Un recente emendamento della direttiva UE sulla restrizione all’uso di determinate sostanze pericolose nelle apparecchiature elettriche ed elettroniche eliminerà, a decorrere dal 24 febbraio 2025, l’attuale deroga all’utilizzo del mercurio in diverse tipologie di lampade fluorescenti per finalità speciali. Queste lampade sono definite alla clausola 2(b)(4)-I della direttiva UE REACH. Dopo tale data, in Europa non sarà più consentita la vendita di nuo...
Does your quality control program include visual evaluation? If not, it should. Using the SpectraLight QC as part of a color evaluation workflow. No matter your industry, judging color is more than just measuring samples with a color measurement device. Just because a spectrophotometer says your color is within tolerance, doesn’t necessarily mean it will look right to the human eye. To minimize customer rejects, your color control process needs to include visual evaluation in a light boo...
Per tutti noi , la digitalizzazione e la sostenibilità sono aspetti sempre più importanti. Tuttavia, il colore viene spesso trascurato quando si tratta di sviluppare prodotti tessili. In tal senso, la digitalizzazione della supply chain tessile e l’adozione del color management in tutte le differenti fasi, potrà garantire benefici immediati in termini di colori più precisi, produzione più rapida e minor spreco di materiali. Con oltre 60 anni di innovazio...
As the temperature of light changes, so does our perception of color. As I mentioned in our last post, light plays a huge role in the way we perceive color. Today we’ll look at the science of color in manufacturing and photography; specifically how an object’s reflective and absorptive properties and viewing technology can impact the colors we perceive. To reflect or not to reflect… that is the question. The colors an object absorbs and reflects is determined by its material – is it metal, plas...
Light booths provide a controlled environment for judging color under different lighting conditions. They can help visually evaluate how different types of light will affect the perception of color, evaluate the color of raw materials before and after production, and ensure different components will remain uniform once they’re assembled. But not all light booths are the same. With NIST traceability and ISO 17025 accreditation, X-Rite offers worldwide competence in calibration, cert...
Il modo migliore per visualizzare come reagirà il colore nelle condizioni di illuminazione del mondo reale è l’uso di una cabina di illuminazione di qualità. Le cabine di illuminazione tradizionali comprendono illuminanti comuni come luce diurna, incandescente e fluorescente per riprodurre l’aspetto del colore nel punto vendita e, successivamente alla vendita, nell’abitazione e all’aperto. Oggi, il maggiore utilizzo di lampade LED negli ambienti resid...
The Pantone Color of the Year announcement is always exciting. Not only does it set the stage for upcoming trends, it also provides brand owners and designers critical guidance for marketing and product development. However, those who are charged with manufacturing products and packaging with trending colors (like 2021's Ultimate Gray and Illuminating) know it doesn’t “just happen.” It takes time and effort to incorporate new colors. Whether you work in paints, plasti...
Black Friday. Not only is it the much anticipated start to holiday shopping, it’s also a day manufacturers have been preparing for all year long. Whether mass-producing holiday cards, candy canes, plastic toys, or festive clothing, accurate color is a must. Manufacturers can’t ship two of the same toy if they won’t match on the showroom floor, and holiday sweaters that are a shade off will end up at a discount store instead of a fashion boutique. Perfection is especially import...
As the industrial plastics market grows increasingly competitive and demands more sustainable practices, manufacturers need new ways to formulate and produce accurate color faster, with less waste. Digital color standards are one of the most effective tools to bridge this gap. They also enable color work and communication from remote locations. With digital color standards, brands and designers can set clear expectations with supply chains. In turn, suppliers can achieve color goals wit...
Whether you work with plastics, coatings or textiles, you must consistently achieve in-tolerance color or your product could be rejected before it even makes it to the shelf or showroom. This is especially true for brands that rely on off-site suppliers and manufacturers for raw materials and parts that come together at assembly, such as the plastic dashboard, fabric seats, and coated interior panels of a car. Even if each site produces in-tolerance color, it must be monitored an...
No matter the industry, our customers are all working toward the same goal: Achieve accurate color and keep production moving. Even in the best conditions, color data can be a challenge to capture and share. COVID-19-related travel bans and social distancing guidelines are making it harder than ever. Today we’ll share three easy ways to remotely share color data so you can achieve your color goals without shipping physical samples or making onsite visits. The Benefits of Digit...
Appearance is more than just color. It’s an all-inclusive look at everything inherent to an object, including texture, gloss, transparency, translucency, and special effects like sparkle and shimmer. When viewed from different angles or under different lighting conditions, appearance effects can change our perception of color. That's why it’s important to control both color and appearance throughout design and development. Durable goods brands use appearance effects to captur...
