Nguyễn Thành Dân

I m a packaging designer working with a print shop, and the same thing keeps happening: the mockup wins the client, then the file has to be rebuilt on a real dieline before it can go to press. Wrong bleed, RGB, foil on the wrong layer

I ended up building a tool for myself (Drint) where you design on the dieline and the 3D is that die folded, so the mockup and the print file are the same thing.

Curious how others handle this:

• Do you design on the die from the start, or mockup first?

• What breaks most often when your file reaches the printer?

  

I ve been a packaging designer in Vietnam for years, and the print-shop handoff is still the part I dread most.

My top 3:

1. Colors shift because the file wasn t really CMYK

2. Foil / UV layers get mixed into the color file

3. The box looks fine flat, but the artwork lands on the wrong panel once it s folded

What s yours? And how do you check before sending: physical sample, 3D mockup, or just hope?