Published, October 2026
Kevin Bharmal is founder and prepress director at Alpha Prepress. He has led prepress teams serving printers and converters since 2006, across commercial print, labels and packaging, direct mail and wide-format production.
His experience spans file preparation and preflight, color and separation requirements, dielines and structural setup, variable data, and imposition through to press-ready output. He writes about where files fail, how workflow choices affect turnaround and quality, and how printers approach staffing, automation and outside support.
Editorial work
Selected Editorial Work
Contributed articles written for independent print-industry publications.
IN-PLANT IMPRESSIONS
What Prepress Bottlenecks Really Cost Your In-plant
How quietly fixing incomplete files hides prepress cost in in-plant digital workflows, and the readiness gate that makes it visible.
Printing Impressions
Before AI Artwork Reaches the RIP: A Three-Gate Intake Check
Three separate checks for AI-generated or AI-assisted artwork: asset source, content approval and production readiness.
Published, September 2026
PFFC
The Real Cost of a Packaging Job That Has to Go Back to Prepress
Why a packaging reprint costs far more than substrate, and the preflight checks that stop a job before the plate is imaged.
Published, September 2026
Packaging Impressions
The Prepress Checklist That Keeps Digital and Flexo Packaging Jobs from Colliding on Press
Color intent, trapping, barcodes and processing-step layers when one approved file runs on both digital and flexo presses.
Published, August 2026
Sustainable Packaging News
Why a Bad Proof Costs More Material Than a Bad Press Run
Proofing discipline and where material waste can accumulate in packaging production.
Published, August 2026
MAIL Magazine
What Must Be True Before Mail Leaves Press for the Mail Stream
Six conditions to verify at the prepress-to-mail handoff, from address readability to a frozen final file.
Published, August 2026
Who’s Mailing What!
Building a Clean VDP Prepress Workflow for Direct Mail
Data integrity, file structure and approval control in variable-data direct mail production.
Published, June 2026
Mailing Systems Technology
Barcode Errors That Get Mail Pieces Rejected
Where Intelligent Mail barcode failures start, and the checks that catch them before release.
Awaiting publication
Industry coverage
Where the Work Gets Picked Up
American Printer
Printer2Printer: When to Outsource Prepress Instead of Hiring
Selected for the American Printer eNews, which points print owners to the full article on alphaprepress.com.
Signs of the Times
Alpha Prepress on design file exports
News coverage of the Alpha Prepress article on sign file preparation.
From the Alpha Prepress blog
Articles by Kevin Bharmal
Practical writing on prepress files, workflow decisions and print production.
Packaging Prepress Tips for Flawless Print-Ready Files
Packaging prepress is like the secret backstage crew of the print world: it takes your digital package design and turns…
Print Prepress Workflow & Quality Assurance | Alpha Prepress
Ever sent off a design for printing only to get back white borders, missing fonts or funky colors? That sinking…
Packaging, Print & Signage Prepress Services | Alpha Prepress
Ever wonder what magic happens behind the scenes before your poster, package, or sign gets printed? It’s all thanks to prepress…
What Are Prepress Services? A Complete Guide
Quick Summary: Prepress is the technical stage between design and printing. It includes preflight checks, color management, proofing, imposition, and…
How to Avoid Costly Prepress Mistakes in Commercial Printing
Introduction Print jobs can go off track long before they reach the press. Most delays and reprints occur due to…