Is Your Color Matching Process Spot On?

The importance of color analysis using press side measurement devices and tools.

Color matching press-side is a topic familiar to everyone in the printing industry. Matching color is often the most frustrating, daunting and time wasting aspect of printed jobs – but with innovative tools and measurements devices available today, color matching has been simplified and deemed attainable. Who hasn’t had a quality complaint due to a customer disliking the main color of their logo on the product you printed for them? What do you do in this situation? The customer is always right. Right? Typically this will result in lost revenue and lost press time to rerun the custome>r’s job to their ideal color specifications. This is how color matching used to be in the printing industry. Without proven methods of color measurement being utilized in the pressroom, you, as a printer, have no grounds to stand on to support the color you printed. It is important to clarify the expected color prior to your press run so that you and your customer have a common understanding.  Customers are beginning to require more and more documentation of color match and consistency before accepting a printed product. So how do you clarify that the color you have printed is the color that your customer is expecting?

How do people view color?

It is a commonly known that more men are color blind than women – in fact, about 8% of men and 1% of women have some form of color impairment. Still today, the printing industry has a high proportion of male employees, specifically on the production floor. So, who is signing off your color matches? If it is a male employee doing a visual color match – you could be in trouble.

What tools can be used to view color?

Spectrophotometers, densitometers, and spectrodensitometers – basically any device used to measure color – have been used in various departments of printing companies for years. These devices are useful in the art department for characterizing proofs; on the front-end for specifying colors within a customer’s sample; in the ink room for measuring ink drawdowns; and press-side for measuring press pulls for run approval. Surprisingly, even today, not all printers are using these devices within their facilities. Measuring a color and putting a numerical value to that color is the only way to create a concrete basis for approving a color on press compared to a proof or a customer sample. All other methods are essentially subjective. Today, with the use of spectrophotometers and spectrodensitometers, often combined with the use of pressroom software (such as SpotOn!™ Flexo), the printer is now given the tools and the ground they need to support the colors that they produced on press. Such color measurements are a proven method for perceiving color in an indisputable manner. Additionally, with such measurements, many variables are eliminated and colors are either right or wrong.

Are you a color master?

Various color control software options available to the industry today are commonly used in pressrooms for analyzing measurements taken press-side. However, the original intent of these software options is to be used for ink formulation and for ink technicians to analyze ink drawdowns prior to going to press. When using these software options press-side, contrary to their intended use, the press operator is literally required to be a master of color in order to operate and understand the results. Press operators are in turn wasting time becoming a color expert for every job rather than focusing their attention on running the press and producing the finished product. I find when I go into various pressrooms that the press operators have learned to dissect and decipher the results from these software options in order to return the results they are actually looking for – which is what can be done on press to achieve the desired color. Just to be clear – Ink formulation software is important and needed in printing facilities. That being said, it needs to stay out of the pressroom and stay in the ink room where it belongs.

Are you getting the best match to your reference color?

Another option, besides connecting your measurement device to separate software, is to use a high end spectrophotometer device that allows more options for analysis within the single device. A couple notable device options are the Techkon Spectrodens and X-rite eXact spectrophotometer. These devices offer a portable, handheld option for analyzing color measurements press-side. Visit the links below for more information on the specific functions offered by each device mentioned above: X-rite eXact Spectrophotometer Techkon Spectrodens

These devices continue to offer advanced software options associated with each handheld device that offer more functionality than ever before. For example, new updates to X-rite’s eXact BestMatch™ function has incorporated the features that can give the press operator guidance for adjusting their color on press in order to achieve a desired color match.

So, is your color matching spot on?

What are the options for color matching if you do not want to default to using ink formulation software in the pressroom? What are the options if you already have another spectro device besides the X-rite eXact or the Techkon and do not want to upgrade? There is an innovative color analysis option available that combines the versatility of being compatible with a variety of spectrophotometers with the simplicity of telling the press operator how to achieve the desired color match by adjusting what they can control on press. This option is SpotOn!™ Flexo. SpotOn!™ Flexo is software that is used in conjunction with any of the most common spectrophotometers in today’s pressrooms to provide color analysis to the press operator. SpotOn!™ Flexo simplifies color matching and brings it to an achievable domain. In addition to offering all of the functions of  X-rite’s eXact BestMatch™ function, SpotOn!™ Flexo provides trending and reporting features, a graphical user interface, and job management and storage capabilities. SpotOn!™ Flexo allows you to provide your customers with mathematical proof of color match and color consistency through an entire press run.

See the below infographic for a detailed product comparison between SpotOn!™ Flexo and eXact BestMatch™

Use the resources available.

The key is really that something is better than nothing. There are a variety devices, tools, and solutions available for the printer to assist in achieving an optimal color match. Relying only on a visual color match is a mistake that may result in a costly rejection from your customer and ultimately a job rerun. If you are interested in learning more about Color Analysis Solutions and Measurement Device Options available from APR, please contact me at [email protected].