Troubleshooting

Film Has a Grain. That Is Why Your Bag Tears Crooked.

A tear notch decides where a tear starts, not where it goes. Why packaging film has a grain, how web layout sets it, and when laser scori...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

You Cannot Scale a 12 oz Bag Up to a 5 lb Bag

Bag panels do not scale proportionally, and artwork shrinks well but grows badly. Why the same file fails on a bigger bag, and why you de...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

Ink Does Not Weld. That Is Why Your Seal Opened.

Artwork that runs into the seal zone leaves ink inside the weld, and ink does not weld. Why the bag still looks perfect, why it fails lat...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

Somewhere in Your Roll Is a Joint. Those Bags Are Scrap.

A splice in a roll of film is deliberate, not damage. Why it costs you a few bags mid-run, why it reads as a defect, and what flagging an...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

Your Bags Did Not Get Fragile in Transit. They Got Cold.

Cold film loses impact strength, so gussets split and zippers tear under normal handling. Why it looks like transit damage, and the free ...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

Your Bags Are Not Stuck Together. They Are Charged.

New coffee bags that cling carry a static charge from the converting line, not humidity. What it costs you, and why settling time is buil...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

Your New Bags Have a Faint Smell. Coffee Is Very Good at Absorbing It.

A fresh carton of laminated coffee bags often carries a faint chemical note. Where it comes from, why coffee of all things will pick it u...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

Your Coffee Bag Is Already Glossy. The Matte Varnish Is What Takes It Away.

On a rotogravure bag the PET is glossy to begin with, and matte varnish is what removes that shine. Applying less of it in selected areas...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

Why Your Coffee Bag Barcode Won't Scan, and How to Make It Part of the Design

A barcode has only four rules: dark bars, a clear quiet zone, full height, and a flat spot on the back panel. Everything else is yours, w...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

Why Your Coffee Bag Has a Seam Down the Back (and What It Does to Your Art)

The seam down the back of a coffee bag is how a flat roll of film becomes a tube. What a fin seal and a lap seal are, why the seam matter...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

You Approved Your Color on Foil. Compostable Kraft Is a Different Canvas.

The same artwork prints differently on compostable kraft than on a conventional laminate. The substrate is not optically bright, the inks...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

Your Coffee Bag Is Printed on the Inside. That Is Why It Never Scuffs Off.

On a laminated coffee bag the ink is printed on the underside of the outer film and sealed inside the wall. Why the graphics never scuff ...

Read more →

Troubleshooting

RGB vs CMYK: Why Your Packaging Colors Look Different on Screen

RGB vs CMYK, explained for packaging: why your colors look different on screen, why Mac and PC displays disagree, and how to get printed ...

Read more →