How a Custom Label Order Works
From first enquiry to labels on your shelf. This page sets out every step, who does what, and how long each one takes — so you can plan around it instead of waiting for news.
The Timeline at a Glance
| Step | Who acts | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Enquiry and quotation | You send specifications · we review and prepare a quote | Initial reply by the next working day |
| 2. Artwork preflight | We check your file and report issues | 1 working day |
| 3. Sample production | We produce a physical sample | 2–4 working days |
| 4. Sample approval | You confirm colour and material | Depends on courier transit |
| 5. Plate-making | In-house, no external queue | 1 working day |
| 6. Production and inspection | Print, finish, 100% inspection | 5–12 working days by quantity |
| 7. Packing and shipment | Sealed, boxed, handed to freight | 1–2 working days |
Sea freight adds four to six weeks depending on destination. Air freight is available for urgent or small shipments. For repeat orders with unchanged specifications and approved artwork, some steps may be simplified after we verify the current order against the approved records.
1. Enquiry and Quotation
A quote needs six pieces of information. We reply by the next working day and confirm any missing details before preparing the quotation.
- Finished label size in millimetres, and which edge runs along the web
- Total quantity
- Face stock — or describe the container and environment if you are not sure
- Surface finish
- Decoration: foil, embossing, variable data
- Roll or sheet; for rolls, labels per roll and core diameter
If you do not know the material, describe the product instead: what it is, what container it goes on, what temperature and moisture it will see, and how long the label has to last. We will propose a construction.
2. Artwork Preflight
Send your file in AI, PDF or EPS with fonts outlined. We check resolution, bleed, trapping, colour space, minimum line weight, barcode dimensions and quiet zones, and die line accuracy.
If something will not reproduce — text too fine for the process, a barcode below scannable contrast, a die line that fights the material — you hear about it here, with a suggested fix. Not after a production run.
No artwork yet? Our design team can build it from your content and brand guidelines.
3. Sample and Approval
Screen proofs are fine for checking layout and copy. They are unreliable for colour — monitor calibration and ambient light both change what you see.
| Sample type | When to use it |
|---|---|
| PDF proof | Layout, copy and die line check — free, same day |
| Digital sample on real stock | Material feel and approximate colour — fast, low cost |
| Press proof | Exact production colour on the actual process — needed for strict brand colours |
Because our digital line runs from one piece, a sample on the real face stock does not require a plate or a minimum run. That is the main reason a first order with us carries less risk than with a supplier who has to tool up before you can see anything.
Once you approve a sample it becomes the production standard, held on file. Repeat orders are matched against it rather than against the original file, so batch three looks like batch one.
4. Plate-Making and Printing
Plates are imaged and processed in our own prepress department on an Esko CDI Spark 4835 with a DuPont Cyrel FAST thermal processor. Most converters send this out, which adds days and takes revisions out of their control.
We then select the printing process that suits the job rather than forcing it onto whichever press we happen to own:
| Flexographic | Long runs, colour consistency across batches |
| PS Plate | Fine text and high ink density on small formats |
| Screen | Heavy ink, tactile and high-opacity effects |
| Digital UV inkjet | Short runs, variable data, no plate cost |
5. Finishing, Inspection and Packing
Lamination or varnish, foil, embossing, die-cutting and slitting are all done in house on our own die-cutting and slitting lines.
Every finished roll then passes through one of seven high-speed inspection machines. Defects are removed, not sampled. Rolls are sealed against moisture and boxed to survive weeks in a container.
Each batch carries a control code on the outer packaging that traces back to material lot, artwork version, approved sample, press and shift.
What Slows Orders Down
In our experience the delay is almost never the printing. It is one of these:
- Incomplete specification — each clarification costs a day in each direction across time zones
- Slow sample approval — the sample sits at your end waiting for sign-off
- Artwork changes after approval — new plates, new sample, restart
- Material not held in stock — an unusual construction may need ordering in
Sending a complete specification at the first enquiry is the single biggest thing you can do to shorten lead time.
Start With Step One
Send your size, quantity and material — or just describe your product. We reply by the next working day.