Digital label printing

Digital label printing

Digital label printing is a rapidly developing technology that’s changing the label industry. Each year, new printers hit the market, improving the quality of labels available while reducing printing costs and turnaround times.

Digital label printing vs. flexographic printing

The process of traditional and modern flexographic printing begins with making a design into a printing plate. Then, that plate is set up on a press to imprint your design onto labels as they’re fed into the press. Though printing plates are highly efficient and cost effective for large-scale orders, they take time to create and carry significant setup and changeover costs, making them inefficient for short and medium sized runs. Like much more high-tech versions of desktop printers, digital label printers read digital design files and use ink heads to print those designs directly onto label materials — eliminating the need for plates.

As new printers and technologies have emerged, digital label printing has become more and more reliable and offers the absolute highest quality. For small to medium sized runs, it’s a superior option to flexographic label printing.

Variable data printing (VDP)

Digital label printing is the only label option that can take advantage of variable data printing (VDP) technology. VDP involves taking information from a database and parsing it so each label within an individual print run can have a unique design. It’s the exact opposite idea of printing with plates; instead of mass producing one design, VDP allows you to customize every design (or print sizable quantities of two or more designs in the same print run). VDP is a great solution for:

• Consecutive numbering
• Sequential barcodes
• Variable titles
• Altering text
• Customizing imagery for branding
• And much, much more

Brands often use VDP to increase ROI from marketing campaigns because it allows them to test different product designs, messaging and branding. It’s a great tool for promotions, as it allows brands to customize individual labels with unique elements, such as game codes. VDP even allows you to efficiently and cost-effectively personalize products to your customers — whether you want to run a seasonal promotion or show off something unique at an upcoming event.

Our digital label printing capabilities

At Resource Label Group, we offer national reach with a local touch. We have all the full-scale capabilities of a coast-to-coast company, and from locations across the U.S. and in Canada, we deliver cutting-edge label printing with the most accessible, local service. We have a complete stock of the absolute latest digital label printers and are continually investing in our technology so we can provide rapid turnarounds and order fulfillment. Our experienced team will assist you with creative solutions to help you get the most from digital printing and your label.