{"id":45319,"date":"2025-04-07T11:51:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T09:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/?p=45319"},"modified":"2025-05-08T17:45:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:45:54","slug":"flexotech-article-flexo-colour-by-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/flexotech-article-flexo-colour-by-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"FlexoTech article: “Flexo colour by numbers”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


Article courtesy of FlexoTech<\/span> magazine<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Matching brand colours is a fundamental task for most flexo printers, and there are tools and approaches that can take the subjectivity out of colour management.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you manage colour at your flexo facility? For some flexo companies, it seems, the question itself might engender something of a feeling of discomfort. There is a diplomatic response provided by X-Rite\u2019s director of print & packaging, Jon-Michael McCartney, when asked about the industry picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe level of advancement in colour management varies quite a bit among flexo printers,\u201d<\/em> he tells FlexoTech. \u201cSome are already using advanced digital tools and following ISO standards, while others still rely on more traditional and subjective methods. However, as demand for colour consistency continues to grow, especially in packaging and branding, more flexo printers are recognising the need for digital process control and colour measurement tools to remain competitive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a slightly more straightforward response from Niall Coady, the owner of colour consultancy MPXColour, who points out that there is no standard way to communicate colours in the flexographic printing industry, even though there is a standard for controlling the printing process (ISO 12647-6:2020). This lack of a standard makes it hard for brands and printers to control the results and make sure their products are of the best quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Coady explains: \u201cMany printers buy their plates and separations from independent repro organisations who have limited printing experience and rely heavily on proofs printed on different materials than the final product for the client. I\u2019m often puzzled by the number of businesses using 1990s methods in 2025 software and expecting better results. To get the results we want, we need to change how we do things; that\u2019s a fact.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MPXColour helps its clients, including printers, agencies, and brands, develop a colour communication strategy. It uses science to make a process that is often too subjective, more objective. Mr Coady says: \u201cWhat can be measured can be managed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the ethos behind the way I have been doing my business for the last 10 years,<\/em>\u201d he continued. \u201cOne of the key things I get involved with is when a brand wants to understand what they are asking a printer to do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colour strategy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For printers, managing colour expectations for different brands is a complex process that can easily result in them having to work with lots of different colour management software and tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge job for them to keep up with this. I ask brands: what are you trying to control, what\u2019s the goal and how would you describe that to your printer? If you ask that very specific question to five different brands you will get five different answers. There has to be a common denominator and that\u2019s what I do. I act as a communications man between what a client wants to achieve, what a printer can actually achieve and what the process can achieve, given the materials and components designated for the job.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Data-driven<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid Software also sees the process as beginning with brand owners, creating artwork and specifying colour in an unambiguous way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joris Verbouwe, product manager for colour technology at Hybrid, comments that \u201cif colour is well specified then we have a very good starting point\u201d.<\/em> He adds: \u201cIt\u2019s an essential thing to make colour an integrated part of a production process, in our case with CLOUDFLOW. It\u2019s very much data-driven, it\u2019s colour-by-numbers. But it\u2019s also about staffing; the people you have interacting with CLOUDFLOW<\/em>. You cannot expect everyone to be very colour-savvy, and for printers to have skilled people focusing on colour is great but this can lead to production bottlenecks, but with CLOUDFLOW<\/em> workflow everyone in the production process can make colour production decisions and evaluate the outcome without being a colour expert.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, it is data-driven, logical, intuitive. In the workflow, you can prepare the artwork for output, but you can reroute to whichever press you want it to go to. You can use the flexibility in the workflow to do that and you can do it very late in the process \u2013 what is called \u2018late binding\u2019.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removing subjectivity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There is a key point here about rerouting print jobs to a different press. The \u201ccolour-by-numbers\u201d approach theoretically enables this to happen, by taking any subjectivity out of colour matching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jon-Michael McCartney of X-Rite explains: \u201cThe most effective way to remove subjectivity from the colour management process is by using digital colour standards based on spectral data. This approach helps designers share colour intent and specifications while setting clear requirements across the entire print supply chain. With digital colour communication, everyone is speaking the same language and working off the same specifications, which eliminates subjective interpretation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy implementing a digital colour workflow, brands and their print suppliers benefit from faster make-ready times, improved productivity, and reduced waste. By measuring and verifying spectral colour data, flexo printers can maintain colour accuracy throughout production and share results with brands as part of a print quality control program. This process not only minimises costly rework but also reduces the need for onsite press approvals, accelerating production timelines and supporting sustainability initiatives through reduced waste and resource consumption.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is certainly not an easy process to implement. Each flexo press must be fingerprinted, while profile information on different substrates must be compiled. Colours on samples can be measured with a spectrophotometer and stored as a CXF file, which allows the data contained within to travel the world over, and be applied to a specific printing press, specific printing conditions, and specific substrate, to provide a realistic expectation of the colour that can be produced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBy digitising colour standards, printers can store and access spectral data for precise colour reproduction across different presses and substrates. These tools allow printers to work within predefined tolerances, eliminating guesswork and ensuring colour accuracy from proof to production \u2013 no matter the material or printing conditions,\u201d<\/em> said Mr McCartney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He concludes: \u201cIf there\u2019s one key takeaway, it\u2019s this: strong process control is the foundation of colour consistency. Invest in the right tools, maintain your equipment, and carefully manage environmental conditions in the pressroom. Adopting a digital colour workflow provides a path to streamlined colour communication, waste reduction, and increased efficiency.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article courtesy of FlexoTech magazine Matching brand colours is a fundamental task for most flexo printers, and there are tools and approaches that can take the subjectivity out of colour management. How do you manage colour at your flexo facility? For some flexo companies, it seems, the question itself might engender something of a feeling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[197],"tags":[],"challenge":[],"hybrid-product":[],"market":[],"service":[],"class_list":["post-45319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49094,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45319\/revisions\/49094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45319"},{"taxonomy":"challenge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/challenge?post=45319"},{"taxonomy":"hybrid-product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hybrid-product?post=45319"},{"taxonomy":"market","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/market?post=45319"},{"taxonomy":"service","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hybridsoftware.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/service?post=45319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}