Techkon USA has introduced the latest functions of its SpectroDens 4 spectrodensitometer – including OBA-Check, visual opacity, measuring solid ink density, printing curves, and checking G7 conformance.
The all-in-one handheld colour measurement machine can also guide press operators to the lowest deltaE with specific density adjustments to achieve the best possible colour match.
OBAs are frequently used in paper production and have a significant effect not only on how one perceives paper under different lights, but also on the results of putting ink down during the printing process. SpectroDens 4’s measurement function, OBA-Check, provides precise information about the intensity of the optical brightening agents used and the shade of the paper (often referred to as ‘the fifth colour’).
SpectroDens 4 is the first colour measurement instrument to offer a visual opacity of printed white ink measurement function. It allows a user to measure and monitor opaque white ink’s ‘hiding power’, as it is commonly referred to.
Opaque white ink is widely used in flexographic and offset packaging printing. Measuring it requires that four measurements are made of the ink drawdown on a black and white contrast card. These four measurements are interpolated by the SpectroDens 4 spectrodensitometer and provide the user with the white ink’s ability to reduce the factor of the substrate material in the printing process. If this information is not available, press operators are often guessing incorrectly on colour corrections because they’re not factoring in the white ink’s impact. This can lead to longer make ready times and unnecessarily wasted substrate materials and ink.
Additional features of the SpectroDens 4 include a GrayGuide that displays G7 pass/fail indication and the specific CMYK density adjustments needed. It is also capable of scanning a control wedge in seconds to confirm proofs against 12647-7 and known datasets like GRACol, SWOP3, SWOP5, IFRA, UGRA/FOGRA, G7, and other alternatives. The machine has the ability to create, edit, and manage colour libraries, import/export colour data, generate pass/fail QC reports, and manage the instrument, all with the onboard software.
