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Preparing Your Artwork: Lithographic Printing

Lithographic printing involves placing a design on a plate, after which the same plate can be reused to reproduce the same image onto various materials ranging from paper to leather. Lithographic printing is a cost-effective, high-resolution printing method for clients who require bulk or repeat orders because once the plate is made, it can be reused multiple times.

Setting up Your Artwork for Lithographic Printing

Since lithographic printing involves printing from a plate, it’s essential to ensure accuracy when preparing your design for this printing method. Follow these steps:

  1. Get an approved die line from Bolt Boxes: Before you start designing, obtain the correct die line template from us. You’ll see where the cuts and folds are and know where to bleed the design around the edges.
  2. Use the right program: Files must be from InDesign or Illustrator — don’t send JPGs, BMP or TIFF format files.
  3. Include all fonts with submitted files: Let us know exactly which fonts you want us to use or provide an outline. Font sizes smaller than 6pt must not be reversed out, as they may fill in.
  4. Provide links and supporting images with submitted files: Send or embed all images used in your document.
  5. Submit high-quality graphics: Images created through anchor points can be bent, stretched and resized without hindering quality. Photos should range from 150 to 300 dots per inch (DPI). Start with a high resolution instead of forcing images to the appropriate DPI. Submitted bitmap line art images must be 1,200 DPI.
  6. Consider the material being printed on: Some papers and coating will crack, especially dark colors that bend around corners. In the printing industry, this is called checking. If this is a concern, contact a Bolt Boxes representative so we can discuss alternative materials for your job.
  7. Bleed all background colors and graphics ¼ inch past cut and crease lines: Slight machine variances sometimes cause artwork along creases, edges and borders to shift marginally.
  8. Don’t flatten your files: Leave the original layers used in the creative process in case we need to make any adjustments.
  9. List all colors in your design: Provide Pantone or CMYK colors.

Label Preparation Guidelines for Lithographic Printing

*Registration: The precise alignment of different inks during printing — since machines may move slightly during production, slight variances in registration may occur.

Common Applications of Lithographic Printing

Lithographic printing is an excellent option when you need large runs of materials featuring high-quality images with sharp details. It is a versatile printing style that is suitable for printing on various materials. Since printing plates can be reused, it’s ideal for clients needing future repeat orders. Lithographic printing produces top-notch printed results and is the method of choice for producing high-quality brochures, promotional posters, catalogs and magazines.

What to Do After You Receive Structural Samples

Receiving your product structural sample boxes is an exciting step in the process. It is essential to carefully evaluate and test every aspect of the samples to ensure the design and dimensions are a perfect fit for your product. Structural samples may arrive fully assembled, but remember that your final production order will be shipped flat unless otherwise specified.

Evaluate the following three F’s while examining samples to ensure they will be an excellent packaging solution for your product:

Remember that CAD-cut structural samples may differ slightly from final press run boxes. Slight variances, which may include things like edge crush or inconsistencies in material rigidity along score lines, in no way impact the overall quality, fit, form and function being assessed.

Call Us Today to Create Top-Quality Lithographic Printed Boxes

Lithographic printing produces premium-quality printed boxes featuring vibrant colors and sharp details. Bolt Boxes has be