The short answer is no, we can't provide custom film color matches. We do offer nearly 30 different standard colors of film, in both HDPE and LDPE, so most customers can find a color that works for their bags.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit sontex.
We do not provide custom film matches due to the complexity of color matching. Colored films are made by adding color concentrate (in pellet form) to white or natural resins. All our color concentrates are supplied to us ready to add to the resin. Mixing these concentrates may seem like a simple solution for making custom colors, but formulating the right mix is very time consuming and involves a lot of trial and error - and waste. Custom colors also create issues with reorders, even when we know the formula. From time to time dye-lots change, and even a slight change when mixing colors based on a formula can throw off the color of the match.
Visit our Film Colors page to see all the colors we offer, downlonad our line card (PDF), or contact us to request film color samples.
Bags measurements are expressed as the entire width x height (9x12, 15x18, etc) of the flattened bag. If bag has side gussets, the measurement is written as Width x Gusset x Height (12x7x22 is a standard T-shirt bag). If bag has a bottom gusset, the measurement is written as Width x Height + Gusset Width (15x18+4"BG for instance).
It's important to understand that bags with side gussets always have a bottom seal, and bags with bottom gussets will have a side seal.
Bottom Seal bags are sealed between 1/4" and 1/2" from the very bottom of the bag, while side sealed bags are sealed at the very side edges.
The height of the bag is measured from the very bottom of bag to the very top, except for Soft Loop Handle bags where the handle is attached and not included in the height measurement.
If your bag needs to hold a specific sized item, please let us know so that we can make sure the bag is sized correctly
Overruns and underruns are an unavoidable part of the manufacturing process. It's tempting to look at it similarly to printing copies on your desktop printer. If you need 200 copies, you print 200 copies. Manufacturing bags isn't quite as simple, and adds several unpredictable factors.
There are three main steps, and machines, in making most bags.
All three steps require extra material in order to setup. If setup on all three processes goes quickly and easily, we end up with overruns. And a challenging setup that takes longer and requires more material results in underruns.
For example, to convert 20,000 bags, we need to have enough printed film to convert that number of bags, plus extra to set up the machine properly to cut and seal in the correct position. So quite a few more than 20,000 impressions need to be printed. To make sure we have enough film to print the ordered quantity of bags plus extra for converting setup, we have to extrude more than enough film to set up the printing press - and each print color is set up and registered individually, so more colors mean more setup and more waste. Extruding enough film requires mixing resin pellets with color concentrate, melting the mix and blowing into a long tube that is then rolled up. Extra resin is needed at this stage to adjust the size and thickness of the film as it goes through the extruder, and small variances in width and thickness of film during extrusion can also affect overruns.
All of these steps create a unpredictable amount of waste when setting up. We do our best to estimate raw material use accurately, but ending up with an exact number of bags is nearly impossible, and the over/under percentage is not predictable.
The percentage of overruns and underruns is higher with small orders, and generally much lower with larger orders, as the setup process is the same on every order.
More information about our overrun policy is on our terms and conditions page. https://www.apmbags.com/terms-and-conditions
American Plastic takes pride in being able to offer minimums as low as 3,000 bags, but depending on the specs of the bag, that minimum can end up being as high as 20,000. The reasons for this mainly have to do with setup times, labor, and waste.
Setup for all jobs takes about the same amount of time, regardless of the size of the bag. There are three basic steps involved in making bags: extruding film, printing, and converting individual bags.
Extruding Film - This involves loading an extruder with raw resin, melting it, and blowing it into a tube of the specified width and thickness. Before being wound on a roller, the blown film needs to be threaded through a set of rollers, and adjustments made to width and gauge of the film. This process is the same no matter how much material we are making. So for smaller orders, the percentage of setup time compared to the whole run is much higher. On larger runs, the setup time is a very small percentage of the time it takes to run a job.
