For many packaging companies, they encourage people to have shrink film. But, how much should it cost? How much should you be spending on it? Well, the truth is, it depends. The total price of purchase of a roll of printed shrink is affected by a few things including the length, gauge, size, ink, and the colors of the film that’s chosen. In this, we’ll look at the different elements that play into the cost of this, and some of the different aspects you should consider for choosing the right kind of packaging items.
So how much does it normally cost? Well, it’s usually between $100-150 on most sites, but it can actually be a little bit different. It is dependent on the other factors such as the length, width, and the gauge of the film that you choose to use.
The traditional printed shrink film has different various dynamics that go into it. You should look at the thickness, the width, and the quantity, and from there, you’ll then make sure to price the shrink film correctly. For the most part, you should look at the parameters that you choose, and the different costs associated with this. You might want to also look at the shipping costs of this too.
You also may not realize that it’s hard to give a price on this since most of the time there are other factors that will impact the cost. For example, the number of rolls you get, for example, more will cost less if you buy in bulk, the number of colors that are used in the graphics of this film, there is also the need or lack of an overcoat, depending on what you choose, since you may want a specific one for your design.
The size of the film does impact this too, for the larger this is, the higher the cost is as well. Finally, you’ve got the scrap factor, which is where you need to start up the press where you get the print in registration for the color. Since printing presses can run a lot per minute, a fair amount of waste can be created, and you’ll get charged for that if you’re not careful, so definitely make sure that you print accordingly.
Finally, you may want to make sure if it’s printed one up, or multiple prints on each side. You’ll want to maximize the width of the press in order to keep the costs down. You should also consider the ink coverage since many have colors added behind them, so they’ll have more density and depth, and this adds to the percentage of ink coverage, and also increases cost too, so make sure you factor that in as well.
You may also need to factor in the cleanup, and a press run time. All of that is, of course, amortized during the length of the run as well, and when you have one roll printed, it’s definitely much more expansive, and not justified for the application of this. If you’re literally just printing one thing, you may want to consider a label in that case, since they oftentimes are better for a few items, rather than one large item.
But, even though the quality of film is getting better, the thinner the gauge, the more stretch there will be, and this leads to gaps with no ink within your print design, and while some new presses have better web handling, usually, most of them are running 60 gauge shrink films in a thin manner, but some of them run as small as a 35 gauge, but that’s normally not typical, and not sued for applications. You may want to consider a 6-inch core since this will minimize the revolutions that can lead to stretching.
Shrink film is great for packaging, but it can be costly. Learn to examine these different factors so you know exactly what it is you’re getting into, and the different aspects too.