UK manufacturer of self-adhesive labels, Mercian Labels, has invested in Xeikon Color Control which uses a cloud-based system for colour matching.
The tool enables printers to offer repeatable and predictable colours, and to simulate custom spot colours all through the simplicity of a cloud-based application. As such, the system allows a close matching of colours to both the full Pantone book as well as to hard copies of previously printed packaging and labels provided by customers.
Dr. Adrian Steele, managing director, said, ‘This is a really useful development enabling us to perform even better when facing colour matching challenges from our customers. Nothing will extend the physical limitations of a CMYK colour process gamut beyond its theoretical maximum, but using Xeikon Color Control we are really pushing the barriers of colour matching to the limit. In one recent case we were asked to match an injection moulded plastic lid and a litho printed carton to that of a colour known to be tough to print on a digital engine, even one as good as the Xeikon. Using Color Control we quickly determined that we could get to a ΔE of 3 without printing anything on press. Once matched, that is exactly what it did – with a very impressive colour accuracy! Whilst we may have got there eventually with a lot of expensive operator and press time undertaking iterative testing and assessment under different light conditions, Xeikon Color Control makes colour matching of digitally printed labels better, quicker and more consistent. It’s going to make us a lot more effective at colour matching which can only be good for our customers.’
The new tool enables printers to profile their Xeikon presses and create colour tables for specific colours. Having printed a target, the measured values are uploaded to a central server where a new profile is created, together with a library of named colours. This enables printers to have much better control over their output quality and match the output with conventional jobs that have been printed previously. Furthermore, quality reports as well as an overview of the stability of the production environment, can easily be made available by the press room operator for others.
The system maximises the gamut of the Xeikon dry toner digital printing technology and can be profiled for any substrate by uploading the colour values of a printed test chart. Together with a new output profile for the press, the operator will be given a colour lookup table. In addition, an on the spot ΔE figure can be accurately given to assess the colour accuracy of the Xeikon 3300 digital press installed at Mercian Labels.
For more information: http://www.selfadhesivelabels.com/blog/2013/02/15/introducing-xcc-to-colour-match-digitally-printed-labels-to-any-other-packaging/
