Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
This thread is to document, step by step, our production of a sizeable label job we've done for a regular client for several years now. It is assumed that, for many here, the job may seem routine and not all that interesting. Our hope is, that for a number of others, the information will be helpful and educational. It will also point out to some the value of a Gerber Edge for this kind of a job. The job was for 5,000 labels printed with Spot Gold Metallic and Spot Black foils on white cast vinyl. From start to shrink wrap, the job took seven hours and produced a profit after cost of materials that exceeded $200 an hour return on my time ... the total of which exceeds what our Edge and Envision plotter would likely bring if we sold it on the open market.
Printing is done is two passes, one for each spot color, 5 feet at a time which yields 220 labels per print run. Limiting the length of a run keeps handling easier and also results in better color to color registration.
Our plotter sits at the opposite end of a 6 foot table. We feed the completed prints into it directly so that we can print and cut at the same time.
Once the printing and cutting is done, they are moved to our weeding and finishing area.
After weeding off the unprinted vinyl, we're ready to trim out the labels into single vertical strips.
First the excess release liner is trimmed off the top and bottom of each section on our Keen Cutter setup.
Next the sections are cut down to single vertical strips on our guillotine cutter. The use of a low profile fluorescent light allows the blade edge to be seen through the release liner to avoid bad cuts and get done faster.
Here's a rare photo of your genial host at work.
The trimmed out labels are sorted into stacks of 1,000 labels and finally shrunk wrapped to protect them and create a quality impression for the client.
Printing is done is two passes, one for each spot color, 5 feet at a time which yields 220 labels per print run. Limiting the length of a run keeps handling easier and also results in better color to color registration.
Our plotter sits at the opposite end of a 6 foot table. We feed the completed prints into it directly so that we can print and cut at the same time.
Once the printing and cutting is done, they are moved to our weeding and finishing area.
After weeding off the unprinted vinyl, we're ready to trim out the labels into single vertical strips.
First the excess release liner is trimmed off the top and bottom of each section on our Keen Cutter setup.
Next the sections are cut down to single vertical strips on our guillotine cutter. The use of a low profile fluorescent light allows the blade edge to be seen through the release liner to avoid bad cuts and get done faster.
Here's a rare photo of your genial host at work.
The trimmed out labels are sorted into stacks of 1,000 labels and finally shrunk wrapped to protect them and create a quality impression for the client.