Printing - Printing setup is also time consuming, and that multiples for each ink color added. Many one color jobs can be printed inline, as the film comes off the extruder, but for bags printed offline, or with more than one color, the film is transferred to a separate printing press. Each color requires its own printing plate, attached to a printing cylinder. Usually workers need to change out the print cylinders to match the bag size being made. The only way to register multiple colors so that they line up correctly is to print some film and make final adjustments as it runs through the press. Running a six color job can require hours of setup time, which makes smaller runs very impractical.
Converting - The final step in making bags is moving the printed (or unprinted) film to a machine that cuts, seals, and stacks the bags. There is setup time required to wind the film through the converter, adjust digital print sensors, and ensure seals line up properly.
General rules of thumb on minium orders:
Because of the complexity of the manufacturing process, we may refuse to quote some jobs if we are unable to offer a competitive price.
If unsure of the size of bag you need, feel free to contact us for help.
To calculate the size of bag needed, start by measuring the items going into the bag.
Here's some basic math:
The circumference of the bag should be larger than the circumference of the items going in the bag. This is generally only a concern when there is a specific size object needing to be bagged.
A box that is 9" long and 6" wide has a circumference of 30". (9+9+6+6=30). Half of 30 is 15, so a 15" wide bag would fit perfectly, but best to get a slightly larger bag, around 16", to make sure the item fits. This same box would fit in a side gusseted bag, like a 10x6x22 (10+10+6+6 = 32" circumference)
Bottom gussets in bags will help the bag sit flat when expanded, but do not increase the circumference of the bag. for that same 9x6 box, a 16" wide bag with a bottom gusset of 6" will hold the boxes nicely.
Yes, we are happy to provide individual samples of our products.
However, because everything we make is a custom job, and that we offer a large variety of sizes, film colors, bag styles, and thicknesses, we only provide samples for specific orders.
Distributors often ask for "sample packs" containing general samples of all styles in different sizes, colors, and mils, but those are simply not practical for us to assemble, since what would be included would be a limited selection of what we can make. Our line card and website shows all the different handle sizes and film colors offered. Film swatch books that contain all of our film color options are also available to distributors.
It may seem counterintuitive, but of all options for retail checkout bags, traditional HDPE and LDPE plastic bags come out on top.
Plastic bags are 100% recyclable and most people reuse checkout bags for a wide number of things. From garbage bags for small trash cans, to picking up pet waste, using as travel laundry bags, or even reusing when shopping. Studies show that "green" alternatives such as paper bags and popular reusable bag options, can actually be worse for the environment because they require more resources to produce and transport. These replacements simply have a larger carbon footprint when the entire product lifecycle is considered. Studies also show that bag bans and taxes haven’t meaningfully reduced overall litter or waste anywhere they’ve been tried.
Every bag ordinance allows for, or even encourages, paper bag usage. But compared to plastic bags, paper can't compete environmentally. Making plastic bags requires 70% less energy and 96% less water than paper, and creates far less air pollution. Most store-bought "reusable" bags are made in other countries and shipped across the world to the US, while the vast majority of plastic checkout bags are made domestically. And those imported reusable bags may not be recyclable. Cotton bags would need to be used for over 7 years before they become a better choice than plastic. Cotton bag manufacture is also a very intense process, that involves vast amounts of water to grow and process the cotton, and potentially dangerous fertilizers and pesticides.
The most talked about impact of plastic bags is litter, especially in marine environments. Obviously, this is a large problem, but it isn't likely to be solved by bans and restrictions on plastic bags. Studies have shown that bag restrictions have not resulted in any waste or litter reduction. As a matter of fact, due to the heavier materials used in paper and reusable bags, landfill waste has increased. Without the availability of lightweight carryout bags, people instead purchase new, packaged bags for garbage, pet waste, and other uses. And reusable bags simply can't hold up to the usage required to be a better choice.
Simply put, bans and restrictions on plastic carryout bags result in higher levels carbon entering the atmosphere, more waste going to landfills, and have no impact on litter.
