Resources
Media Guide
A media guide for matching substrates and print conditions, from film and paper to common packaging stocks used on local flexo work.
How Media Guide helps on a packaging week
The media guide helps teams match substrate choice to print conditions on flexo packaging work. It includes practical notes for film, paper, and other common stocks used on local jobs.
Start by naming the stock, gauge and ink system. BOPP, PET, kraft and coated label paper each carry different surface energy, drying behaviour and dot gain on South African flexo work. Inland static, Durban moisture and generator changeovers can all shift how a substrate behaves during a run.
Photograph the roll label and a printed sample at the press before settings are altered. The Media Guide works best when teams record web width, anilox choice and any visible fault on the same sheet. Those details make later comparisons useful when the next job arrives on a similar stock.
Stocks and checks included
Operators and buyers can compare common packaging substrates against press conditions. Film handling, absorbency, corona treatment and drying each need extra attention in different combinations. This reduces guesswork when a repeat job moves onto a different reel or paper grade.
Read Media Guide alongside Press paths and Ink notes when a substrate change affects print order or drying load. Before plates or inks leave for site, confirm the stock code, roll direction and any treatment level recorded for that job. Name your press and the job on it, and we will put together the consumables for the run.
- Substrate match by stock and gauge
- Press checks noted at first pull
- Reference images attached to the enquiry
SA stock and climate checks
A film job in Prospecton does not behave like paper converting on the East Rand. Coastal humidity can soften some stocks and affect ink transfer, while inland dust can show up fast on white grounds and fine reverse text. Export work moving through OR Tambo also needs packaging records that identify the exact material used.
Power interruptions matter when dryers, chill rollers or viscosity control fall out of sequence. Older presses may need wider tolerances on impression and tension than newer servo lines. The Media Guide flags those realities before a stock problem gets blamed on plates or ink only.
Operated by Astros Marketing (Pty) Ltd from 2 Makro Place, Sunnyrock 1401.
What to send with a query
Use the Media Guide brief with substrate photos, run timing, and the print faults already seen. Keep the subject line tied to the stock and job.
Include the substrate name, microns or gsm, print side and the fault being seen on press. A short note on ink type, anilox volume and whether the job is surface or reverse printed helps narrow the comparison. That gives the Media Guide enough context to point to the most likely stock-related cause.