The ABC of Packaging Design: Preparing Packaging for Print
Class Trailer
Skill Level: Designers at any level - with some knowledge in Illustrator
No. of Students: N/A
Class Length: 39 minutes
Software Required: Adobe Illustrator
About This Class
You've just finalised your latest packaging design project but you're not 100% sure how to successfully prepare it for print, or you've been preparing your packaging designs for print but you're not sure if you've missed a step and don't feel confident about it or you are confident in your process but always wonder how to add that extra touch to your packagings by using special finishes, printing techniques and materials. If any of these sound familiar, this class is for you!
If we haven't met yet, my name is Beatrice Menis, I’m a Branding & Packaging Designer, educator & multi-hyphenate business owner with 15+ years of industry experience ✨
I’m here to share my love and knowledge for packaging design, helping other creatives gain confidence, land new clients and work on projects they truly love!
Who is this class for?
It's for designers who:
→ Have a basic knowledge of Illustrator
→ Are curious about printing techniques & finishes
→ Want to level-up and elevate their packaging designs with special printing touches.
What are we covering in this class?
1. Colour Setup:
We'll kick-off the class by looking at the two most common color modes: CMYK and RGB.
We'll go over when is best to use them and which formats they support.
2. Printing Techniques:
We'll go through the three most common printing techniques when it comes to packaging design:
• Offset Printing
• Digital Printing
• Flexo Printing
And we will look at pros and cons for each technique and understand when they're best used for.
3. File & Workspace Setup:
Up next we will set up our file, to make sure we're using the correct color mode and settings and we will create a custom workspace for artwork creation, this will come in very handy every time you'll need to prepare any new files for print!
4. Layers & Die-Cut Setup:
We will go through a basic layer setup which should serve you as a great starting point when preparing any new packaging designs for print.
Once the layers have been setup we will learn about spot colors and how to correctly setup a die-cut/cutter/dieline and its measurements.
5. Special Finishes:
In this lesson we will go through special finishes, we will learn how to create a spot color for a holographic texture and how to correctly set up all of the elements using a special finish.
6. Artwork Legend:
We will go through a handy legend/notes to include in each artwork highlighting elements such as date, project name, colours present in the file, visual reference and so on. This will be extremely useful not only for your records but to clearly communicate your vision to the supplier!
7. Exporting for Print:
Last but not least we'll export our files for print! We'll go through how to export our file as an outlined PDF and an outlined Illustrator
settings.
BONUS: Artwork Checklist
I've created an interactive artwork checklist that you'll be able to use each time you're preparing a file for print, you'll be able to tick off each step as you follow along!
You can download it from here: Artwork Checklist Download
Resources
You can download an Illustrator file here which contains the basic layer setup, the artwork workspace and an empty artwork legend, you can find it here.
You can download and import my "artwork" workspace into your Illustrator.
To do so, save the workspace onto your computer, you can find it here.
Once you've saved it go to Finder > Go > Library (hold option for Library to show) > Preferences > Adobe Illustrator > en_GB > Workspaces and save it in there, next time you open your Illustrator you should be able to see the "artwork" workspace!
You can download the artwork checklist here: Artwork Checklist Download
Colour Setup
→ Read about more color modes here
→ Learn about Pantone which is not a color mode but a colour-matching system universally used
Printing Techniques
→ Read more about printing techniques here
→ Read about print finishing here
Deliverables
We will go through two different packaging designs which we will prepare for print.
The first packaging design that we will prepare for print will be a very simple nail polish label:
The second packaging design that we will prepare for print is a more complex packaging with multiple elements and using a special holographic finish.