If you need bags in areas that have restrictions, our reusable bag options can be made to specifications that meet the requirements of most ordinances
For more detailed information about the impact of bag regulations, and links to studies, please visit the Bag the Ban website
Vector images are shapes and lines drawn in an illustration program (like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw) that have mathematical dimensions. This allows unlimited scalability without compromising the image quality. Images have smooth edges at all sizes, and file sizes much smaller than bitmap (raster) images. Common vector formats are PDF, Adobe Illustrator - AI, EPS, and Corel Draw (CDR).
While vector files are always saved in these formats, they can contain bitmap images as well. Saving a JPG image as AI or EPS or PDF does not change the image to vector.
Bitmap images are made up of a series of individually defined pixels and have a fixed resolution. A 1” x 1” bitmap, at 300dpi, is 300 pixels wide and 300 high. Bitmap images CAN'T be made larger without losing quality. For printing, the higher the resolution of bitmap files, the better the image quality. Common bitmap formats are TIFF, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP.
Both digital bitmap images and printed images are made up of a series of dots. The terms DPI and PPI are usually confused these days.
DPI and PPI when referring to a digital image are fairly meaningless without knowing how many inches an image is. The image resolution is determined by the number of pixels in an image. An image that is 10" wide at 300dpi is pixels wide, could also be defined as 100" at 30dpi, or 1" at dpi.
In printing, DPI is the number of dots of ink per inch, and is generally a higher number than the image PPI, and the PPI is a higher number than the LPI.
Want more information on Plastic roll bags supplier? Feel free to contact us.
For most commercial printing applications, digital images need to be a minimum of 300 PPI at full size. If there are image areas that will be printed as halftones (not a solid color), the LPI indicates the number of lines of dots per inch. For many print applications, LPI is approximately half the number of the PPI. For the process that we use for plastic bags 35 is the maximum LPI that prints well. This produces fairly large dots compared to offset printing. As an example, most newspapers print images at around 80 LPI, and most magazines at around 150 lpi or higher.
Below is an image of 50% gray approximating the difference between 35, 80, and 150 LPI
A font is a collection of letter defined as a specific typeface. The font file contains mathematical descriptions of the shape of each letter. Fonts can only be edited on computers where the font file is installed. PDF files can have embedded fonts, which will display and print properly, but cannot be edited by computers that don't have the font file installed. When opening the document on a machine that doesn’t have the proper font installed, programs usually substitute another font. Obviously, this can cause problems. Converting fonts to outlines disconnects the font descriptions from the letters, and prevents the shape from changing. The downside of this is that once the type is converted to outlines, it can no longer be edited as text.
To convert text to outlines, an illustration program like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw is required. Adobe InDesign is also capable of converting type to outlines. In Illustrator or InDesign, chose “create outlines” from the Type menu. In CorelDraw, select “Convert to Curves” from the Arrange menu.
Plastic bags are printed using a process called flexography, which uses a flexible relief plate to make imprints. Each color of the print job requires its own plate. We can print a total of up to six colors, combined between both sides of the bag. 6 colors on one side, or 3 colors on each side.
Flexographic plates can usually be used for many years without any degradation. However, after long use, the plate surface can develop cracks which will affect print quality. When plates do develop cracks, we recommend replacing the plates. When ordering plates through us, we will replace any cracked plates free of charge.
Our manufacturing process is fairly simple. Film is extruded by heating small resin pellets and blowing the film into a tube, which is then wound onto a large roll. The roll of film is then wound through rollers on the press where it is printed, and then rolled up again as it comes off the machine. The next step is converting the film into bags. Different converting machines make different types of bags.
Most inks - with the exception of white, black, and metallic colors - print translucent or even transparent. This causes the print to pick up the color of the film, or to disappear completely - especially on dark film. For instance, Blue ink on yellow film will become greenish, yellow ink on black film disappears completely, and red ink on beige or buff film will become burgundy. Predicting how different inks will appear on different film colors is tricky, and highly dependent on the ink formula of the chosen color. White ink looks good on dark colors, but picks up the film color slightly. On black film, white looks slightly gray, on navy blue film, white looks light blue, etc.
