Consistent brand-perfect color reproduction is always a challenge, whether producing catalogs or inserts, Point-of-Sale displays, direct mail promotions, packaging or other material for regional and national marketers, or global brands in multiple international venues.  Obtaining client approval with minor or no alterations plays a key role in the process.  All too often, variable or less-than-ideal lighting and imprecise tools can skew perceptions, resulting in costly, time-consuming color adjustments and production delays.

That’s why a visit to drupa Stand 3A50 could pay big dividends for global marketers, agency personnel and printers alike. The SAKATA INX Group - including INX International Ink Co. and INX Digital International - are demonstrating new tools and technologies that can dramatically improve color management and control, reducing if not eliminating major promotional problems en route to the marketplace.

“Our global presence along with cross-platform ink product and application know-how enhances our ability to offer comprehensive consulting services for total color management and quality improvement,” says Kuniyoshi Horimoto of SAKATA INX.  “Ongoing involvement in this area with users of our inks and related technologies has led to development of two highly practical, effective tools which we are demonstrating during drupa.”

There’s no better light than natural sunlight for viewing color output, and now the Natural Light LED viewing box from SAKATA INX Group provides the next-best thing.

“The Natural Light LED light source is designed to allow objects to be perceived in their natural color, as it is with sunlight,” Horimoto said.  “drupa visitors can see for themselves the difference it makes in an object’s color hue compared to the fluorescent lights frequently used in our industry.”

The Natural Light LED removes subjective guesswork, expressing high color rendering property “by the numbers,” as a General Color Rendering Index (CRI) value of 98.  That’s just shy of sunshine’s 100 CRI, indicating the Natural Light LED viewing box’s ability to faithfully reproduce colors in comparison with Nature’s best.

“This makes it an ideal light source for color-critical applications which printers and global marketers deal with daily,” Horimoto remarked.  “Natural Light LED closely emulates sunshine in both the breadth and depth of its spectral distribution.  In contrast, fluorescent light sources have a much lower CRI and, more importantly, they exaggerate some colors while downplaying others.  This significantly impacts what the viewer sees, which makes this viewing box a natural for conventional or digital print operations.” 

ColorBrain Score: ultra-accurate color measurement without a color control strip
When it comes to achieving job-to-job color consistency, drupa visitors will find a “world’s first” one-of-a-kind tool at Stand 3A50: the all-new ColorBrain Score.  Get your hands on this device and you’ll never settle for traditional color-strip image verification again.  SAKATA INX Group’s new ColorBrain Score eliminates variations in positioning the device from one measurement to the next and ensures color accuracy.

An attached digital camera stores position data from the first measurement.  Much like a GPS device, it directs you to the exact same place on the sheet the next time.  It’s as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Measure a point on the image of the approved proof.  The attached camera stores the data concurrently with its image mapping.

2. On the printed sample, place the device near the first measurement area.  ColorBrain Score checks this with its stored image mapping data, and digitally directs you to position the

device in the exact same point on the sheet as the first measurement.

3. Measurement data from the proof and the print are compared in L*a*b* and color difference delta E is displayed.

In short, you know you’re getting an “apples versus apples” comparison between proof and print and that it’s highly precise.  ColorBrain Score measures to Japan Color or ISO 12647 Color Standards, and all measurement data is stored with the position image.  Besides having the ability to easily check for any change in the specific image during color printing, users can also:

• Make color certification PDFs for each measurement

• Supply Color Certifications for each print sample

• Accurately proof from remote locations

• Guarantee color quality via the number with ColorBrain

“Advanced-technology tools such as ColorBrain Score and the Natural Light LED viewing box can remove guesswork and speed production every day in virtually any print operation,” Horimoto said.  “We encourage prospective users to see for themselves at Stand 3A50.”