Managing color throughout production is always a challenge, but advances in color technology, like the metallic, shimmer, and pearlescence effects designed to capture consumer attention, are taking the frustration to a whole new level for quality control managers. This is especially true when producing parts that must match at assembly, such as the metal panels for a home appliance or the painted side mirrors for a vehicle. Special effects are tricky to control because our perception can c...
When choosing a food product, consumers demand consistency in both taste and appearance. While a lighter batch of oranges may still produce a delicious juice blend, a pale color can jeopardize USDA approval and leave consumers questioning the quality. Unfortunately for food and beverage manufacturers, the color of food – especially drinks like fruit juice and blended cocktails – is one of the most difficult things to control during production. Here’s why. 1. Liquid is hard to...
There’s been a lot of research around the role color plays in how we expect food to taste. The fact is, we judge flavor by the color of the food or drink, even before the first taste. We expect red foods to taste sweet like strawberries or cherries. White should taste like vanilla, and green is probably limey and tart or minty. Color cues can even determine whether we take that first bite. Most of us won’t even consider trying a food like mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie if it is ...
Controlling color on cylindrical-shaped items like cups, cans, and tubes is a challenge because it’s hard to properly align the measurement device with the sample. Many printers and manufacturers cut a piece from the finished product and lay it flat to take a measurement. While this method works, each sample takes time to cut, wastes product, and risks the safety of the employees who are cutting the samples. A Faster, Safer Solution X-Rite’s Cup and Cylinder Fixture works ...
Are you wasting too much time and money on incorrect color? Even if you use the best color measurement tools available, your color will still fail without quality control. Quality control (QC) means verifying the color you specify is the same color you manufacture, throughout production. Setting up a QC program can help you accurately communicate color with clients and suppliers, inspect raw materials before you begin working, and verify your color is correct before you ship. Five Impor...
Il cliente ha scartato l'ultima spedizione a causa del colore. Hai controllato il colore prima di effettuare la spedizione e il test di tolleranza era stato superato... Anche la volta precedente avevi effettuato la stessa identica procedura, e il test di tolleranza era stato superato... Allora perché questa volta è stato scartato? I nostri clienti ci rivolgono sempre questa domanda. Il temuto “accumulo di errori” Gli scarti dovuti al colore creano sprechi e aumentano i...
Color is our perception of reflected light across the visible spectrum. When light hits an object, it absorbs some rays and reflect others. The color of light that reflects back into our eyes is the color we perceive. The more light an object absorbs, the darker it appears. With black, very little light is reflected. Pure black in the presence of light wasn’t achieved until 2014 when Surrey NanoSystems announced the invention of Vantablack. This high-tech artificial substance absorbs 99....
K 2016 begins today in Düsseldorf and runs through October 26th. As the #1 trade fair for the plastics and rubber industries, it’s a huge event featuring industry news, product demos, and networking. We’ll be in Hall 8b / Stand H65 showcasing our end-to-end X-Rite Pantone workflow solutions to help rubber manufacturers, compounders, masterbatchers, and converters get consistent color in a plastics workflow. Don’t miss your chance to speak with our color experts! (Here...
Pantone®, an X-Rite company, recently announced a pair of complementary shades as its 2016 Color of the Year: PANTONE 15-3919 Serenity and PANTONE 13-1520 Rose Quartz. The PANTONE Color of the Year announcement is always exciting because it sets the stage for upcoming trends. The Color of the Year selection process is very thoughtful and a lot of consideration is given to the color choices. To arrive at the selection each year, Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institut...
Would you choose a beverage off the store shelf if the same brand sitting next to it was a different color? The Bacardi Bottling Corporation knows the answer is probably no, which is why the company incorporates strict color standards into its Bacardi Mojito production process. Bacardi Mojito is a mix of premium rum, flavorings and special natural ingredients. Since the color of these ingredients can vary, Bacardi bottlers need to continually adjust their recipe to maintain consistent flavor an...
Molte aziende investono denaro e tempo in abbondanza negli strumenti e nei software di misurazione del colore ma dimenticano quanto sia importante l’illuminazione al momento di approvare i prodotti che dovranno essere spediti. Se utilizzati correttamente, gli spettrofotometri e i software per la gestione del colore possono confermarti se i colori realizzati rientrano nei limiti di tolleranza, e anche gestire lucidità e metamerismo (v. a seguire la spiegazione di metamerismo). Tuttav...
From laundry soap to paper to socks, it seems that manufacturers everywhere are trying to achieve the brightest whites, and consumers are certainly buying in. These companies use chemical dyes called OBAs to make their whites “whiter” and stay ahead of the competition. OBA stands for optical brightening agent. You may also have heard it called FWA (Fluorescent Whitening Agent), optical brightener, fluorescent dye, or even just whitener. An optical brightening agent is a special type of dye that ...