What exactly is a litho label? In the printing and packaging industries, it’s the important visual that makes your product stand out on the shelf. At Litho Press we take the production of quality litho labels seriously and pride ourselves on being the best in the biz. So to answer the question, “What’s a litho label?” we picked Andy Canady’s brain to share his expertise on litho labels. Andy is an Account Representative at Litho Press with over 25 years of experience in the printing industry.
Read on to learn what Andy shared about litho labels.
What are litho labels and how are they different from other types of labels used in packaging?
We service the corrugated industry and the litho labels we manufacture will go on boxes, displays, or dump bins like you might see while shopping at stores like Walmart or Kroger. More than likely, when you see a display or box, that’s a litho label you’re seeing. The customer will decide whether it’s printed directly onto the corrugated box or applied as a label. For high-end graphics, you’ll typically see a litho label or top sheet applied to the box to make the packaging pop.
Litho labels display the vibrancy, color, and quality of high-end graphics. Printing color directly on the cardboard is more of a matte or dull look. What clients choose depends on the product and the marketing goal of the company. You don’t want to sell a $150 shave kit and have the packaging look like it was made for $.30 cents. That’s the biggest component- litho labels make it look higher-end.
What are the main advantages of using Litho Labels compared to other labeling techniques?
The main advantage of litho labels is the quality of print and the quality of the graphics. For lack of a better term, it just looks better!
Another advantage is being able to apply our cold foil. It’s just another effect that catches the consumer’s eye. We just did a project for a popular sports drink’s packaging that uses cold foil to make a lightning bolt design shine with the foil print. We have the biggest cold foil printing press in the world at Litho Press which our customers love. The cold foil process is done inline with the other colors on the sheet so it’s only one pass through the press. Doing it this way costs the customer less!
Could you walk us through the process of creating litho labels?
The first step is receiving the artwork from our customer. From there, we ask for what we call a structure—the actual CAD drawing of the box. When the art comes in, we want to make sure we have the CAD drawing so we can place the art correctly on top of that structure. That includes bleeds so the ink doesn’t stop before the creases or show the corrugated cardboard. This is all part of the work our pre-press department does. They work together with our clients’ art departments who are great at designing packaging to look pretty. We step in with the expertise to also make the beautiful designs cost-effective and turn out looking the way the client intended.
We see jobs come in 6 or 7 colors when, in our opinion, they could be a 4-color job and save the client money. That’s something an art department might not know. Once a graphic gets past 6 colors, we have to run it through our press twice, which costs more money. We counsel and guide clients to make the job as cost-effective as we can.
We send a proof out for approval, then get it plated, printed, cut, get ready for shipping, and shipped out the door. There are a lot of variables that go into the process, but we always try to get a litho label job out the door within 48-72 hours.
What types of materials are typically used for Litho Labels, and how do these choices impact the final product?
We commonly use 80 lb and 100lb C1S (coated on one side) paper. We also print on top sheets—10, 16, 18, 20, and 24 points—it just depends on the package!
Top sheets are another more durable option. For example, Deep Eddy’s vodka boxes are filled at the bottling plant and need heavier paper to hold up. The package has to have enough structure so the boxes don’t break. Kitchenaid is another example that uses top sheets applied to corrugated boxes by a laminator, which makes the boxes more durable.
What are some common challenges or limitations associated with printing quality litho labels?
Sometimes, the graphics we receive at Litho Press are very low resolution. We’ll get a PDF that we’re not able to manipulate, and that can be a challenge. Designers aren’t taught to set up graphics for printers; they are taught to make designs look beautiful. Good communication is how we problem-solve this! We talk directly to the clients to get what’s needed and create a great product.
In what industries are Litho Labels most commonly used?
Litho label use is so broad – from toothpaste to alcohol to the movie industry. I don’t know if there’s really a rhyme or reason except for anything that needs to be packaged and sold to a consumer!
Are there any recent trends in litho label technology or design?
For us, a big trend has been the cold foil printing. As far as technology, the speed of the printing equipment continues to get faster. The days of pressmen reading color are now primarily done by a computer instead of by the eye. But our pressmen still check color by the eye because nothing beats that. Digital printing has changed the game quite a bit over the last 10 years but it’s not caught up to the look of the lithographic or top sheets.
Do environmental concerns and sustainability factor into the production of litho labels?
Everything that we print is recyclable because our paper is FSC-certified, which means the paper comes from responsibly managed forests. We recycle paper, ink, oils – it’s very rarely that we throw anything into the trash.
What advice would you give to businesses considering using litho labels for their packaging needs?
Just find the best bang for your buck. We’re not the cheapest guy in town but we take care of your customers and they find that is more valuable than simply the cheapest option. Customer service is our number one priority.
I had a job last week where the client forgot to send us the PO. He called and said “hey, did I send you this PO?” I went into our job system and saw we never received it. They needed it tomorrow! We printed it that night and the next day I was visiting them in Atlanta and the labels were delivered when I was there.
We know that we’re just one step in the process and we never want to hold up the process on our end. Something that makes Litho Press a little different is that we still do stuff the old-school way. We’re here in person looking at projects and picking up the phone to call you when we have questions or suggestions for your project. We tell the truth to everybody whether it’s in our favor or not, but it’s the only way to do business.
Thanks to Andy for sharing his deep expertise on litho labels! Reach out to Andy Canady and learn more about the entire Litho Press team here.
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