Packaging artwork is approved under time pressure, usually by someone whose main job is not compliance, and usually against a supplier proof rather than against the destination market's current requirements. The errors that result are not exotic. They are the same five, repeated across categories.
This note covers what to check before print-ready artwork is released, and why the approval moment is the wrong moment to start.
Why label errors survive to production
Three structural reasons, none of them about carelessness:
- The proof is approved as design, not as a claim. Colour, layout and logo placement get attention; the wording of a performance claim does not.
- The compliance owner joins late. If your regulatory or quality contact first sees the artwork at the printer, the only available outcomes are delay or accept.
- Nobody owns the version. Two revisions circulate, one gets printed, and the approved file is not the printed file.
The five checks
1. Every claim has a document behind it
List the claims on the pack — absorbency, protection duration, material composition, comfort attributes, any environmental wording — and match each one to a specific document. A claim with no document is a claim you cannot defend if a retail buyer or a market authority asks. This is the check that most often changes the artwork.
2. Units, language and market variant
Measurement units, the required language or languages, and whether the destination market needs a local importer or responsible-person block. Multi-market launches fail here: one artwork is produced for three markets and satisfies none of them completely. Decide early whether you need separate SKUs per market or a single pack with a market-specific overlabel.
3. Traceability fields
Lot or batch code placement, production date format, and whether the code is printed at a position that survives the packing process. A lot code that is legible on the proof and unreadable after shrink-wrap is a recall-scoping problem, not a printing problem.
4. Required information blocks
Manufacturer identification, importer identification where applicable, and any mandatory warnings or disposal instructions. Confirm the exact wording with the supplier against the destination market's current requirements rather than against a previous project's artwork — requirements change and old files circulate.
5. Consistency with the specification sheet
The pack must describe the product actually being made. Where a specification changed mid-project — a material substitution, a size adjustment — the artwork is frequently the last document updated. Cross-check the pack copy against the current approved specification, not against the original brief.
A review sequence that fits a real calendar
| Stage | Who signs | What is being signed |
|---|---|---|
| Copy draft | Buyer + supplier | Claims list matched to documents |
| Artwork proof | Buyer compliance/QA | Required blocks, units, language, traceability fields |
| Print-ready file | Buyer + supplier, jointly | Version number, file hash or dated filename |
| First-off print | Buyer | Physical sample against approved file |
The fourth row is the one that catches the failures the first three miss. A first-off physical sample, photographed and retained, resolves most version disputes before the full run.
Where the responsibility sits
Suppliers can advise on what the destination market requires, and a good one will flag a claim that looks unsupported. The legal responsibility for the claim normally sits with the party placing the product on that market — which is usually the buyer, not the factory. That distinction matters when a correction is needed: the supplier can reprint, but only the buyer can decide what the pack is allowed to say.
Practical shortlist
- Claims-to-documents matrix completed before artwork starts, not after.
- One named owner for the artwork version, and a dated filename convention.
- First-off print sample retained and photographed for every SKU.
- Market requirements confirmed against current sources per project, never copied from a previous one.
For the packaging side of a private label programme, see private label; the customisation options and their effect on tooling are set out under OEM and ODM. The document set that should exist before artwork starts is listed in compliance documents to request, and material-driven claim constraints are covered in plastic reduction requests in RFQs. Quote requests including artwork review can be raised through the quote form.
The short version
Five checks: claims against documents, units and language, traceability fields, required blocks, consistency with the specification. Run them on the PDF, assign one owner to the file version, and inspect a first-off print. Label compliance is a document-control problem more often than a regulatory one.