Same black card, same logo — one aqueous coated, one laminated. Side by side, the difference in depth, creasing and handfeel is obvious. Wear, cost and EU compliance compared.

A colour approved on screen will not come off the press looking the same, and that gap is the single most common cause of a packaging dispute. GDF explains where the difference comes from, when to use a spot colour instead of CMYK, what a s···

Most packaging delays start before printing, with artwork that cannot be used — RGB colour, no bleed, text not outlined, or a spot colour that was never named. GDF lists what a box supplier actually needs: file format, colour mode, bleed, ···

Peak-season packaging delays usually start with a start date set without counting the four blocks in between. GDF maps specification, sampling, production and transit, flags three places schedules slip, compares lead time by box type, and e···

A white dummy sample is the last point where changing a box dimension is cheap. GDF explains what it does and does not confirm, lists six checks to run with the product in hand, and shows why a size change after tooling means re-making the ···