IMAGE COMPARISON

“So you have an approved artwork, what next?”

You have now successfully completed the first part of your packaging development process and now all you have to do is ensure that what you have approved goes forward through the process without change.

Approved artwork to Vendor Proof

The next stage in the process is for the approved artwork to be sent to the print vendor who will then modify the file to take account of the printing process that will be used to ensure that the print replicates the PDF as closely as possible. The vendor will then return a proof for approval and this needs to be checked against the approved PDF. This can be very difficult and time consuming especially for such components as PIL’s or IFU’s.

“What can possibly go wrong?”

The answer is ‘many things’. It is an unarguable fact that when you alter an electronic file something that you did not want to change can and possibly will change whether it be a font substitution, if the vendor does not have the correct fonts or simply an image being pushed out of place.

“How can I be sure nothing has changed?”

Visual inspection is slow and fraught with dangers whereas ImageCompare allows the speedy comparison of the vendor proof to the approved PDF and will indicate any differences that there are in content, size, colour and position of all elements in the files including graphics, barcodes and Braille. It will even decode Braille dots and present the content as standard text.

“So the printer has an approved proof, surely nothing can go wrong from here, can it?”

You would think not, everything has been checked and approved all the way to here and now all that has to happen is the printer runs the job. Not everything is quite so simple though. Errors can still creep in from simple things like part of the text being damaged on the print plate to the wrong codes or Braille block being used.

”How can I ensure that the printed material is OK to release?”

Again, visual inspection is time consuming and subject to the same problems as when comparing PDF to PDF. In addition the print process may have introduced some positional issues which are difficult to identify visually. ImageCompare can very quickly compare the approved PDF against a scan of the component highlighting differences in the same way as the PDF to PDF comparison. Colour evaluation at this stage is better done with a specific instrument (X-Rite®) as the colours on the printed component are affected by the thickness of the material, the background colour and any imperfections there may be in the substrate. It is advisable to check a number of samples from a batch to ensure consistency throughout the print run and ImageCompare allows all batch sample inspections to be compiled in one project report. 

“How do I capture the image of the printed component?”

There are a number of different scanners available from the off the shelf Epson A3 models to A2 flatbed and A0 rollscanners.

  A3 Scanner for print and braille

A0 SCANNER FOR PRINT WIDE FORMAT AND FULL PRESS SHEETS

A2 Scanner for print and braille

“What about Braille?”

The simplest method to inspect the Braille impressions is using an A3 scanner but we offer a high specification dedicated scanner for full specification checking of the Braille impressions including individual dot height and dot position against the ECMA standard for the pharmaceutical industry.