We match ink colors using the Pantone PMS Formula Guide. Flexographic printing uses spot color printing, which requires mixing of different base ink colors to match the color desired. The Pantone Formula Guide provides the recipe for different color mixes.
It is possible to make lighter colors show up on dark film, but predicting the outcome can be very tricky.
All ink colors print well on white film, so if your art has multiple, or bright, colors, the colors will always look great on white.
If wanting to use colored film, we can assess your art and make recommendations for creating a look that will work for you.
Yes, if you prefer to provide your own printing plates, we can usually use them with no problem. However, we highly recommend having your plates made through us. This streamlines the production process and creates far fewer headaches for you and your customers. Using third party plate makers can result in delays, and cost savings are usually minimal. Especially if plates are made to incorrect specifications, contain errors, or become unusable due to cracking.
Plates must match the specifications listed below. If plates are made differently, we may still be able to use them, but cannot guarantee they will work on our presses.
Customer bears responsibility for making sure plates are made correctly. American Plastic assumes no responsibility for print quality due to plate abnormalities, damage, or errors. Additional charges will apply if plates require backing or other adjustments.
Digital proof showing art position on bag MUST be submitted.
Improperly made plates can result in poor print quality or incur extra charges. Here's some common issues to be aware of.
Halftone screens help to achieve the look of a lighter shade, or shades, of whatever color ink is being printed. However, there are some limitations of printing art like this.
We print halftones at 35 LPI (lines per inch), which is the maximum LPI that prints well. This produces fairly large dots compared to offset printing. As an example, most newspapers print images at around 80 LPI, and most magazines at around 150 lpi or higher
See images below for samples of how screens look when printed.
SCREEN AT DIFFERENT TINTS
Because of the large size of the dots used, we do not recommend printing small text or thin lines as screens.
TEXT at 50% tint, 35 LPI
LINES - 1pt, 2pt, and 4pt - at 50% tint, 35 LPI
When using screens in your designs, it is best to use them for larger, solid areas. Screens also will look better on larger art. Just as the 4pt line above looks much cleaner than the 1pt line.
Yes. Printing plates can generally be reused many times. It's not uncommon for plates to last for ten years or longer, and through millions of impressions.
If the time between orders using a set of plates is longer than about 4 years, we archive the plates. After ten years past the last order date, plates are disposed of.
We recommend ordering plates through us, although we can usually use plates made elsewhere. There are lots of advantages to order plates through us, as explained in our post about providing your own plates. Flexographic printing plates can get expensive, but will usually last for years. Eventually, plates will begin to develop cracks. If the plate was purchased through American Plastic, the replacement plate will be made at no charge.
The term “biodegradable” when used for marketing purposes includes a time component regarding the length of time it takes for the plastic to fully degrade. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s “Green Guides”: “It is deceptive to make an unqualified degradable claim for items entering the solid waste stream if the items do not completely decompose within one year after customary disposal. Unqualified degradable claims for items that are customarily disposed in landfills, incinerators, and recycling facilities are deceptive because these locations do not present conditions in which complete decomposition will occur within one year."
Plastics are derived from organic products. The materials used in the production of plastics are natural products such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, crude oil. Crude oil is a complex mixture of thousands of compounds. To become useful, it must be processed.
The production of plastic begins with a distillation process in an oil refinery involving the separation of heavy crude oil into lighter groups called fractions. Each fraction is a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen), which differ in terms of the size and structure of their molecules. One of these fractions, naphtha, is the crucial element for the production of plastics.1
Most petroleum-based plastic is not readily biodegradable; ie. it is not consumed by microorganisms and returned to compounds found in nature. What this means is that unless the petroleum-based plastic has been specifically designed to biodegrade, and although it may partially degrade, the plastic may last in the environment for tens to potentially hundreds of years, depending on the type of plastic and its disposal environment. The two major processes used to produce plastics are called polymerisation and polycondensation, and they both require specific catalysts. In a polymerisation reactor, monomers like ethylene and propylene are linked together to form long polymers chains. Each polymer has its own properties, structure and size depending on the various types of basic monomers used and that influence properties such as moldability and rigidity.
