Wexham Springs, UK – Sun Chemical has collaborated with CGS Publishing Technologies International GmbH, a global leader in color management, digital proofing and specially formulated media, to provide a groundbreaking metal deco digital proofing solution for two-piece beverage cans.

This unique, innovative digital proofing solution, part of Sun Chemical’s DigiProof service within its SunColorBox color management toolkit, will enable canmakers, designers and brand owners to dispense with physical aluminum wet proofs and to significantly reduce the length of the packaging design process – from weeks to just days.

“Sun Chemical is always working to support its customers in the metal packaging industry by providing new solutions that will help them to be more competitive and this innovation is a new addition to the solutions we’re bringing to market to enable a digital color management workflow via our SunColorBox,” said Iñaki Llona, Global Champion Metal Deco Inks, Sun Chemical. “With the launch of this digital proofing solution, which can create color-correct and designed samples without the need to print on a can, customers will have far greater creative options because of the very short time and low cost required to produce the color-accurate digital prints. Designs can be created in one location and digitally printed at multiple locations across the world, without the need for slow and costly couriers to convey physical print samples. As a result, they will be able to develop new designs in much less time and radically reduce the overall time to market for new products.”

The solution comprises CGS ORIS software linked to two new metal deco dependent color libraries for PantoneLIVE™, a cloud-based, digital color standard ecosystem. The two libraries, which have just been launched by X-Rite Incorporated, Pantone LLC and Sun Chemical, were developed by capturing the closest achievable match to the master PANTONE® Formula Guide Coated colors that can be produced by applying metal deco ink onto an aluminum can with a gloss varnish finish.

Consisting of over 4,000 achievable color options, the metal deco libraries – one for opaque and one for transparent applications - provide realistic targets that enable canmakers to address common challenges in the application of Pantone color directly onto reflective two-piece beverage cans. The libraries also help beverage manufacturers and brand owners set expectations for producing achievable PantoneLIVE digital color standards on two-piece cans.

“Having created the metal deco PantoneLIVE libraries, we’ve then worked with CGS to link the libraries to their software to offer the market a unique solution that can produce a digital inkjet simulation of PantoneLIVE metal deco colors and immediately print them on-demand from the CGS system,” Llona said. “This is a huge leap forward in terms of metal deco proofing as historically the creation of a digital inkjet representation of a PantoneLIVE color has invariably involved printing multiple iterations before the best match has been achieved. In developing the PantoneLIVE library, Sun Chemical and Pantone have completed all that work in advance and delivered a pre-iterated database that is plug and play and removes the variable of subjective interpretation. So when a customer picks a PantoneLIVE digital color from the CGS system and prints it, they can be confident that it will be an accurate, simulation of the PantoneLIVE metal deco standard.”

"For many years now the ORIS packaging product offerings have been the solutions of choice of key players in the industry,” said Heiner Mueller, CGS Key Account Director Europe. “Apart from specific color management software, CGS has developed a gamut extending ink set and corresponding custom media, which are solely aimed at the requirements of the packaging market. We are excited to cooperate closely with a partner like Sun Chemical to create a standard for metal decoration, which is probably the most challenging segment in the packaging industry.”

For more information, please visit our Web site at www.sunchemical.com.