An hour at the press getting the red right
A repeat job for a customer's printed carton needs their brand red. The ink room mixes it from a recipe written on a card, but the card is for a different board. The press operator and the ink technician spend a long make-ready adjusting, measuring with the spectrophotometer, and comparing with a drawdown that has faded on the wall.
Last time the job ran, someone got it just right. What they did is not written down anywhere anyone can find.
Colour knowledge is not linked to the job
Getting a spot colour right depends on the ink recipe, the substrate, the print process, the press setup and the target the customer approved. Each of those is recorded somewhere different, if at all, and none are linked to the job so that a repeat can find them.
- Ink recipes are on cards or in the ink supplier's software only.
- Recipes are not tied to the substrate they were matched on.
- Approved targets are physical drawdowns that fade or go missing.
- Press readings from the last run are not saved.
- The ink technician's experience is the only link.
The cost of starting again
Long colour make-readies cost press time and waste board. Leftover mixed ink piles up because nobody can be sure it matches. Colour differences between runs lead to complaints from brand owners, who notice. And when the experienced ink technician is away, repeat jobs take noticeably longer.
Ink stock suffers as well. Every rematch produces a slightly different batch, and part tins of nearly the right colour accumulate on the shelves of the ink room. Eventually they are thrown away, along with the money spent mixing them.
A colour library we build
- Each customer colour is recorded with its reference, the approved target values, the tolerance agreed with the customer and a photo of the approved drawdown.
- Recipes are stored against the colour and the substrate, press and process, so the right one is found for each job. If your ink supplier's system holds recipes, we link to it rather than duplicate it.
- The job's specification links to the colours it uses, so a repeat job lists the recipes and targets automatically.
- Spectrophotometer readings taken at make-ready and during the run are saved against the job, by export or entry.
- Adjustments made during make-ready are recorded, and the final successful recipe can update the library after approval.
- Leftover ink is labelled with its colour and recipe version, so it can be used on the next matching job.
| Information | Where it is now | In the library |
|---|---|---|
| Recipe | Card or ink software | Linked to colour, substrate and press |
| Approved target | Drawdown on the wall | Values, tolerance and photo |
| Last run's readings | Not saved | Saved against the job |
| What was adjusted | Operator's memory | Recorded and reviewed |
| Leftover ink | Unlabelled tins | Labelled with recipe version |
Repeat jobs that start close
Repeat jobs start from the recipe and settings that worked last time on the same board. Make-ready is shorter and more predictable. Leftover ink gets used. Colour consistency between runs improves, and when a brand owner asks about a variation, you have the readings to discuss it.
Are you rematching colours every run?
- Spot colours are matched from scratch on repeat jobs.
- Ink recipes are on cards or in one person's notebook.
- Approved drawdowns fade or go missing.
- Leftover mixed ink is rarely reused.
- Brand owners have complained about colour variation between runs.