How to avoid label materials running out of position while die cutting?

Running out of position while die cutting refers to the phenomenon that die cutter knife plate and labels’ printing graphics fail to overprint accurately. This phenomenon will directly lead label rolls to become scrap after die cutting. The reasons for labels running out of positions are a lot, but the reasons that relate to the die-cutting process are just two.

1. The material shrinks after printing

This happens mostly when printing and die-cutting are done in steps, that is, first printing and then die-cutting. After printing, the material is more or less deformed. The die-cutting knife plate is usually made according to the electronic version size, so there is a slight error in size with the actual printed distorted label. This error is not obvious when die cutting labels without border patterns. However, when die cutting labels with border patterns, the error is pretty noticeable. The label is usually observed to be wide on one side and narrow on the other. Whether it is paper-based or film-based self-adhesive label materials, there are varying degrees of shrinkage after printing.

In this regard, it is recommended that the knife plate be made in accordance with the finished print job. Since the printed self-adhesive material has shrunk, the die cutting knife plate made with it as a reference will be more accurate for die cutting.

2 Die-cutting machine eye failure

In order to eliminate the cumulative error between materials and equipment, almost all die-cutting equipment on the market will be equipped with photoelectric sensors (commonly known as electric eyes). Once the photoelectric sensor fails, the die-cutting position is prone to occur: at the beginning of die-cutting, the die-cutting position is correct, but after a period of time, the die-cutting position gradually shifts forward or backward along the paper feeding direction. Especially when the photoelectric sensor does not work at all, this positional deviation situation is more serious.

In this regard, it is recommended to try to adjust the sensitivity of the photoelectric sensor or clean its surface. If these attempts are ineffective, then the photoelectric sensor needs to be replaced.