Sussex, Wisconsin, USA – QuadTech today announced its extensive range of color management and defect management solutions will be the focus at this year’s Labelexpo Europe, held September 25-28 at Brussels Expo. Alongside the highlighted product portfolio, which is designed to ensure consistently high color quality, significantly lower production times, reduced waste and increased profits, visitors to the QuadTech stand (3B52) will conduct live demonstrations of ColorTrack™, QuadTech’s latest color workflow solution for packaging printers.

According to QuadTech President Karl Fritchen, “We have demonstrated our color management technology at a number of key events this year already and the feedback we have received from packaging converters has been phenomenal. We knew from the reaction at drupa the potential impact ColorTrack and DeltaCam™ could have on the industry, and we’re delighted to hear such positive feedback directly from the market. Since last summer our developers and engineers have continued to develop the products. We look forward to demonstrating at LabelExpo just how these color breakthroughs will further improve the way printers manage color quality and allow them to take better control of their print production.”

QuadTech Solutions for Packaging

Among the innovations featured at the show is QuadTech’s Color Measurement with DeltaCam™, launched at last year’s drupa. The system makes advanced, inline spectral measurement affordable to individual packaging print houses. For about half the cost of other inline systems, package printers can utilize accurate, automated L*a*b* measurement on film, paper or board—ensuring that all printed product is within their customers’ color specifications. The M1, M0, ISO compliant technology enables printers to reduce time and waste while confidently maintaining color throughout the roll—without the need to wait for a roll change to measure with a handheld device.

ColorTrack™, a unique new color management software for flexo and gravure packaging applications, is an industry-first highly adaptive “color expert in a box” solution for packaging printers. With a variety of options for hand-held and inline configurations, the software facilitates fast, accurate press-side correction of ink formulations. Without any hardware modifications to the press, ColorTrack automates the process of delivering absolute consistency from press-to-press, shift-to-shift, and plant-to-plant.

Seven “Color Management Breakthroughs”

The live ColorTrack demonstrations will be used to showcase QuadTech’s seven “color management breakthrough” technologies. These worldwide firsts include:

1. Pre-Laminate/Post-Laminate Color Support
2. ColorTrack Press-Side Recipe Correction Module
3. Ink strength/Anilox Color Correction
4. Spot Color Tone Value Calculation to ISO 20654
5. Enhanced Color Measurement through Strip Scanning
6. Simplified Ink Quantity Tracking via Patented “Virtual Scales”
7. Complete, Simplified Workflow

Also featured will be QuadTech’s Color Control with SpectralCam™, which compares color accuracy to desired targets—inline, during the print run—and detects any variation. If any problems are found, the system automatically corrects the problem without the need for operator intervention. The SpectralCam camera uses 31-bin spectrophotometer technology to measure spectral response and calculates accurate L*a*b*, ΔE and ΔDensity values at maximum press speeds.

Recent success for the QuadTech’s Color Control with SpectralCam includes French printing house Imprimerie Bidoit. Director Sébastien Garaboeuf comments: “Now our colors are consistent from the beginning to end of the print run. We are achieving higher quality with less waste on a variety of labels and substrates. Not only has this automation given us advantage over the competition, but it shows customers and new prospects that we are a company committed to absolute color consistency.”