The Five Pillars of Color Quality

Color basics is all the fundamentals a printer should know from how we see color all the way to color measurement, metrics, L*a*b* and Pantone Libraries.

The color wheel is a very important tool for the ink room or press room when handling colorants. Crews should understand Chroma friendly neighbors and where ink colorants fall on the wheel.

How is color measured? What interferes with that? What are the correct procedures? Lesson 3 covers all the bases when it comes to measuring a color correctly.

Most of us have heard about L*a*b* but where does that come from? How does it work? What other factors are involved? How does the math work? Color metrics covers everything a Flexo printer should know in this area.

The Pantone libraries have become quite complex over the years. What are the do’s and don’ts? What are the constraints? Which ones have what? Lesson 5 familiarizes the printing facility with the main ones used in the package printing industry.

Understanding Pantone constraints is essential for preventing costly production errors in package and label printing. This lesson reveals why physical PMS color guides should only be used as selectors rather than strict color standards, as they frequently mismatch a customer’s book or the actual digital library. You will learn exactly how these guides deviate from digital standards to ensure your color targets remain accurate and aligned with client expectations.

Learning about Flexo printing challenges teaches you the critical do's, don'ts, and constraints of complex Pantone libraries. Mastering these real-world press room limitations helps printing facilities manage color accurately, reduce waste, and prevent costly production errors.

Learning about ink formulation challenges is vital for managing tricky variables like overprinting, fade-resistant colorants, and printing on metalized film or foils. Understanding how untrained brand expectations clash with raw material realities helps you avoid overly complex, expensive, and un-achievable color formulas.

Learn why light, standard, dark proofing and QC methods is an incorrect procedure.

Learning how methods affect color waste and quality helps you eliminate "color chaos" on press. You will master standardizing customer-driven filing, avoiding flawed visual-only approvals, and managing post-application shifts. This structural approach stops wandering standards, prevents expensive customer rejections, and slashes ink waste.

Learning how materials affect color waste and quality helps you manage complex variables like metallic flakes in reverse print structures and substrate-driven constraints. Understanding how backing materials and surface structures alter appearance prevents raw material chaos, costly press-room rejections, and ink waste.

Learning about machine variables helps you fix errors in the ink room instead of on press, where downtime costs $300–$600 per hour. You will master critical ink-to-press correlation, correct anilox selection, and preventative maintenance. This technical expertise prevents excessive color toning and drastically cuts down on expensive press downtime.

Learning how "man" affects color quality helps you eliminate human errors on press. You will discover why bad habits—like changing standards without warning, hunting for Delta E, or toning a PMS color with another finished PMS color—create metameric chaos, unchecked software settings, and expensive ink room waste.

Calibration in Flexo printing is a loose term. Learn how all equipment and methods come together to make sure the best quality product is going to the customer.

The Pantone libraries have become quite complex over the years. What are the do’s and don’ts? What are the constraints? Which ones have what? Lesson 5 familiarizes the printing facility with the main ones used in the package printing industry.

Learning about equipment calibration ensures you can trust your instruments to deliver true color. Mastering spectrophotometer settings, aperture sizing, and backing materials stops incorrect measurements before they reach the press room, preventing severe color drift, expensive reprints, and substrate waste.

Learning the 8 factors of color measurement prevents costly errors on press. You will master critical spectrophotometer variables like aperture size, geometry, and backing material to stop incorrect readings, prevent metameric failure, and avoid expensive material waste and client rejections.

Learning ink room to press correlation ensures the ink room or vendor can formulate correctly with little to no press-side toning. Achieving less than 1 Delta E between your proofing method and the press sample eliminates expensive press trials on unknown machinery, stops ink contamination, and prevents massive color waste.

Learning ink color formulation helps you predict press performance using software and leftover inks. Mastering factors like substrate opacity and film thickness allows you to create highly accurate formulas, eliminating blind guesswork, ink room waste, and expensive press-side modifications.

Learning about color stakeholders reveals how conflicting goals between brands, designers, ink labs, and press operators create systemic errors. Understanding these disconnects helps you align everyone's expectations, eliminate finger-pointing, and streamline production to prevent massive color waste.

Studying the four worst color workflows helps you identify systemic flaws that destroy print quality. Learning to spot these broken processes allows your facility to replace chaotic habits with repeatable standards, preventing rampant ink waste and costly customer rejections.

Learning about achievable color standards ensures you target the best possible color values for your specific substrate and print structure. This stops you from reinventing the wheel on press, lets brands know exactly what they will get before production, and prevents expensive, repeated adjustments.

Learning about the Circle of Color Quality helps you establish a closed-loop control system for your press room. Understanding this framework ensures that color standards flow seamlessly from the initial brand design to final ink formulation and press production, completely eliminating communication gaps, proofing errors, and ink waste.

Learning how poor documentation affects production stops "color chaos" from shifting standards. You will discover why relying on vague PMS numbers on job folders leads to transposed figures and mismatched substrates, and how proper record-keeping protects you against costly color complaints and client re-runs.

Learning to utilize leftover inks (workoff) is the ultimate way to reduce inventory. This lesson teaches you how to systematically blend accumulated, expired, or excess inks back into production batches, preventing thousands of pounds of costly waste and freeing up vital storage space.

Learn about Extended Color Gamut and how it could improve your overall process.

Don’t have formulary correction software? This video demonstrates how to match colors just using QC software.