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...

Posted September 17, 2024 by X-Rite Color

Anyone responsible for printing goods or packaging knows that some colors, like orange, are just too difficult to reproduce using only CMY inks. A fourth color, black (K, which stands for key color) is often added to subtractive color printing applications. Since C+M+Y actually creates a muddy brownish color due to ink impurities in C, M and Y, adding a true black ink creates the deep color and tones that CMY alone can’t achieve, plus adds density to the shadows. This four-color printin...

Posted February 10, 2023 by Scott Harig

In a perfect world, you should be able to put ink in the press and simply run a job. Unfortunately, every year flexo and gravure printing operations waste ink, substrate and press time trying to get color right. Although advancements in technology have made it easier to achieve color accuracy, the variables that affect color still exist. In this three-part series, we’re sharing over two dozen reasons your color might be wrong on press. We’ve already covered two important factors &nda...

Posted October 18, 2021 by Scott Harig

The International Standards Organization has defined ISO 12647 as a set of Graphic Arts standards for printing. Included are eight parts: Part 1:  Print parameters and measurement methods Part 2:  Offset lithographic processes Part 3:  Coldset offset lithography on newsprint Part 4:  Gravure printing Part 5:  Screen printing Part 6:  Flexographic printing Part 7:  Proofing processes working directly from digital data Part 8:  Validation print processes wo...

Posted October 18, 2021 by Scott Harig

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...

Posted November 25, 2020 by X-Rite Color

競争の激しい市場において、ブランド企業とパッケージデザイナーは、店頭に並んだ自社製品を差別化する方法を模索しています。その対策は、色だけでなく、箔、特殊ワニス、ソフトタッチの仕上げなどの装飾オプションまで広がっています。また、デザイナーは従来の印刷だけでなく、より強いソリッドカラーや蛍光色、虹色なども使用するようになっています。デジタル ソリューションにより、パッケージのバリエーションを増やせ、稼働時間の短縮やサイクル タイムの短縮に対応できるようになります。 鮮やかな色や仕上げは、パッケージを店頭で目立たせますが、この傾向はパッケージ印刷のコンバーターに多くの課題をもたらします。消費者に鮮やかな色や仕上げを与える光の物理学的性質が、測定上の課題にもなっています。見る人に輝きを与えるよう、光が反射したり屈折したりすると、分光測色計で捉えるのが難しい鏡面成分も生じます。 ここでは、パッケージ印刷業者とコンバーターがデザイン意図に沿って、強いソリッドカラーと特殊な仕上げを施したパッケージを製造するための5つのヒントをご紹介します。成功している企業には、大きなビジネス成長のチャンスがありま...

Posted June 04, 2020 by Ray Cheydleur

As digital printing continues to grow, many printmakers are moving beyond traditional media to create artwork on substrates like wood, acrylic, textiles, and backlit materials. While the results can be beautiful, achieving exceptional print quality on these materials can be challenging.   Enter the i1Pro 3 Plus. With its large aperture, polarization and transmissive capabilities, this new member of X-Rite’s i1Pro Family can create color profiles for substrates that are otherwise ...

Posted May 20, 2020 by X-Rite Color

G7® is a proof-to-print process control method that allows you to reliably and efficiently match the visual appearance of the output from multiple printing devices. It works by defining the gray balance and NPDC curves in conjunction with the traditional method of measuring tonal value increase (TVI/dot gain) for each color. G7 can be applied to any type of printing, regardless of the type of ink or printing method, including all types of digital, offset, flexo, gravure printing.   It&r...

Posted February 27, 2020 by Mark Gundlach

Although digital printing has been around for many years, the industry is undergoing dramatic changes. On the plus side, digital print technologies utilize more durable inks and offer higher reliability, longer print life, and overall cost savings and efficiency. But these changes also mean print shops must adjust the way they operate to remain competitive.   According to Allied Market Research, the digital fabric printing market is expected to reach almost $4 million globally by 2022,...

Posted January 23, 2020 by Ray Cheydleur

Over the last few years, we have heard a lot about the circular economy and omnichannel marketing. While each is a trend in their own right, they are quickly converging on the print industry. To be successful in 2020, commercial printers will need to offer a wide range of print capabilities while demonstrating a commitment to sustainability and reducing waste.   The Importance of Circular Economy and Omnichannel In a circular economy, the goal is to eliminate waste and maximize the con...

Posted December 19, 2019 by Ray Cheydleur

The Pantone Color Institute just announced PANTONE® 18-3838 Ultra Violet as the Pantone Color of the Year 2018! This news is always exciting because it sets the stage for upcoming trends for everything from housewares to fashion to packaging design. In fact, we have already seen shades of Color of the Year used in packaging and graphic design by forward-looking brands in the CPG, luxury, and beauty worlds as well as by personalities and artists seeking to stand out. Part of butt...

Posted December 11, 2017 by Mark Gundlach

Did you read our blog: Are You Using The Right Tolerancing Method? If not, check it out. Today we’re taking the topic one step further to investigate how tolerances are chosen in different industries. A pass-fail tolerance is the amount of color variation that is considered commercially acceptable. In part, tolerances are driven by customer expectations. While color tolerances are very tight in the automotive, plastics, and paint & coatings worlds, they can be much less strict in other...

Posted May 02, 2017 by Mike Huda

If you didn’t catch my Industry 4.0: What Commercial Printers Need to Know article, you’ll want to check it out now. Today’s blog is a continuation, touching on the most interesting print color management tie-ins: PQX, iccMAX, mobile control and new materials. Here’s what on the horizon for color-managed workflows. Image courtesy of Esko.com. Print Quality eXchange PQX was a global effort developed by Idealliance, and is now moving to ISO to be issued as a standard. It ...

Posted January 25, 2017 by Ray Cheydleur

As we close out 2016, it’s time to look ahead to 2017 and the upcoming manufacturing trends that will influence how we do business in the New Year. With rapidly changing technology, it’s difficult to know exactly what’s coming next, but we can definitely make some predictions. Over the past year, I have interviewed many customers across a variety of manufacturing industries to learn more about their industry concerns, the design and manufacturing challenges they face, and the t...

Posted January 09, 2017 by Shoshana Burgett

Extended gamut printing is becoming more and more popular in the printing industry. With Pantone’s new EXTENDED GAMUT Guide, printers and designers have a visual guide to help predict how close of a match is possible when they use 7-color process in place of spot inks.   Ron Voigt, President of X-Rite Pantone, was recently interviewed on the topic by Cary Sherburne, senior editor at WhatTheyThink.  According to Voigt, the EXTENDED GAMUT Guide helps printers visualize how well Pantone...

Posted February 15, 2016 by X-Rite Color

In a perfect world, you should be able to put ink in the press and run a job.  Unfortunately, there are so many variables that affect color that printing operations often waste thousands of pounds of substrate, and thousands of dollars in press time, making adjustments. Advancements in technology have made it easier to measure color, but the variables still exist. To help you over come them, we’ll be featuring a series that points out many of the reasons your color could go wrong at press side....

Posted February 01, 2016 by Scott Harig

Artist Anne Lemanski was pleased to be accepted into ArtPrize Seven. Her 12 painting series titled Blue Go-Go is a beautiful piece, full of the imagery of science and nature. At 42 inches wide and 54 inches tall, it draws the viewer deep into a deliberately frenetic space that uses color and photos to explore the relationships between man, nature, and the world we inhabit today. Anne created her masterpiece during a ten week residency at McColl Center for Art + Innovation in Charlotte, North Car...

Posted September 17, 2015 by X-Rite Color