Printing & Materials
Digital, offset, screen — choose the right process, paper and ink for cost and quality
- Audience
- Designers・Procurement Staff・Brand Owners
- Digital Printing
- Offset Printing
- Inkjet Printing
- Screen Printing
- Letterpress
- Gravure
- Paper Materials
- Ink
- Cost
Spot Color Supply Chains Constantly Stalled? Heidelberg Hands Color Mixing Back to the Production Floor
Printing spot colors used to mean waiting on external ink suppliers, wasting time and risking color shifts. Now equipment makers are moving dispensing systems right onto the production floor, giving small and mid-sized print shops and brand owners faster turnaround and true color independence
Struggling to Boost Direct Mail Response Rates? Check These 3 Things First in an 8-Step Workflow
Deutsche Post and print.de teamed up to publish a 26-page hands-on direct mail guide covering paper stock, design, personalization, and common mistakes. We bring those German insights to Taiwan's market, giving marketers, designers, and printers an actionable checklist they can use right away
Why Is Epson Making Projectors? The Strategic Signal Behind an Inkjet Veteran's Pivot to Home Entertainment
Epson isn't bringing its core inkjet tech into home theaters just to join the hype. It's testing design paths for next-generation consumables, color, and speed. By reading this strategic signal early, print shops and brand clients in Taiwan can adjust purchasing and equipment plans ahead of time, securing their spot in the next wave of application growth
Ignore Paper Stock and Only Check Line Width, and Foil Stamping Will Break: The Pre-Flight Formula for Designers
Foil stamping looks crisp on screen, but on the press line, it often fills in, flakes off, or cracks at the edges. Drawing from hands-on shop floor experience, this breakdown covers the physical limits of line width, font size, and paper stock to give you a ready-to-use checklist before sending files to print
LYB's Pyrolysis Plant Goes Online: Will Chemical Recycling Make Traditional Inks Obsolete?
LYB installed industrial-scale pyrolysis reactors in Germany, marking the official arrival of commercial-scale chemical recycling. As plastic waste breaks down back into monomers, de-inkability and additive formulations in traditional inks face severe tests. Here is a front-line look at how new regulations and technologies are rewriting the rules for packaging and printing
How to Clean Temporary Tattoo Residue? Stop Scraping with Nails, 3 Safe Ways to Remove It
Water transfer temporary tattoos are easy to apply but tough to remove. Scrubbing hard damages skin and often leaves behind a dark ring of sticky residue. Looking at adhesive properties from a print shop perspective, here is how to safely tackle residue on different skin types and surfaces using everyday household items
The 50% US-Canada Tariff Storm: 3 Steps to Hedge Your Fiber and Metal Packaging Supply Chains
The US and Canada have slapped each other with tariffs of up to 50% on paper and aluminum, directly shaking up North American raw materials. For Taiwanese brands and packaging buyers, this directly impacts real material costs and lead times for the second half of the year. Switching to alternative materials early is an urgent priority
Stop Treating Ink as Just Pigment: The 2026 Print Expos Reveal a New Material Battleground
Prepress used to focus solely on color matching. Now, it must handle material recyclability and press yield. The direction at PRINTING United Expo this year is clear: ink makers are no longer just selling color. They sell functional solutions and guarantees for digital mass production
Uneven Screen Coating? How a $40 Tool Nails Emulsion Thickness and Sharp Details
Half the battle in screen printing comes down to an even emulsion coat. ScreenPrintDirect tested a $40 coating guide tool that steadies your hand and guarantees consistent ink deposit. For leveling up custom carton packaging, it is a tiny investment with massive payoff
Eerbeek Mill in Netherlands Halts Operations: European Boxboard Supply Crunch and 3 Procurement Strategies
European folding boxboard producer FOLBB abruptly cancelled plans to restart its Dutch mill, putting production on a complete freeze. With upstream capacity tightening again, packaging budgets and lead times in the second half of the year are heading into rough waters. Here is a clear breakdown of the situation and how to get ahead of the curve
GS1 Digital Link Transition: Who Foots the Bill First, Brands or Printers?
