Concepts of Pre-Warping

Pre-Warping
During the packaging design stage (for example, plastic bottles, metal cans, or paper cups), Pre-Warping generates a 3D model along with corresponding mesh deformation data based on the container’s shape and defined settings. This provides the foundation for accurate distortion of artwork.

Pre-Warping Workflow

• Launch Adobe Illustrator and open the document.
• Click “Windows”menu → “Prinergy Tools” → “Warp Tool” → “Pre-Warping”.

• A pre-warping dialog box window pops up

• The Pre-Warping window can also be opened via the menu bar to the right of the Warp Tool.

• Click the Import Model button to select the model file to be imported.

• Set up

• • Model Direction: The display orientation of the model can be set to Y-up and Z-up.
  • Shrinkage Mode: The wrapping method of the heat shrinkable film can be set, which can be set to left-right or up-down.

• Model Information

• • Display the basic information of the current model, which is greyed out and cannot be modified.

• Repeat

• • Check to enable the duplicate model. The heat-shrinkable film for individual models will be hidden.
  • X、Y、Z：You can set the number of models in the corresponding direction either via buttons or by directly entering the numbers.
  • Gap: You can set up the distance between each model.
  • Load Shrink Wrap: After clicking the button, load heat shrink film for multiple models based on the settings.

Shrink Wrap Settings：

• Width: Displays the width of the current heat shrink
• Height: Displays the height of the current heat shrink
• Bottom Position: Shrinking Direction (Non-Rotating Model)

When the model is not rotating, the movement direction of the shrinkable film depends on the selected shrinking mode:

• • Left-Right Shrinking Mode
    The shrinkable film moves vertically (up and down), starting from the bottom of the model.

  • Up-Down Shrinking Mode
    The shrinkable film moves horizontally (left and right), starting from the front side of the model.

Note: This parameter supports negative values, which can be used to reverse the movement direction if needed.

• Home position: The starting position of the heat shrink

Start Button
Click Start to begin the heat-shrink process. Once activated, the button label changes to Stop.

• The button is disabled (greyed out) when the dialog box is open.
• The button becomes enabled when the heat-shrink film is visible.

Reset Button
Click Reset to clear all values in the interface and restore them to their default settings.

• The button is disabled after clicking Start.
• The button becomes enabled again after clicking Stop.

Save Button
After the heat-shrink process is complete, click Save to store the heat-shrinked model.

• Once saved successfully, the dialog box will close automatically.

• The grid information will be written to the Illustrator file.

• A new locked layer named Shrink Area will be created.

• The Save button is disabled during the process (after clicking Start) and becomes enabled again after clicking Stop.

Cancel Button
Click Cancel to close the pre-warping dialog box without saving changes.