First OpenColor installation in Latin America accurately predicts spot colors in proofs and lets Faret cost-effectively gang print jobs with consistent color quality

Hingham, MA USA – By installing GMG OpenColor, Faret s.a. has accurately helped to represent spot colors from process inks, reducing the number of spot colors required on press, cutting down on press runs, and saving prepress time.

Faret s.a was founded in 1986 and has been recognized for excellence in packaging production and customer service. The family-owned business began by printing pharmaceutical folding-carton packages—still the company’s core business 25 years later. All production steps are managed by Faret’s integral Certified Quality and Environmental system—they are ISO 9001: 2008 and ISO 14001 and PEFC Certified. “We are highly committed to innovation through technology and the continuous improvement of our workflow,” comments Andres Faret, Gerente Comercial, Faret s.a. “We have a wide range of state of the art machinery for different types of applications in order to fulfill the highest quality standards.”

Through the 1980s, Faret primarily printed with spot colors, and were well known for their exceptional work preparing inks for Pantone colors. In the 1990s, they expanded their business to include cosmetics and health care packaging, which required CMYK inks for images, along with spot colors for the brands. “For more than 20 years we have supplied the best packaging solutions and the most innovative high end finishes for folding cartons of the health care and beauty companies in Chile,” says Faret. “We developed this niche by producing high-end folding cartons with functional properties. However, prepress became very difficult. Our customers would deliver photos. We would work with profiles and go to press, and cross our fingers that the colors would match.”

From the mid 2000s, Faret again expanded its business, printing folded cartons for wines, liquors and spirits. To support these, they invested in color management software. “With process color you have to update profiles every two to three months. Sometimes the machinery changes a little bit or, if you change inks or blankets, there is some impact. You will have deviations,” comments Faret. While they worked with the software for two to three years, there was no local service. In 2009, Faret researched the market and found GMG. Faret invested in GMG ColorProof, GMG ColorServer and GMG InkOptimizer and had GMG profile the system. “We RIPped a file, and it was fantastic,” notes Faret.