Markem-Imaje rolled out a SaaS platform, turning GS1 Digital Link from a barcode standard into software engineering that takes real cash to build. This article breaks down how brands and printers should divide work, who moves first, and where the money goes, using Mai Strategy's Three Conversion Questions
Two European Cartonboard Deals Land on the Same Day: 3 Things Taiwan's Supply Chain Needs to Know
MM acquires RDM Arnsberg, while Faller takes Paperpack. Having both deals break on the same day is no coincidence. Upstream cartonboard is consolidating fast, and pricing flexibility, compliant paper sourcing, and packaging prototyping will all shift with it. Here is how to adjust your prepress handoff and procurement ahead of time
Looking Only at Unit Price Is a Trap: 4 Procurement Dimensions for Short-Run Personalized Print
Demand for personalized printing has surged over the past two years, but corporate buyers still compare quotes based on unit price alone. Only when you factor in plate amortization, update frequency, and inventory scrap can you see which ordering method is genuinely cost-effective, avoiding piles of expensive overstock gathering dust in your warehouse
BHS Teams Up with openpack: How Corrugated Plants Can Upgrade to Digital Production Lines
BHS Corrugated teamed up with software platform openpack to turn standalone corrugators into integrated iCorr digital setups. Here is what small and mid-sized box plants and brand buyers need to know as machine connectivity becomes the new standard
Box Plants Tighten Operations, Inkjet Makers Push Sales: What Two New Hires Reveal About Industry Shifts
On the same day, Durham Box brought in a 35-year operations veteran to run its shop floor, while Agfa appointed new leadership to push into the inkjet market. These are not just routine staffing moves. They mark a strategic dividing line for conventional packaging and digital print heading into the second half of the year
GIO Compliance Deadline Extended Again: Don't Let Your Part Number Audits Slide
Flint Group reaffirmed that its European inks and coatings continue to comply with GIO standards. While the official deadline extension means printers won't face sudden material switches in the short term, auditing part numbers and prepping documentation should start now. Putting it off won't make it any easier later
Why "Perceived Safety" Matters Just as Much as Lab Results
Passing toxicology tests is just the baseline. Whether consumers believe you is the real battleground. Drawing on Europe's contaminated egg crisis, Flint Group highlights the overlooked gap between brand communication and scientific evidence, offering print buyers practical steps they can take right now to get ahead of the risk
How to Choose a Box Folding Style: Real Assembly Cost Breakdown for Tuck Bottom, Crash Lock, and Shoulder Boxes
Box style isn't just about looks. Structure dictates how the production line folds it, packs it, and cuts costs. Here is a clear breakdown of the three most common folding box structures, from physical traits to assembly costs, giving you the key differences before you request quotes and proofs
Paper Boxes vs. Wood Boxes: What's the Difference in Screen Printing?
The same screen printing press and ink produce night-and-day drying results on cardboard versus wood. Here is how material properties make or break screen printing, and how to pick the right substrate before your first print run
One Less Layer per Milk Carton: How SIG × Leibinger Cut Waste Across Materials and Inks
Aseptic dairy cartons have long been seen as a tough nut to crack in recycling. By tackling material structures and dedicated inks at the same time, SIG and Leibinger give brands a clear path to shedding a layer and dropping a gram. Here is a breakdown of how this partnership works, what it means for sustainable sourcing, and how brands in Taiwan can respond
Quoting Guide: Managing Pulp and Paperboard Price Actions
Four major pulp and paperboard mills signaled pricing actions in Q2. This is not distant news, but a clear sign that quote validity windows, paper substitutions, and minimum order quantities will tighten over the next one to two quarters. Brands and printers need to set clear price protection terms right now so raw material spikes do not catch them off guard after taking orders
3 Compliance Checkpoints for BHT Migration in Food Packaging
WK Kellogg will remove BHT from its cereals and packaging by end of 2026, nearly 12 months ahead of schedule. What brands should be looking at is where responsibility ends with food contact materials. From material lists and supplier declarations to revision timelines, here's what the print side needs to get in order
How Are Microplastics Rules Forcing Packaging Design to Change? 5 Risk Moves for Brands
EU REACH, proposed bans in California and New York, and the New Plastics Economy Commitment signed by 200 brands are putting inks, laminating adhesives, and varnish layers under review. This article spells out which packaging components may be treated as sources of microplastics and gives brands a risk-reduction checklist they can start within six months
3 Failure-Troubleshooting SOPs for Water-Based Ink in Carton Screen Printing
Water-based ink is now standard in carton screen printing, but most beginners get stuck on three things: drying, adhesion, and mesh clogging. This article breaks the three most common production-line traps into troubleshooting flows you can apply directly. Diagnose first, then adjust, so you waste fewer cartons and take fewer customer complaint calls