Choosing how to print your custom pouches isn’t just a technical decision — it’s one of the most important commercial choices you’ll make. Whether you’re launching something new, refining your product line, or scaling up, the pouch printing method shapes how your packaging looks, how it performs, and how much flexibility you will have as your business evolves. At SPS Pouches, we work with both digital and rotogravure printing so that regardless of your situation, we have a solution for your brand. We don’t push one over the other — they each have their strengths, and which one makes sense will depend on where you’re at with your business, how fixed your artwork is, how many designs you have, what kind of finish you need and how far ahead you’re planning.
Digital printing doesn’t use plates or cylinders — it applies ink directly onto the film in a CMYK process. That means short setup times, faster turnarounds, and the freedom to run small batches or lots of variants. It’s quick, clean, and makes a lot of sense if you’re still working out what designs will stick.
Rotogravure, on the other hand, is a traditional high-volume process. It uses engraved cylinders to apply ink with exceptional detail and consistency. It comes into its own when you’re producing higher volumes or need precise Pantone matching, metallic inks, or finishes that demand a more advanced setup.
It’s not that one is better — it’s that they’re good at different things.
This is where the difference becomes real. With digital, you’re working in CMYK. It handles full-colour designs and photography really well — customers wouldn’t notice the difference on shelf, however brand owners and designers are more likely to. If you’ve got specific brand colours, especially flat tones or pastels, you might find digital gets you really close, but not always spot on.
Gradients and very light tones can be tricky too. On some finishes — particularly matte or natural-look films — those soft transitions can show slight banding or variation. For emerging brands or products where speed and agility matter more than a perfect colour match, it’s rarely a dealbreaker. But once you’re scaling up or sitting next to major competitors, things like exact colour matching start to count.
That’s where gravure comes in. With proper Pantone matching, metallics, and the ability to control colour across huge volumes, gravure’s your route to consistency. If you’ve locked in your visual identity and need that replicated across markets or substrates, it’s the safer option.
Another difference that rarely gets discussed is how the inks perform on actual packaging films. Digital inks — though more advanced than they used to be — aren’t designed for high-heat applications. So, if your pouch needs to survive pasteurisation, hot fill, or anything approaching retort levels, that’s something that needs to be considered.
Gravure, on the other hand, utilises polyurethane-based inks, which are far more stable under high heat and pressure. They stick better, hold colour longer, and handle oils, moisture and heat far more effectively. This is why, for products with a longer shelf life or more complex barrier needs, gravure tends to be the better fit.
That’s especially important when you’re working with multi-layer laminates or recyclable mono-materials like MDO-PE, BOPP, or PET — because you’re not just thinking about how the pack looks, you’re thinking about how it performs once it’s filled, sealed and sent.
Let’s clear this up. Yes, we can print ten pouches. We don’t usually recommend it — not because it’s impossible, but because the setup and finishing time means you’re paying a lot per pouch. Digital is naturally better suited to smaller runs — you don’t need to commit to tens of thousands just to get going.
Generally, if you’re running a few hundred to a few thousand pouches, digital is going to give you the flexibility you need. You might be testing a new SKU, running a small DTC campaign, or just not ready to commit. And if you’ve got five designs and only need a few hundred of each? That’s where digital shines.
Gravure becomes more efficient when you’re running consistent SKUs at scale. We’re not going to tell you it starts at 10,000 units — because it doesn’t have to. We’ve run gravure jobs for lower volumes when it made sense. But yes, if you’re selling thousands of products a month, and the design is fixed, you’ll see the savings add up quickly with this printing method.
The real question is: what makes the most sense for the stage you’re at? That’s what we help clients work through — not just quantity, but overall value.
If you’re working in e-commerce or nutrition, take a look at our food supplement packaging page for examples of what works at different stages of growth.
This is what we see most often: a new brand launches using digitally printed pouches — maybe five SKUs, 1,000 pouches each. They tweak the claims, test different layouts, see what sells. Over time, two SKUs stand out. Those get locked in. They’re heading into retail now, margins matter more, and colour needs to be bang on. So we shift those SKUs into gravure — where we can get Pantone control and a lower cost per pouch for the client.
Meanwhile, the other SKUs can stay on digital until they’re ready to increase the quantities. This kind of dual-print approach is becoming the norm. It enables brands to be agile, test the market with new products and minimise costs. It also means you’re not paying for cylinders on designs that might not stick.
And because we offer both processes, that transition is simple. Same team, same materials, same standards — just a different printing method.
So, which is better — digital or gravure? It depends. If you’re moving quickly, still refining your artwork, or want the freedom to run smaller batches, digital printing is the right starting point. If your product’s established, your visuals are fixed, and you want absolute consistency at scale, gravure is where you’ll likely end up.
At SPS Pouches we don’t just offer both solutions, we help brands move between them without disruption. Our job is to make your packaging not only look great, but also work commercially from first test launch to full retail rollout.
If you’re at the point of figuring out what print method makes the most sense, have a look at our custom pouches page for more information. Or just get in touch, we love talking about this kind of stuff!
We offer free expert advice and support for anyone who needs product packaging, and we’d love to hear about your project and help find the right pouch for you.
If you have any enquiries concerning our pouch packaging, or would simply like to get in touch with our team, you can use the contact form or details below.
