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Color Management in Packaging 16-20 rev 10/9/07 5:08 PM Page 16 COLOR MANAGEMENT Color Management In Packaging Shorter lead times, increasing pressure on pricing, and consistent quality have become almost a commodity in packaging. Matching color is not a commodity among package printers. BY TYLER HARRELL ackaging is probably the most The majority of printed packaging visible component of the mar- today is multicolor in nature; meaning keting mix. And, it’s becoming that it’s not just your standard cyan, Pmore important. Research magenta, yellow and black inks, but suggests that companies are spending more likely those colors and two, three less on traditional advertising but are or even four special colors that help to increasing their budgets on packaging identify the brand. Large consumer itself. Brand owners stake their lives on product companies have many brands, maintaining brand consistency and and when you add brand extensions to integrity. Yet, almost in contradiction, them, you can imagine how many dif- they will fight to rush to market and ferent ink colors might be associated squeeze every possible bit out of costs. with just one brand and its brand Shorter lead times, increasing pres- extensions. Think of the complexity sure on pricing, and consistent quality and, even more so, the cost associated have become almost a commodity in with printing all of this packaging. packaging. Unfortunately, matching color is not necessarily a commodity More Than Just a Profile among package printers. Just as impor- All packaging supply chain partners tant, it must be noted that brand man- from brand owners to press operators agers are also not very savvy with color. have been conditioned to think of color management tools as profilers of Building the Brand print devices to generate acceptable Packaging of all types has many func- contract proofs. Although that certainly tions; the most important is to visually is an important facet of color manage- identify the brand. In most cases, the ment, there are many other factors consumer product company’s main that affect ultimate job quality on brand asset is the color associated with press. At the end of the day, there is a the particular brand. Who doesn’t asso- lot that goes into color management ciate red with Coke or orange with Tide in packaging to ensure a level of pre- when walking down grocery store aisles? dictability that makes packaging buyers 16 IPA BULLETIN • September/October 2007 16-20 rev 10/9/07 5:08 PM Page 17 comfortable that the proof they sign off on actually color databases. And, these systems are usually stand- matches the printed result and therefore the actual alone solutions often linked to certain devices. They product on the shelves. aren’t color solutions that are fully integrated in a RIP In simple terms, a color management system is and a workflow. It requires more sophisticated issues expected to color correct and match the press. Of such as handling dot gain, spot colors, understanding course, a color management system should be able to the order of colors on press, the characteristics of measure color—both CMYK and spot colors. However, opaque inks and any combination of these elements. it’s the level of spot color handling that is the bench- Color management incorporates a lot, including mark, particularly for packaging. Quite a few color color conversion (for example, RGB to CMYK), management systems claim to simulate spot colors. extended gamut ink sets, ink selection, and dot gain Yet, they rarely measure spot colors and never refer to on press, to list just a few. September/October 2007 • IPA BULLETIN 17 16-20 rev 10/9/07 5:08 PM Page 18 COLOR MANAGEMENT This may seem very basic to anyone who has fol- degree of repeatability. We have global customers lowed the IPA Proofing RoundUP, but as a reminder: who have followed that philosophy to each press. it was not long ago that most people were matching If you do not use the stock that something is to be the press to the proof, rather than the other way printed on, there will be issues of laydown of ink, sat- around. Unfortunately, I’d hate to tell you how many uration and whiteness. If you create a profile with the people we still see who are doing it. same ink, substrate and plate, theoretically you should Of course, the objective is to match a proof to the have the same profile. We suggest that customers use press, so it is a good determinant of how the press will a SWOP curve and accommodate the flexo highlights. print a job. One of the more important reasons for this is very significant: a 4-color press typically has a Two-color Management Systems In One smaller gamut than an inkjet printer. Color management can be broken down to two If you are looking for flexibility in approaches: colorimetric and spectral. a printed result, you’re going to get Colorimetric color management systems are based it from the printer, not the press. on the CIE L*a*b* color space—an excellent method Fingerprinting a press is also an to specify colors on a very wide gamut and an excep- investment that pays off quickly. tional means to verify color accuracy. This measuring Jobs are pulled to a color OK faster, system relies on printed characterization charts con- which means you save makeready taining patches of different CMYK percentages and time (and money), on a job-to-job combinations. Colorimetric color management sys- basis, and also increase press tems describe the resulting effect of colors, but not uptime for all work. the underlying mechanism of how they interact. For print operations where no standardization on Data Collection Do’s & Don’ts a fixed set of inks has been made, a system is When you are proofing to the required that is flexible enough to work with a press, the press has less color number of spot color combinations. This is what gamut. I like to promote sim- spectral approach can provide. Spectral color man- A good packaging color management system combines both colorimetric and plicity. Many people collect data agement systems determine the characteristic of spectral color management systems to on press profiles, read the profile inks. They rely on measuring the spectrum of inks provide the best of both worlds: the from something printed on the individually and in overprint with other inks. Just as accuracy of CMYK along with a database press, then go directly from that important, they measure the opacity of inks affecting of special color profiles. Thus, the overprint between spot colors and CMYK or optimize the press. The priority the combination of inks on press. Opaque inks and are accurately predicted. Combining for any printer has to be to metallic colors have a different level of opacity than colorimetric and spectral management achieve predictability of the traditional CMYK inks. Measuring how they will systems, a good packaging color manage- printed result, regardless of how affect overprinting is crucial. Using a database-driven ment system works with a profiling chart for CMYK, while referring to a spectral immersed you get into color man- mathematical model, the spectral color management profiling chart for special colors. agement. The printer needs to be system provides the only practical solution for special able to create a predictable proof colors. It is perfect for profiling special ink gradations of press performance. My suggestion is that you and solids. By extrapolating the behavior of colors to put your press in the most consistent running state any set of inks, it describes the underlying mecha- (the same as your proofer). You always calibrate nism that drives the final result—and assures a cor- the proofer, and rely on the result day after day. rect “read” on overprints by measuring the level of Given that, a printer should never try to let a press opacity of inks. sheet—used for proofing calibration and pro- A good packaging color management system com- filing—represent the best that can be done. It has bines both colorimetric and spectral color manage- to be representative of the press during a produc- ment systems to provide the best of both worlds: the tion run. That’s the only way you can link a proof accuracy of CMYK along with a database of special back to press predictability. color profiles. Thus, the overprint between spot colors Optimize the press first. Build your curves and and CMYK are accurately predicted. create the right SWOP value and ink densities and Combining colorimetric and spectral management then create your press profile. You’ll have a greater systems, a good packaging color management system 18 IPA BULLETIN • September/October 2007 16-20 rev 10/9/07 5:08 PM Page 19 works with a profiling chart for CMYK, while referring many package designs can be printed at the same to a spectral profiling chart for special colors. time, less product inventory can be kept—there is With the spectral chart, the color management more freedom to return to the press to print a spe- system can profile any multicolor process set and spe- cific package. With less spot colors, there is reduced cial colors, such as metallics and Pantone inks, for ink inventory while providing the designer adequate proofing or converting jobs to the target color space. color latitude to create appealing packaging. In These profiles can be optimized for minimum ink short, MCPP creates more visually appealing pack- usage and maximum color depth. aging by preserving the balance between visual The system mathematically predicts any mix of any brand identity and printing economics.
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