GMG ColorServer Digital, incorporating GMG SmartProfiler enables VGL to avoid reprints of signage and print only the panels needed
Finding a balance
Sign-makers and wide-format printers are being faced with shorter turnaround times than ever before, putting them under pressure to ensure they are producing work right first time around, thus saving them time and costs on unnecessary repeat printing.
One effective way of ensuring accuracy in print is investing in quality colour management software, with these products helping users hit their colour targets at the first attempt, significantly reducing the possibility of having to reprint work.
Here, we investigate some of the latest colour management software products available to the market and find out how these updated solutions can help sign-makers and wide-format print companies gain an advantage in the modern, busy market.
Balanced workload
First up, GMG Color specialises in colour management and proofing software, offering a range of products to the market. Russell Weller, commercial director of GMG Color UK, says quality software will allow users to match colours across different presses and print processes, whether digital, conventional or multi-colour.
“Not only does this mean your customers’ colours are repeatable across different projects and substrates, it also gives you the benefit of balancing workload more efficiently across your printers,” Weller explains.
“Importantly, a process-driven, colour managed workflow can pay for itself in months – ROI (return on investment) for a GMG system is typically within 12 months through reduced man hours, less wastage and rejected print, with significant consumables savings on ink, substrates and print heads.
“With GMG ColorServer, prepress can predict exactly what the final print result will look like, without constant correction cycles requiring reprints, and without the need to run proofs on press. And the built-in GMG SmartProfiler tool makes press profiling quicker and less resource intensive. Printers don’t need to be re-profiled when changing substrates, meaning less materials are used.”
O Factoid: GMG ColorServer is now available as a multi-colour product O
With this in mind, what should sign-makers and wide-format print companies be looking for in this sort of software? Weller picks out a number of factors to keep in mind when you are in the market for a new colour management solution.
First, users should focus on achieving repeatability and efficiencies, with Weller advising to look for software that enables minimal manual intervention and achieves consistent colour results to a specified standard automatically.
“This eliminates manual colour adjustment of files and profiles, which is a very time-consuming procedure that often fails to produce the required quality,” Weller says, adding: “Automation is a requirement in colour management for signage printing because files are often supplied in several colour spaces.
“Even within the same file, some images could be sRGB, some could be ISO Coated V2 (39L), and all using different profiles. Regardless of this, the expectation from customers will be that high quality print is achieved, usually the equivalent of offset. GMG ColorServer significantly reduces the time spent on manual file conversion and normalisation, due to its hot folder based automated conversions.”
Weller also advises sign-makers to look for software with calibration tools that enable correct colour results to be repeated time after time and across multiple printing devices. Weller refers back to the GMG SmartProfiler profiling engine for digital devices, which he says allows the user to recalibrate to a reference condition quickly and easily for stable print behaviour, and to compensate colour drifts for variations of substrate colour/white points and different print modes.
“This is particularly important for reprints of signage using multiple panels, as it enables you to print one new panel as necessary, rather than the entire print run,” Weller explains, adding: “Printers often produce signage across different processes, presses and multiple materials.
“However, with this profiling capability, there’s no need to make manual colour adjustments on presses to get them aligned, cutting the time the press is taken out of production, and limiting the use of materials involved.”
Taking a closer look at GMG’s other products, GMG ColorServer is now available as a multi-colour product, as well as having solutions for CMYK-based digital and conventional processes, or hybrid set ups.
Another key change is that GMG ColorServer solutions are now pay-monthly subscription based. Weller says they provide all the tools required for end-to-end colour management, incorporating colour separation, proofing, ink optimisation and exact profiling tools tailored to your printing processes.
Weller also says the GMG OpenColor profiling tool predicts colour results accurately when converting spot colours into a fixed colour palette of, for example, CMYK plus OGV.
Reduce colour barriers
Next, X-Rite offers a range of colour management solutions to the market. Liz Quinlisk, business unit manager at X-Rite, says as more sign shops print on various substrates that go beyond smooth paper, investing in quality colour management software and hardware has become even more critical.
“A colour managed workflow can reduce colour barriers and bring a sign shop to a higher level of colour accuracy and consistency across all jobs – no matter what material they print on,” Quinlisk explains, adding: “Utilising colour management in the printing process will result in less wasted time and materials – both of which have become increasingly more expensive, and will produce happier customers.
