Plates vs. Dies: Understanding the Difference and What You Need to Know
Understanding the differences between printing “plates” and cutting “dies” and the tools used to create your packaging will give you an idea of how the entire process works. Proper tooling is vital to the creation of the perfect product for you. With precise edges and crisp printing, plates and dies are some of the most important tools to custom packaging. Let’s take a look at them and see what the differences are and what they’re all about.
Flexographic printing is
much like rubber stamps, print plates are thin and typically made
with a rubber-like material. Lithographic printing is made of a
thin plastic or metal. They are used to print line art and text
directly onto your custom box. Digital printing does not use print
plates at all.
The print plates are mounted to cylinders on a printing press and it runs through the ink and directly onto your box. Each colour requires a separate set of plates. As your design is cut from the plate, the negative parts of your design do not collect ink and does not show up on the box. The best way to describe this is, if you were to take a stamp, dip it in ink and place it on a piece of paper, this is the same result that printing plates create.
Each custom box has a unique design that goes beyond the artwork. Specific dimensions, handles or no handles, anything that you want to make your packaging uniquely your own, will require a cutting die. A cutting die is a tool made from heavy plywood and a steel rule, which is placed into the plywood in the shape of your box. Like the print plate, this gets mounted on a giant cylinder and as the corrugated sheet is passed through our machines, edges are cut, and creases are creased, and your box takes form.