Artwork prep for printed pouches: dieline, bleed, white ink and barcodes

Start with the dieline

Ask for the template of the format you are quoting and work on it. A pouch dieline marks the cut line, the seal zones (where the material is fused and information should not go), the gusset, the zipper strip, the valve position and the notch. Many converters also include the eye mark that guides the cutting machine. Each SKU is delivered as a separate file on the same dieline.

• Do not scale or rotate the template; if you need another size, ask for another dieline.
• Keep the dieline on its own layer and never merged into the artwork.
• Name files by SKU and version, for example brand_product_flavor_v3.pdf.

Bleed and safe zone

Bleed is artwork that extends past the cut line so a small shift leaves no white edges. ePac asks for bleed to extend past the dieline by at least one eighth of an inch (about 3 mm), beyond the eye mark too; other flexible-prepress guides set a minimum of one sixteenth of an inch or 2 mm. The safe zone is the inner margin where text, logos and the barcode must stay so no cut or seal touches them.

• Extend backgrounds and textures to the bleed; keep text and key elements inside the safe zone.
• Avoid mandatory information on seals, gusset or zipper: those zones distort or hide on the filled pouch.
• Build the file in CMYK, not RGB, and use vectors wherever possible.

Color, white and finishes

On metallised, clear or kraft film, printed color changes if it has no white base. Define white as its own layer or spot ink inside the same file and mark which areas carry it and which are left without white so the metal or the product shows. Metallic effects or spot gloss are finishing decisions that depend on material and process; a render does not replace a printed proof on the real substrate.

• Name the white layer clearly (for example WHITE) and set overprint as the printer specifies.
• Ask for a printed proof of the front on the chosen material before approving production.
• Avoid heavy rich blacks in small text; use solid black for legibility.

Text, lines and legibility

Legal texts are usually the smallest on the pack and the first to lose quality. Flexible-prepress guides recommend positive strokes of at least 0.5 pt and reverse strokes (light text on a dark background) of at least 0.7 pt, and warn that reversed text loses fine detail. Convert fonts to outlines or embed them, and check on the printed proof that mandatory information is legible at real size.

A barcode that scans

GS1 publishes the EAN-13 dimensions for consumer items: the X-dimension (the narrowest bar) ranges from 0.264 to 0.660 mm with 0.330 mm recommended; the minimum height is 18.28 mm and the recommended 22.85 mm; the quiet zone must be at least 11 times X on the left and 7 times X on the right. Prepress guides add printing it in solid black on a light background and keeping it between 85% and 120% of nominal size. On a pouch, place it on a flat zone, away from the gusset and zipper, and verify it scans on a printed proof.

• Never print it reversed or on metallised film without a white base.
• Reduce the height only when the front is too small, and never the width.
• Check that the GTIN matches the exact SKU: flavor, size and version.

What to deliver to prepress

One PDF per SKU with fonts outlined or embedded, the dieline on its layer, the white layer and, if applicable, the varnish or spot-gloss layer; images at sufficient resolution for the final size; a SKU list with quantity per design; and the approved version of the mandatory texts for the country of sale. With that, the prepress proof can flag what is missing before printing instead of discovering it on the pouch.