Utilising colour management in the printing process will result in less wasted time and materials”
“Sign-makers are increasingly being asked to produce more accurate colour that goes beyond “good enough”. As the variety of materials increase, a sign shop should look for a solution that is capable of managing a broad spectrum of media – from smooth paper to highly textured or glossy papers, canvas, fabrics and backlit materials.”
With this, Quinlisk draws attention to X-Rite’s i1Publish Pro 3 Plus, which provides both the software (i1Profiler) and hardware (i1Pro 3 Plus spectrophotometer) needed to profile these sorts of substrates.
X-Rite’s i1Pro 3 solutions include both software and hardware products
The software has both a basic and an advanced mode to accommodate different skill levels and workflows. The i1Pro 3 Plus device also has a larger aperture, which Quinlisk says was designed specifically for measuring colour digitally printed on unique substrates.
The solution also provides monitor profiling capabilities to ensure accurate on-screen colour for soft proofing, while Quinlisk recommends that sign shops also consider an automated measurement table for building hands-free printer profiles.
“Since printer profiles are custom to the material, ink set and printer, this is ideal for shops that have a wide variety of materials,” Quinlisk says, adding: “An automated table, like the X-Rite i1iO, can save valuable time and eliminate manual scanning and any user errors.”
In terms of what is new from X-Rite, Quinlisk highlights the i1Pro 3 Plus model, which she says addresses the challenges of printing onto unique substrates, delivering a complete hardware and software solution at an accessible price point for users.
X-Rite has been providing colour management tools to the market for more than two decades
“X-Rite offers the next gen of i1Pro 3 solutions (Basic and Publish models), which have been an industry standard for more than two decades,” Quinlisk comments, adding: “X-Rite continues to improve it’s hardware and software with regular update releases.
“Adding in a unique workflow for backlit materials adds even more value to sign shops to be able to achieve colour accuracy on this often hard to profile material.”
Competitive differentiation
Elsewhere and Esko also has a number of colour management software options available to the market. Jan De Roeck, director of marketing, industry relations and strategy at Esko, says consistent colour reproduction is essential to ensure brand recognition and develop brand equity amongst consumers.
Esko offers a range of quality assurance tools in its Automation Engine
“As materials and substrates can be really different, especially the substrate colour, a professional solution for colour management that takes into account spot inks as well as substrate colour is an essential tool for every wide-format printer,” De Roeck explains.
“The pressures on sign and wide-format printers have only been compounded by the impact of the pandemic, creating additional challenges that need to be met in a timely and cost-effective manner, without any compromise on colour quality or consistency.
“Customers are demanding more vibrant and complex designs to stand out, but there is also a trend for campaign-led, short-burst marketing, which requires regular updating and refreshing of artwork.
“This all combines to create opportunities to excel and create competitive differentiation. Colour management is a vital part of the overall prepress puzzle - and let’s not forget, this is also true for digital printing, today’s norm in wide-format print production.”
As to what sign-makers should be looking for in their software, De Roeck says automation is key. He gives the example of Esko’s Color Preflight tool, which checks the artwork to find out what is the most efficient ink set to reproduce artwork within a given colour tolerance.
“With only a few exceptions, spot inks are not used with inkjet printing, which positions Color Preflight for Automation Engine as the starting block for the digital print production process in which colour accuracy matters,” De Roeck says, adding: “Developed specifically to increase predictability of colour reproduction, it enables operators to choose the most efficient ink set to produce a job within colour tolerances with confidence and reduce unnecessary run time.”
Color Preflight in Automation Engine also predicts whether a given job will reproduce within gamut tolerance on any given press using Esko colour management technology. This, De Roeck says, helps the manufacturer with cost estimation and go or no-go decisions, as well as in optimising the use of their digital press and providing better overall equipment efficiency.
There are a number of other quality assurance tools in Automation Engine such as the new Viewing feature, which looks at a job in the native PDF format with the right colour profile, reflecting the values of the printed result based on the applied colour profile.
Also from Esko, Color Pilot is a central colour management tool, which integrates full spectral colour management, based on industry standards such as Pantone, PantoneLive and ISO CxF.
“For specific colour-critical jobs whereby spot inks are preferred over process inks, our patented spectral ink profile technology provides for an easy-to-use profile test chart and a greatly simplified user experience in calibrating and measuring spot inks,” De Roeck says, adding: “In combination with Color Preflight, this capability is especially important for printshops that combine wide-format digital printing with conventional label or folding carton production.”
The message is clear – underinvest in colour management software at your own risk! Colour accuracy is incredibly important in today’s fiercely competitive markets and commitment to a quality software product will help you hit these colours right first time.
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