When it comes to achieving precise and consistent color measurement, investing in a high-quality spectrophotometer is essential. Spectrophotometers are critical to color quality because they provide repeatable and reliable data that ensure products meet strict color standards. Whether you're in the business of manufacturing durable goods, apparel, cosmetics, or building materials, the right spectrophotometer can make all the difference by detecting even the slightest variations in color. These ...

  Embracing Eco-Friendly Solutions for a Brighter Tomorrow In today's rapidly evolving world, sustainability has become a critical focus for manufacturers across various industries. As consumers become more environmentally conscious, the demand for sustainable practices in manufacturing has surged. This shift towards sustainability not only benefits the planet but also enhances business operations, leading to long-term success and resilience. One area where sustainability is making signific...

The Need for Industry Standards for Visual Color Evaluation in Retail LED Lighting In the retail industry, lighting is a critical factor that influences how products are perceived by customers. However, the lack of standardized LED lighting poses significant challenges that can impact both retailers and consumers. Inconsistent Color Reproduction One of the primary issues with the absence of standardized LED lighting is inconsistent color reproduction. Different LED lights can produce varying co...

Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2025: PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, is a warm, inviting brown that evokes thoughts of chocolate mousse and rich lattes. With its subtle elegance and versatility, Mocha Mousse promises to influence design trends, especially in the textile industry, offering a versatile and sophisticated foundation for fabric designs and textile products. This earthy, warm color is the perfect balance of timeless elegance and contemporary appeal, making it ideal for manufactu...

The unveiling of Pantone’s Color of the Year is always an exciting moment across industries, and for 2025, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse has taken center stage. This rich, warm brown evokes comfort, reliability, and sophistication, making it a perfect choice for consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brands aiming to establish a strong shelf presence. However, managing the consistency of such a nuanced color across diverse packaging materials and suppliers is no small feat. That’s where a Pri...

The Future of Color Consistency: LED Lighting Solutions for Industry Standards For years, fluorescent bulbs have been a mainstay in industries requiring accurate color assessment, but their downsides are becoming increasingly hard to ignore. These lights require warm-up time and may distort color accuracy, both of which lead to production delays and translate into higher sample costs.  More importantly, fluorescent bulbs contain hazardous materials like mercury, complicating their disposal...

Autura Ink: The Future of Cloud-Native Ink Formulation and Quality Control X-Rite’s latest innovation, Autura Ink, a cloud-native ink formulation and quality control solution, recently won the prestigious PRINTING United Alliance Pinnacle Award in the color management and quality control category. This award recognizes innovative new products that significantly enhance the printing industry through exceptional quality, capability, and productivity. We sat down with Ming-Pong Liu, Software...

Accelerate ROI, digital transformation, and sustainability with a digital textile color program. Hiccups in getting to market can be devasting for any type of business. For fashion, soft goods, apparel, and footwear brands, a major concern is missing out on the opportunity to increase sales and establish or reinforce brand credibility. Brands simply can’t afford any unnecessary slowdowns during the execution of a design due to delays in preliminary steps such as the color approval process....

Looking for a centralized location to manage your X-Rite products and services? Check out My X-Rite. Whether you need product information or support, service details, or access to learning resources, our free online portal is just a few clicks away. 24/7 Access: Easily access your personal dashboard from your computer or mobile device around the clock. Personalized Dashboard: See what matters most to you in one convenient location. Effortless Service & Support: Submit and track...

Starbucks has once again kicked off the holiday season with four new festive cup designs. This year they surprised us with a magenta accent, which “lifts the traditional holiday colors and makes the red even look brighter,” said Kristy Cameron, Starbucks’ creative director. In the frenzy of holiday shopping, packaging plays a crucial role in catching the eye of potential buyers. However, staying ahead of the game and adapting packaging designs to align with ever-changing con...

The environmental footprint of fashion is out of control. According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), “Textile mills generate one-fifth of the world's industrial water pollution and use 20,000 chemicals, many of them carcinogenic, to make clothes.” Fabric being dyed in factory. Image from NRDC.org.  A Problem That Impacts Everyone Did you know it takes about 200 tons of water (enough to fill several swimming pools) to produce one ton of cott...

If ensuring color consistency is part of your job description, you’ll want to learn more about PantoneLIVE. Our customers report that it helps them get products to market an average of four times faster! PantoneLIVE is an end-to-end, digital color communication ecosystem that helps everyone involved in a packaging workflow visualize and communicate color. It shows which colors are achievable, and which are not, across everything from flexible packaging to corrugated board. And, since the digital...

