Components of a Closed-Loop Color Control System and How They Work Their Magic

Adding a Closed-Loop Color Control System is often the best and most effective way to breath new life into an older offset press. The result is automation which decreases job make-ready times for instant time and material savings but it’s also the “great equalizer” too, which increases the color consistency across individual press runs, over time, and even across multiple presses or different shifts of press operators. However, to better understand how the closed-loop system…

Is your Techkon device in need of recertification?

The Techkon Recertification program will ensure your instrument is ISO compliant and that it meets factory specifications. Our 8 point recertification includes: Cleaning of instrument optics Check/replace battery charging capacity Check/replace lamp Check white standard Verify & Update internal device calibration Upload new firmware Complete functionality test ISO9001 compliant certificate You can start the process of recertifying your device by requesting an RMA. After filling out the RMA request form, you will receive an email…

Viewing Density Trends with Expresso Mini

ExPresso Mini is a SpectroDENS feature that shows print density trends as a bar graph. Press operators can use this capability to track trends across multiple sheets or across the press width. It is a simple tool to help maintain print uniformity. STEP 1: Use the up/down arrow buttons on SpectroDENS to select the Measurements Function menu on (bottom left menu). Scroll through the menu and select the Expresso Mini function. Expresso Mini displays results…

Field tests with print samples using XRGA and Techkon instruments

A previous blog post (“Consistent Color Measurement”) discussed instrument settings and procedures to ensure consistent color measurement throughout the supply chain. Once these are all in place, how well will instruments agree? This blog will evaluate color measurement using Xrite (eXact, SpectroEye, and 939) and Techkon (SpectroDens) spectrophotometers. All spectrophotometer manufacturers quote “repeatability” as one of their specs. This is the degree to which an instrument agrees with itself when making measurements of the same…

Section 179 – Getting a Tax Write off for Entire Purchase Cost

When your business buys certain items of equipment, it typically gets to write them off a little at a time through depreciation. For a $50,000 machine, it may get to write off $10,000 a year for five years. The whole purpose behind the Section 179 stimulus is to motivate American businesses to invest in growth. For most small businesses, the entire cost can be written-off on the 2016 tax return (up to $500,000). Learn more…

Why Techkon SpectroDens is the preferred G7® measurement device

Techkon SpetroDENS was the first handheld device to offer integrated support for the Idealliance G7® specification and is the only measurement device which reports G7 measurements relative to the measurement of your actual printing stock. This is important because G7 is substrate relative. This means the color of G7 gray adapts to the color of the substrate. For example, on a blue paper the gray will have a bluer target value or aim than it…

Wide Gamut Printing with CMYK Inks

Understanding the CMYK Gamut What is the CMYK gamut? The CMYK gamut refers to the range of colors that can be reproduced using cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks in printing. Unlike RGB, which can display very bright and saturated colors, the CMYK gamut is smaller because it’s based on subtractive color mixing. The size of your CMYK gamut depends on factors such as ink type, paper, press condition, and adherence to industry standards…

Press Calibration to Standards. Is it a Return on Investment?

It is great to be able to match a proof on press, but what is the real financial benefit? It depends on the type of printing that you are doing. For some types of printing, it really is just ink on paper and the proof is just a rough guide. The return on investment is less obvious for this type of printing. When the customer expects you to match the proof, however, being able to…

Ink Optimization with GCR

More Than Just Saving Ink Ink optimization software has been with us for some time, but most printing plants do not use it. Many have not heard of it and are unaware of how the software works and what it does. Ink optimization software uses Gray Component Replacement (GCR) to change the separation of the image. The software will take color from the file, and increase the black channel. The software can be set to…

Improving press productivity with closed loop color control

With shorter print runs, presses are printing many more jobs per day. In this scenario, it becomes particularly important to reduce make-ready time. One way to get there is is with an ink-key presetting system. A typical after-market system consists of software for calculating ink coverage from pre-press data and a hardware box that enables communication with the press console. Ink coverage can be calculated from CIP3/4 or from other RIP formats. Ink presets are…

