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...

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...

In the world of consumer packaged goods (CPG), color plays a crucial role in attracting customers and conveying brand identity. Whether it's the vibrant red of a soda can or the calming blue of a skincare product, color consistency is key to maintaining brand recognition and trust.  In this blog, we'll explore the significance of color in packaging design and how X-Rite Pantone can help brands achieve excellent color consistency in packaging design and execution.  Why Color Consiste...

Brands may not have a line item in their budget for color, but it can impact the bottom line in different ways. Understanding the true cost of color can help accelerate go-to-market, reduce waste, and save thousands. Color plays a big role in purchase decisions when you consider it only takes shoppers 2 to 7 seconds to select an item from the shelf. To stand out, brands must introduce interesting designs to launch new varieties and seasonal specials, while considering the impact new packaging wi...

Brands invest a great deal of time and resources when selecting a new color to represent their products. If the color doesn't match expectations after printing, runs are wasted, and everyone is left wondering where the color went wrong. Here's a typical scenario. A brand selects a season color for product packaging and communicates that color to the designer. The designer integrates the color into the design and hands it off to the premedia team to convert it into print-ready files. The files a...

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...

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...

What happens when you have more than 2,000 brand colors to manage across a complex global packaging supply chain? Things get complicated! Although it may seem easier to create a new color than to dig through databases or binders of color drawdowns to find the closest match, the problem comes later when you’re faced with a huge, unmanageable library. One of our clients, a well-known fast-moving consumer packaged goods (FMCG) company, understands how easily things can get out of control. They wer...

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...

It’s important to ensure design intent is realized each time and everywhere a product appears. But with so many variables to impact print quality, how can brands utilize suppliers around the world and still achieve consistent color? Our X-Rite Pantone Packaging Color Experts have designed a series of consulting services and workshops to help you get the most from your print, packaging, plastic or textile value chain.   Offered both online and onsite, these interactive sessions i...

Metallized substrates like two-piece metal packaging are expensive to produce and make print color control a challenge. While many in the metal decorating sector are resistant to embracing color measurement, it is the fastest, most accurate and cost-effective way to produce consistent color across processing plants and achieve sustainability initiatives. Today we’ll discuss: The shortcomings of visual evaluation in a color control program, The components of a digital color solutio...

Color management is a process that identifies and characterizes each device in the imaging workflow to ensure all devices are speaking the same language. As defined by the ICC (International Color Consortium), a color managed workflow is predictable, consistent, and repeatable from capture through proofing to final output.   With digital color management, everyone involved in the print workflow can reference spectral values for specified colors and check accuracy at multiple steps along the...

We’re very excited to announce the launch of our eXact 2 spectrophotometer! With innovative new features like an on-board high-resolution camera, integrated scanning wheels, and software connectivity (just to name a few), this device is going to be a game changer for printers, converters, and ink suppliers. Available in three models, you might be wondering which eXact 2 is right for you. This blog lays out the differences between the eXact 2, eXact 2 Xp, and eXact 2 Plus to help you decid...

Asda brand packaging is printed globally across a variety of suppliers, print processes, and substrates. With a small team of print specialists, it was impossible and impractical for Asda to attend even a small percentage of press passes across all suppliers to validate print quality. Seven years ago, Asda adopted the X-Rite Pantone ColorCert Suite, a digital color program to help them streamline approvals and deliver brand presence and quality assurance on the shelf across their primary and se...

Are your customers rejecting shipments due to incorrect color? Are you identifying color issues during quality control? If your bottom line depends on color accuracy, you need to ensure your spectrophotometer is not the cause. Color drift is a big issue for a lot of companies. Even worse, many don’t even know it’s happening. Here are some ways to make sure your spectrophotometer is operating within specification to always capture accurate and consistent measurement data. Causes of Sp...

Last week Pantone announced the Pantone Color of the Year 2020 - Very Peri (PANTONE 17-3938). The Pantone Color of the Year announcement isn’t just important for designers. Since this color will set the stage for upcoming trends, brand owners should also take notice to capitalize on this trending color. Bring Very Peri to Market, Fast. Is Virtual Design the Answer? The fashion and apparel industry began embracing virtual design years ago. Luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Burberry, ...

Color measurement is used to specify, quantify, communicate, formulate, and verify color quality for color critical work. Because everyone perceives color differently, color measurement is more precise than visual evaluation.  How to Measure Color Wavelength To measure color, a color measurement device called a spectrophotometer shines light onto a sample and captures the amount of light that is transmitted or reflected in the 380 nm to 780 nm wavelength range, which is the wavelength rang...