他人から「りんご」と言われた時に、あなたは、赤、緑、黄のどれを思い浮かべますか？ もし、顧客から具体的ではない説明で調色を求められたら、どうすればよいでしょうか？。カラーコミュニケーションというとてもシンプルな定義が、カラープログラムの成功を左右することができます。詳しくは、以下のブログをご確認ください。 絵は千の言葉を描けますが、言葉だけでは、千の色を描く事は出来ません。 色に関する循環的な会話は日常に起きるものです。一般的には、誰かが色を少し変えて欲しいという要求から始まります。例えば、もっと暖かく、もっとポップにして、もっとトーンダウンして、などです。あなたも何度か経験したことがあるのではないでしょうか。デザイナーとの電話では、欲しい色が「見えている」と言われたのに、それを表現するための適切な言葉が見つからないことです。あるいは、自分が伝えたつもりの色が出なかった印刷業者との会話も難しいです。 ブランドオーナー、デザイナー、サプライヤー、そしてメーカーは、さまざまな方法で、そして、多くの場合口頭で、期待する色を伝えようとします。さらに、色の説明が伝えられるたびに、それは少しず...

This time of year, the internet is full of Top 10 Countdowns. It’s a tradition we’ve embraced since 1940 when the Billboard published its first chart ranking the top selling recorded songs. Since then, others have jumped on the bandwagon to highlight the most popular trends of the previous year.   We’ve been publishing our top-read blogs since 2016, and we’re happy to see some educational topics like color perception, tolerancing, and spectrophotometers continue to r...

Color plays a major role in our food choices. Many foods like Swiss cheese, strawberries, broccoli, and mashed potatoes always look the same. We know what to expect when we take our first bite. But what if your mashed potatoes were green? Would they taste different? Would you even try them? Why Color Analysis is Important for the Food Industry   There has been a lot of research about the role color plays in how we perceive and even taste food. These studies show that our judgment of f...

色は大事だと、よく言われています。なぜ大事なのか知っていますか。実際、生産工程において、色はとても重要な要素です。しかし、残念ながら、多くのメーカーは、色を正しく表現することが以前と比べ、はるかに難しくなったと気づいています。なぜなら、取引先のブランドは、より厳しい許容範囲を満たすことを求めています。 その理由の一つは以下のとおりです。 メタリックパッケージ、真珠光沢仕上げ、カスタムファブリック、鮮やかな新色など、色技術の進捗は顧客を魅了する一方で、生産における一貫性を持たせることがより難しくなっています。 たとえば、コンポジットデッキを例としてあげましょう。以前はグレーかブラウンの2択しかありませんでした。そして、デッキ全体に調和が取れていけば、お客様は十分満足されました。しかし、今では、深い木目模様やエキゾチックな色など、多くの選択肢があります。そのため、メーカーは2～3色ではなく、数10色を管理しなければなりません。統一感を出すために、より難しくなりました。 パッケージもそのひとつです。かつて、印刷された箱のみが並んでいたお店でも、今はホイルパウチやブリスターパック、マルチ基...

In 2006, X-Rite acquired the Munsell Color Company. Along with that acquisition came an important legacy of color science, color standards, and color vision analysis tools. Today we'll look back at Albert Munsell's contribution to the world of color and share the products his work has inspired to help us manage color in a range of industries, including packaging, apparel, footwear, electronics, cosmetics, home furnishings, paint, food and beverage, construction, and more. Albert Munsell's Role ...

When customers are just getting started with color management, they often ask, "What is the difference between a spectrometer and a spectrophotometer?". With such a minute spelling difference, it's easy to make a quick typo and get the wrong answer for this color question. So...what's the difference? Spectrometers vs. Spectrophotometers    What is a Spectrophotometer? A spectrophotometer is a color measurement device that is used to capture and evaluate color on just about anything, in...

According to autolist.com, over 80% of cars produced today are white, black, or some shade of gray. It’s not necessarily because bright and bold colors are more difficult to produce and match than their grayscale counterparts, they just take longer to get through the inspiration and car design process.  Believe it or not, producing a new auto color can take up to five years before it makes it to the showroom floor. It’s a long, tedious process for designers, paint...

アズダ社のブランドパッケージはさまざまなサプライヤー、印刷プロセス、基材を使用して世界中で印刷されています。アズダ社の印刷専門家からなる小規模なチームでは、印刷品質を検証するために、すべてのサプライヤーに立ち会うことが現実的ではありませんでした。   ７年前、アズダ社はデジタル カラー プログラムである、エックスライト社の品質管理ソフトウェア ColorCert Suiteを採用し、承認を合理化し、棚に並べたときに、一次・二次パッケージング印刷業者全体で、一貫性のあるブランドの存在感と品質保証を実現しました。   現在、アズダ社の承認済みの印刷業者の大多数は、プレスルームツールを導入し、ColorCertスコアカードサーバーに直接データを送信しています。アズダ社はプロセスカラー、ブランドカラー、オーバープリント、グレーバランスの許容範囲を決め、プロセスをコントロールします。印刷業者は、客観的かつ一貫性のある基準により、自社の印刷品質を評価・監視します。     アズダ社は最新版のColorCertスコアカードサーバーにアップグレード エックスラ...