Research and Specifications
FIRST is the flexographic industry’s leading set of best practices, specifications, and process control guidelines. Developed and continually refined by industry experts, FIRST provides a standardized approach that ensures consistent, predictable, and high-quality print—every time. By aligning people, processes, and technology across the entire workflow, FIRST helps organizations achieve efficiency, accuracy, and repeatable results from job to job and press to press.
Why FIRST Matters
Flexographic printing involves many moving parts—variables in materials, equipment, environment, and operator decisions. Without standardization, these variables can lead to inconsistent color, wasted materials, and miscommunication between teams.
FIRST provides a proven framework to reduce variability and bring clarity to the entire workflow. Printers, designers, suppliers, and brand owners rely on FIRST to:
- Produce consistent color and quality
- Improve efficiency and reduce waste
- Strengthen communication across departments
- Set clear expectations and measurable standards
- Ensure predictable results throughout all stages of production
What FIRST Includes
FIRST brings together the fundamental components required for consistent flexographic printing:
Specifications
Detailed guidelines on how flexographic printing systems should be set up and maintained for optimal performance.
Best Practices
Step-by-step recommendations that help teams work efficiently and with confidence across prepress, press, and QA functions.
Process Control Methods
Tools and procedures for monitoring, measuring, and adjusting print variables to achieve repeatable results.
Quality Assurance
Clear expectations for evaluating print performance and ensuring every job meets brand and production requirements.
Standardized Communication
A shared language and framework that improves collaboration between designers, prepress technicians, press operators, and brand owners.
Who FIRST Is For
FIRST supports professionals across the entire flexographic workflow, including:
- Press operators and production staff
- Prepress technicians and designers
- Quality assurance teams
- Customer service and project managers
- Sales and marketing professionals
- Packaging suppliers and solution providers
- Brand owners and print buyers
Whether you’re new to the industry or a seasoned expert, FIRST provides clarity, structure, and alignment.
How FIRST Is Used in the Industry
Organizations across the flexographic supply chain rely on FIRST to:
- Standardize workflows and reduce errors
- Improve pressroom efficiency
- Ensure accurate brand color reproduction
- Support training and professional development
- Guide equipment setup and optimization
- Provide measurable, data-driven quality benchmarks
Whether used for onboarding, daily operations, or long-term process improvement, FIRST is a powerful tool for any company committed to excellence in flexographic printing.
The Flexo Quality Consortium (FQC) is comprised of industry members seeking to provide fellow flexographers with a better understanding of the factors controlling the quality of a flexographic image.
This is accomplished through FQC projects, for which members of the FQC conceive goals, plan out, supply consumables, run print trials, evaluate results, draft reports and present findings.
FQC projects can run for months or years and investigate selected printing variables in flexographic printing technology. FQC actively participates in the global graphic standards committees and associations in researching and representing the flexographic printing process and Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances (FIRST ).
Current projects include:
- Optimal Print Order Project
- 2D Barcode Verification Project
- Measurable Slur Target Project