15-18 June 2027
Crocus Expo, Moscow
Global demand for print is holding steady in packaging and labels, with market reports valuing the package printing market at $695 billion by 2029. That scale explains why prepress printing matters: it is the stage that turns a digital file into press-ready instructions, ensuring ink lands where it should, colours match expectations, and production time is used efficiently. Prepress covers every check and transformation between artwork handover and the first sheet coming off the press.
Prepress begins when a file is received and ends when a press can run the job with confidence. Teams or suppliers use a mix of checks, proofs and conversions to confirm that fonts, colours and dimensions are correct, images have the proper resolution, and page layouts will impose correctly. The aim is simple: catch issues while they are cheap to fix, not when plates are on press or a digital engine is idle. Research and standards work in colour management from organisations underline how critical this stage is to predictable results.
Procurement often spans prepress equipment and materials, plates and chemistry for offset, calibrated monitors and proofing media, spectrophotometers for measurement, Raster Image Processor servers, and secure storage for approved masters.
Traditional prepress involved film stripping, manual imposition and physical proofs. Today, software handles preflighting, approvals, and file conversions, speeding up approvals and improving repeatability. With calibrated monitors and shared workflows, teams reduce rework and shorten cycles. When prepress is linked to production planning, jobs move faster with fewer bottlenecks.
A clear view of the stages helps both buyers and suppliers plan time and cost.
Preflighting And File Preparation. A specialist checks the file against house rules: trim, bleed, safe areas, embedded fonts, image resolution, spot colours, overprint and transparency. Automated preflight flags issues instantly so designers can fix them before schedules slip.
Colour Management And Profiling. International Color Consortium (ICC) profiles define how colours translate from screen to substrate. Inline or handheld measurement devices create profiles that reflect real press behaviour, not theory.
Raster Image Processor (RIP). The Raster Image Processor converts the file into screened data that the device understands, separates colours, flattens transparencies and applies traps. Correct RIP settings protect fine text, gradients and knockouts.
Proofing For Agreement. Soft proofs replicate expected results on calibrated monitors, while hard proofs simulate ink on the chosen substrate. Contract proofs act as the reference for colour and content.
Platemaking Or Direct-To-Device. Offset jobs move to computer-to-plate, creating a plate per ink. Digital jobs send screened data directly to the press, ready for make-ready and approval.
Automation is the practical route to fewer errors and faster throughput. Rules-based preflight corrects common issues, while templates standardise imposition and finishing marks. Asset management keeps masters, versions and approvals in sync.
Linking prepress to a Management Information System (MIS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform shortens hand-offs. It gives sales, production and finance the same view of status and cost. The outcome is predictable: less waste during make-ready, fewer sign-off loops, higher % of first-pass approvals.
Across CIS and Eurasia, converters face high SKU counts, multilingual packs and tighter sustainability targets. A balanced approach keeps long, static work efficient while building agility for short runs and frequent refreshes. That means reviewing skills, software and policies, not only presses. It also means testing file types and proof routes that reflect the work you actually sell, then documenting settings so they can be repeated under pressure.
Printech’s scope covers the whole value chain, which helps teams compare options in context. Think of printing technology sectors as prepress, presses for offset and digital, finishing, workflow automation, and materials all under one roof. This makes it easier to test a single job across multiple processes and collect feedback from procurement-ready buyers in the same visit.
A show floor is the most effective lab. Bring production PDFs, not demo files. Run the same artwork on rival workflows, measure make-ready sheets, record time to first-good-sheet, and capture operator steps. For offset, add plate cycle and waste; for digital, compare screening and substrate holdout. Require suppliers to commit to a handover plan that includes training, calibration targets and support response times. Leave with signed proofs, not only brochures.
If you plan to exhibit, submit an exhibit enquiry early so your demos can be scheduled for peak traffic and matched to nearby conference breaks.
Prepress is where quality, speed and cost control begin. Teams that invest here reduce rework, maintain consistent colour, and transition from art files to approved sheets quickly. At Printech 2026, you can meet specialists, benchmark workflows, and connect prepress to press and finishing in live, end-to-end demonstrations. Exhibitors can shape meeting agendas around real use cases and leave with qualified opportunities. Visitors can compare proofs, gather settings, and build a shortlist with confidence.
