand identification, imparting knowledge or information about the product, and for stopping counterfeiting. The print labels help in creating a brand image, in identifying, increasing awareness about the brand. The increase in safety and precaution by customers is requiring the company to use print labels on its products for providing essential information. The labels printed on the outer side of products and packaging materials are for providing the consumer with essential informationlike its usage, instruction on how to use, ingredients it is made up of, and date of manufactured, expiry date, certifications, and government license. The increase in advancement in technology is helping in creating creative and high-quality labels.

The print labels have a variety of applications like food & beverage, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and many more. The print labels can be made from different types of printing techniques like Inkjet Printing, Offset, Letterpress, Flexographic Printing, Screen Printing, Gravure Printing, and Digital. There are different types of print labels such as Pressure Sensitive Labels, In-Mold Labels, Wet-Glued labels, Multi-Part Tracking Labels, and others; these are used according to the requirements. The advancing technology in printing techniques and high utilization in packaging by different industry verticals is expected to grow the market share of the Packaging Industry.

Types of Print Labels: –

Pressure Sensitive Labels

The pressure-sensitive labels are a label that only needs the pressure of a finger or hand to be applied and they use an adhesive that is tacky in normal conditions. The pressure-sensitive label uses paper, film, and foil as their primary materials and they can be applied with many various kinds of ink. It only requires a light or moderate pressure for applying on a product surface. The pressure-sensitive labels are made up of three layers a face material, a pressure sensitive adhesive, and a backing sheet coated in a release agent. The layers are required to be laminated together and then die cut to produce the individual labels. The pressure sensitive labels can be in the form of sheet, roll, or fan-fold format as a final product. The increased use of pressure sensitive labels is increasing the demand in the print labels market.

In-mold Labels

The in-mold labeling was initially designed for blow molding. The in-mold labeling uses paper or plastic labels during the manufacturing of containers by different techniques. The mold labeling uses three types of techniques injection molding, Blow molding, and Thermoforming. The in-molding labels help in reducing printing costs but take more time in manufacturing. In-mold labels have several benefits like it gives maximum print quality, the in-mold labels resist humidity. Scratch-resistant, are not susceptible to wrinkles, lower production cost, are environmental, provides a wide range of look and feel options, and it’s easy to shift from one label design to another.

Wet-Glue Labels

The wet-glue is majorly used in the food and beverage industry as it provides quality, longer print runs, and is less costly. The wet-glue labels are very common and typically used for bottles, jars, and plastic containers. The wet-glue labels are coated at the time of application, the printed paper or film substrates are coated on the labeling line immediately before application. The wet-glue labels are available in lamination form, cold-foil stamping, and can be cut or die-cut to any shape.

Sleeves Labels

The sleeves labels are used for giving brands more space to communicate about their products with the customers. The sleeve labels use heat and shrink technology. This technology involves the application of heat to film to shrink it to conform to the contours of a container. The sleeves labels have a lot of advantages like it can be used for just covering a cap of the container to full 100%, 360-degree coverage of container. This gives the brand a wider space to communicate with prospective customers.

Multi-part Labels

The multi-part labels are used for preventing thefts and for increasing the chances of asset recovery. The multi-part labels can replace the need for several different labels on a single product. It reduces costs and saves time. The multi-part labels are used across many industries and in many varying applications like for promotional stickers, money-off vouchers, special price offers in the retail environment on many different products or across the logistics sector where they are used to track parcel movements. The multi-part labels used in tags can duplicate the information in various parts of the tag to reduce errors and prevent vandals from removing them.

Types of Printing Technology are: –

Flexography

Flexography is a form of printing process which uses a flexible relief plate. It is a type of modern version of letterpress which has evolved with high-speed rotary functionality. The flexography type of printing can be used for printing on any kind of substrates including plastic, metallic films, cellophane, and paper. The flexographic printing transfers ink from the plate directly to the printed substrate. The growing use of the flexography printing technique to increase the print labels market share.

Letterpress

It creates an image through relief printing, using raised metal type or plates to compose the required image before the image carrier is linked and the substrate pressed against the image carrier in order to transform the image onto the substrate.

Offset Printing

The offset printing is commonly used; the inked image is transferred from plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. The offset printing consists of four process colors cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (which is black). It is, therefore, has a major function in the printing process is the prepress production helping in creating all files correctly processed in preparation for printing. The offset printing consists of two types of water offset and waterless offset.

Digital printing

Digital printing is a cost-effective method for printing custom labels with photographic quality graphics, crisp text, and vibrant colors. The digital printing helps in on-demand printing, in short, turnaround time, and can be modified for each impression. Digital printing uses inkjet or laser printers that help in depositing pigment or toner onto a wide variety of substrates including paper, photo paper, canvas, glass, metal, marble, and other substances.