- Dates
- 5 to 8 October 2027
- Venue
- Fira Gran Via, Barcelona
- Organiser
- Informa (LOUPE, formerly Labelexpo)
- Cycle
- Every two years
- 2025 edition
- 37,000+ visitors, 43,000 m²
- Scope
- Labels, flexible packaging, cartons, embellishment
Sources: LOUPE FAQ, Packaging Journal, Labelexpo Europe 2025 report.
Labelexpo Europe has a new name. From 2026 the Labelexpo Global Series runs as LOUPE, and the next European edition, LOUPE Europe 2027, takes place at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona from 5 to 8 October 2027. The 2025 edition, the first in Barcelona, set a record of more than 37,000 visitors across 43,000 square metres.
For builders of label presses, digital printing systems, finishing and converting lines, it remains the defining show of the cycle. This guide covers what label and package printers expect to see, how 3D visuals from your CAD make a web path readable, and the timeline for October 2027.
What changed with the rename
The organiser, Informa, describes LOUPE as covering labels, flexible packaging, folding cartons and embellishment, which reflects how label converters have moved into adjacent packaging formats. Search habits change slowly, so visitors and press will keep using the Labelexpo name for a while. For exhibitors the practical point is that the audience is broader than it was a decade ago: label converters, flexible packaging printers and carton converters walk the same halls.
Why printing and converting machines are hard to show
A label press or finishing line sells on things a visitor cannot see from the aisle:
- The web path. How the substrate travels from unwind through print stations, curing, die-cutting, slitting and rewind. In a real machine most of this is hidden or moving too fast.
- Register and tension control. The engineering that keeps colours aligned at speed.
- Changeover. Die change, plate change, anilox swap or switching between digital and flexo units.
- Modularity. Most converting lines are configured per customer. A stand can only show one configuration.
3D animation solves all four. The web can be shown as a coloured ribbon through the machine, guarding can be ghosted, and every module configuration can be rendered from the same prepared CAD.
Our printing and converting work
Printing and converting is one of the sectors we know best. Recent projects include the JetFX digital finishing system, a digital label printing line, a label converting machine, a roll-to-roll web processing machine and a rotary die-cutting and label finishing machine in two variants.
Visuals to prepare for LOUPE Europe 2027
| Asset | Why it works for label buyers | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| Web path animation, 60 s | Shows the full process unwind to rewind | From $7,900 |
| Changeover feature film | Answers the first question most converters ask | From $3,900 |
| Module configurator | Shows every configuration you cannot ship | From $6,400 |
| Render set, 5 views | Booth graphics, press kit, show catalogue | $2,900 |
| Close-up stills | Print heads, die stations, servo drives | $590 each |
Hybrid and digital presses need a different story
The label industry has spent the last decade moving towards digital and hybrid presses that combine inkjet with flexo stations and inline finishing. For buyers, the question is no longer only print quality but workflow: how many steps disappear when printing, embellishment and die-cutting happen in one pass?
That workflow is exactly what an animation can show and a static press cannot. A film that follows one label from blank substrate through primer, digital print, varnish, foil, die-cut and matrix strip to a finished roll makes the case for a hybrid line in under a minute. A second version showing a job change, with the digital unit switching instantly while a flexo station is bypassed, answers the cost question.
Embellishment in close-up
Cold foil, screen varnish and tactile effects are among the highest-margin work for converters. They are also tiny. Macro renders of the embellishment unit and of the finished label, with realistic foil reflections and raised varnish, show what the machine produces better than a sample book behind glass.
Timeline for October 2027
| Asset | Production time | Send CAD by |
|---|---|---|
| Process or line film (60 to 120 s) | 8 to 10 weeks | 13 July 2027 |
| Cinematic launch film | 8 to 12 weeks | 29 June 2027 |
| Feature highlight film (20 to 45 s) | 2 to 4 weeks | 17 August 2027 |
| Booth wall prints from renders | 5 to 10 working days, plus print | 24 August 2027 |
| Renders for pre-show emails and press | 5 to 10 working days | 3 August 2027 |
Label industry press, including Labels & Labeling, starts previewing the show in late summer. If you launch a new press in Barcelona, photoreal renders delivered by July let you brief the press without revealing a physical prototype.
A note on LOUPE Americas
LOUPE Americas ran in Rosemont near Chicago in September 2026. Assets you produce for Barcelona carry straight over to the next Americas edition, with US English captions and imperial units where needed.
See our printing and converting visualization page or send your press CAD for a fixed quote within one working day.
Written by Bilal Naseem, mechanical engineer and founder of 3DEnginuity. Questions about your own machine? Write to [email protected].
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