SpectroDENS Percent Density Display

SpectroDENS InkCheck and ISOCheck functions calculate and display density adjustments needed to achieve the best possible color match. The newest update of SpectroDENS firmware (download here) now includes a display of PERCENT DENSITY change. The percent change values are useful since they can be entered into ink key adjustment software on Heidelberg and other presses. InkCheck calculates ink density adjustment to achieve best color match (lowest ΔE) to reference values for the ink. The screen…

Consistent Color Measurement

Color measurement devices work by measuring the amount of light reflected at different wavelengths. Measurement consistency is affected by factors such as ambient temperature, calibration, paper opacity, optical/sensor design of measurement device. An understanding of these factors can help ensure more reliable print color control by measurement. Software settings are another practical issue in achieving consistent results. Spectral measurements are mathematically converted to color and density values. These conversions depend on settings and options selected…

A Polarizing Debate

Use of polarization filters in print color measurement Photographers use polarization filters to cut out glare. On color measurement devices, the use of these filters minimizes differences due to gloss. Differences in appearance from specular reflection can come from paper coating and from ink finish. Also drying of wet ink changes the appearance. Whether a surface is glossy or matte can impact color measurement. There has been debate about the use of polarization filters and…

7 Considerations in Aperture Size for Print Measurement

Print color and density measurement can be done with different aperture sizes on a spectrophotometer. Here are 7 things to consider when pondering aperture size for color measurement of prints: What size are the color patches on the color control bar? Typically small aperture is used where smaller color patches need to be measured. This is often the case for presses with many printing units and where extra patches are being used for each ink…

Pre-Launch of Newest SpectroDens | Densitometer and Spectrophotometer

Customer feedback has always driven our product development and innovation; and the latest updates to our SpectroDens are no exception. As a member of our Techkon community, you are the first to hear about and be able to PRE-ORDER at no additional cost the newest SpectroDens to be unveiled in January. Here is a sneak preview of some of the new features: SCCA Reference value correction The practice of following print standards like ISO 12647…

How does paper color impact your G7 compliance?

WHY DO OPTICAL BRIGHTENERS IN PAPER MATTER? In the world of print, optical brightening agents in paper have often been referred to as a ‘game changer’ because of their inherent impact on achieving an acceptable color match. Although G7® has proven to be a valuable method for calibrating printing devices, as well as specifying color, one of the limitations of G7, as well as other calibration methods, has been the problem of paper color. The…

8 Questions to Ask Before Purchasing Your Next Handheld Densitometer

The purchase of a handheld densitometer is a capital expenditure that requires due diligence and a proven path to ROI for most commercial and packaging printers today. Before making the final purchase decision, be sure to ask the following 8 questions: Is the densitometer equipped with functionality to scan color bars? The ability to scan color bars with a handheld densitometer should be a top consideration when evaluating your purchase decision. This feature is essential…

LED versus Incandescent Lighting

As the debate over LED versus incandescent lighting continues throughout a variety of industries, it seems there is less to deliberate within the color measurement industry; namely for use in densitometers and spectrophotometers. There are 5 compelling reasons for choosing a densitometer or spectrophotometer that uses an LED light source. LEDs last longer. In fact, LED’s can last up to 10 times longer than incandescent light; which translates into an average incandescent lamp life of…

Accurately Communicating Color from Design to Press

Accurately reproducing color from the digital artwork created by designers is an essential component to the success of any commercial or packaging print company. Within the print production process there are typically 3 different methods of communicating color. The first is the monitor as it is the medium by which designers create the original artwork. The second is the inkjet printer as it is typically used to produce proofs that represent the colors to be…

3 Steps to Achieve Accurate Color Across Presses

Ensuring consistent and accurate color in a multi-press multi-facility environment presents a host of challenges that many printers struggle to deal with on a daily basis. Most of these challenges fall into the following four categories: Inability to Share Data If there is not a cohesive system and process in place to share customer specified color tolerances and values, it is virtually impossible to achieve accurate and consistent color across multiple presses and facilities. Without…