Plastic that is compostable is biodegradable, but not every plastic that is biodegradable is compostable. Whereas biodegradable plastic may be engineered to biodegrade in soil or water, compostable plastic refers to biodegradation into soil conditioning material (i.e., compost) under a certain set of conditions. In order for a plastic to be labeled as commercially “compostable” it must able to be broken down by biological treatment at a commercial or industrial composting facility. Composting utilizes microorganisms, heat and humidity to yield carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass that is similar in characteristic to the rest of the finished compost product. Decomposition of the plastic must occur at a rate similar to the other elements of the material being composted (within 6 months) and leave no toxic residue that would adversely impact the ability of the finished compost to support plant growth. ASTM Standards D and D outline the specifications that must be met in order to label a plastic as commercially “compostable”. There are currently no ASTM standard test methods in place for evaluating the ability of a plastic to compost in a home environment.
Biobased plastics are manufactured from plant materials instead of being made from oil or natural gas. Because they are plant based, there is a tendency to assume that this type of plastic must be biodegradable. However, biobased plastics can be designed to be structurally identical to petroleum based plastics, and if designed in this way, they can last in the environment for the same period of time as petroleum based plastic. Just as with petroleum-based plastics, biobased plastic can be engineered to be biodegradable or to be compostable.
The ability of biobased plastics to be recycled varies. Some forms of biobased plastic cannot be recycled together with petroleum-based plastics due to chemical structure incompatibility, while other biobased plastics may have compatible chemical structures that allow for recycling together with petroleum-based plastics. In order to determine what waste disposal options are available for a biobased plastic item, it is necessary to read the product’s label as to its compostability and recyclability.
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International) sets definitions and standards, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for enforcement against false or deceptive product labeling.
No. Unless the label indicates that the product is okay for home composting, you should not try to compost it at home. Plastic that is labeled as compostable is generally intended to be sent to an industrial or commercial composting facility which has higher temperatures and different breakdown conditions than those found in a typical homeowner’s compost bin. If your community has a residential compost collection program, check with your local government or recycling company to find out if they will accept compostable plastic under this program.
No. Compostable plastics are not intended for recycling and can contaminate and disrupt the recycling stream if intermixed with petroleum-based plastics that are non-compostable. If your community does not have a composting recycling pick-up program that accepts compostable plastic, contact your garbage/recycling company or local government to find out if there are any drop-off locations for your compostable plastic items.
Until recently, many consumers were advised to take the caps off and dispose of them in the garbage can before placing the bottle in the recycling bin. However, processing technology has improved to the extent that the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers now recommends that plastic lids be left on the containers as they are placed in the recycling bins. At facilities with newer processing technology, the bottles (with caps on) will be ground into flakes before being washed and the cap flakes separated from the bottle flakes during a water bath float/sink process and then both types of plastic can then be captured and recycled. Note, however, that due to the fact that not all recyclers may have equipment that enables processing of the bottles with caps left on, that you should check with your local recycling facility to see what their policy is with regard to disposal of the bottle caps.
Contact your local government or recycling company to find out whether this practice is allowed, as policies on this vary. Loose plastic bags are difficult to handle in the recycling stream and can clog equipment. Some recycling companies allow recycling of single use bags if they are bundled together in a tight, tied package. Many supermarkets and “big box” stores have recycling bins for the collection of single-use plastic bags.
The Pollution Prevention Act establishes a national objective for environmental protection: “[T]hat pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible.” Similarly, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act sets the order of preference for managing materials as: source reduction, reuse, recycling, and disposal.
With these objectives in mind, a number of communities are initiating bans of plastic bags that are intended for single use, such as those commonly provided in grocery stores. The rationale behind the bag bans includes the following:
The various bag bans differ but typically contain many of the same elements:
For more information, please visit Biodegradable Cutlery Solution.