Color: It’s All in the Process
Color consistency preserves the integrity of high-value brand assets and is the goal of a color-managed workflow.
October 2006 by Jean-Marie Hershey
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Many things make a package effective: size, shape, functionality—and color consistency. In packaging, an essential part of color management is to show what a brand color will look like on press. For package printers and converters, this involves the ability to reproduce color accurately, regardless of inks, coatings, substrates, blankets, plates, or process. The higher the value of the brand asset, the more critical the color. However, because the color spaces of printing presses vary according to ink, inking sequences, and paper grade, consistent color printing is difficult without reliable color management from the time a file enters the workflow until it is reproduced on press. This is the difference between a color-managed file and a color-managed workflow.
The need for faster makeready, on-time delivery, and reductions in cost and waste places a premium on predictable results and comparable quality, independent of location, substrate, or printing process. However, because it is now possible—and often necessary—to print the same brand colors on everything from paper and plastic to corrugated and shrink-wrap film, the level of technical expertise needed to produce consistent, saleable results from press to press, process to process, and job to job is considerable. Design specifications also may leave printers struggling with color that is difficult to reproduce on presses. When it comes to color, proof, plate, and print must deliver identical results. More specifically, this means that the proof must simulate as closely as possible the color from the press and hence, the product, as it will appear on the shelf in all its irresistible, eye-catching glory.
Recipe for repeatability
Once a job enters the workflow, multiple factors influence color. These include dot gain based on a new range of inks, printing substrates, and blankets, as well as the type and trapping performance of the printing plate. According to Marc Welch, U.S. channel manager, GMG Americas, a color-managed workflow has three components: repeatability in the pressroom regardless of printing process; prepress process control; and color management technology. “A repeatable pressroom is the foundation of process predictability whether the process is offset, flexography, or gravure,” Welch says. “The disciplines of repeatability include standard ink densities, standard press settings, defined blanket packing, ink quality control, and standard operating procedures.”
Platemaking also needs to be consistent. “Plate exposures, proper plate processor cleaning and maintenance, and quality control tracking of the prepress process are vital,” says Welch, adding that once the pressroom and the prepress are operating in a repeatable process, it is possible to integrate the “fingerprint” of the printing press into the prepress stage and to calibrate and manage the proofing technology to assure repeatability of the results. With careful attention to these three areas, Welch says, the ability to achieve a reliable proof to press match is available to any package printing company, regardless of size or printing method.
The need for faster makeready, on-time delivery, and reductions in cost and waste places a premium on predictable results and comparable quality, independent of location, substrate, or printing process. However, because it is now possible—and often necessary—to print the same brand colors on everything from paper and plastic to corrugated and shrink-wrap film, the level of technical expertise needed to produce consistent, saleable results from press to press, process to process, and job to job is considerable. Design specifications also may leave printers struggling with color that is difficult to reproduce on presses. When it comes to color, proof, plate, and print must deliver identical results. More specifically, this means that the proof must simulate as closely as possible the color from the press and hence, the product, as it will appear on the shelf in all its irresistible, eye-catching glory.
Recipe for repeatability
Once a job enters the workflow, multiple factors influence color. These include dot gain based on a new range of inks, printing substrates, and blankets, as well as the type and trapping performance of the printing plate. According to Marc Welch, U.S. channel manager, GMG Americas, a color-managed workflow has three components: repeatability in the pressroom regardless of printing process; prepress process control; and color management technology. “A repeatable pressroom is the foundation of process predictability whether the process is offset, flexography, or gravure,” Welch says. “The disciplines of repeatability include standard ink densities, standard press settings, defined blanket packing, ink quality control, and standard operating procedures.”
Platemaking also needs to be consistent. “Plate exposures, proper plate processor cleaning and maintenance, and quality control tracking of the prepress process are vital,” says Welch, adding that once the pressroom and the prepress are operating in a repeatable process, it is possible to integrate the “fingerprint” of the printing press into the prepress stage and to calibrate and manage the proofing technology to assure repeatability of the results. With careful attention to these three areas, Welch says, the ability to achieve a reliable proof to press match is available to any package printing company, regardless of size or printing method.
Companies Mentioned:
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