GMG showcased a complete complement of colour management and proofing systems for label printing at Labelexpo in Donald E. Stephens Convention Centre, Rosemont, IL from 9-11 September 2014.
Joseph Varone, GMG Americas vice president of sales said, ‘While matching brand colours has always been of paramount importance, the ongoing trend of printing labels on digital presses as well as traditional offset, flexo and gravure presses has made colour management even more critical.
A major highlight at the GMG booth was GMG OpenColor, the 2013 recipient of a Flexographic Technical Association Technical Innovation Award and an InterTech™ Technology Award. A continuing trend in label printing is the increasing complexity of jobs and the use of multi-colour printing. Many labels require different combinations of inks, substrates, screening, and other variables. One of the most difficult challenges facing a converter is accurately and reliably communicating colour to the supply chain.
Until now, to accurately communicate a mix of colours, every combination would require a specific test chart showing the different combinations, a costly process that involves colour fingerprint charts, the making of plates, and lengthy testing. GMG OpenColor is a proofing technology that precisely predicts the colour appearance of printed inks, particularly spot colours and ‘overprints’—inks printed on top of each other. This allows the previously unattainable ability to assure a proof will accurately simulate a printed result. GMG OpenColor resolves this complex problem and provides highly accurate colour profiles, with less information.
The spectral colour engine of GMG OpenColor 1.1 is now capable of creating up to 15 channels profiles without fingerprinting the press. The software automatically averages data, especially helpful when importing data collected at different press run times. As a result, any possible deviation is included in the final profile calculation. Flexo prepress companies, particularly, will profit from the new colour intensity and dot gain adjustments.
Users can define a target dot gain from a specific printing process or adjust dot gain measurements to compensate for possible faulty printing conditions, which can occur during reference print runs or colour standard productions. GMG OpenColor also has a connection to spectral color information from Colibri® (matchmycolor) and Pantone®LIVE (X-Rite). GMG OpenColor allows those who adopt Expanded Colour Gamut Printing to create five-, six- or seven-colour profiles from just a few patches or with the help of multi-colour test charts.
RGB data storage and workflows have become increasingly popular, particularly with the use of a wider variety of media and print processes. GMG ColorMaster is attractive for companies—such as ad agencies, repro shops, prepress businesses and print buyers—that want to keep their data in the RGB colour space as long as possible. It also helps those who process print globally—such as brand owners or global converters—who need to consider different standards. GMG ColorMaster helps provide a colour-accurate late-binding RGB-workflow, meaning that images are not converted from their RGB space until needed.
Other products showcased at Labelexpo include:
• GMG ColorProof 5.5: With the most recent version of the popular proofing software, users will not only find much quicker startup and job creating times, but some helpful user interface improvements, particularly within the new Manual Job Manager. Customers working with packaging will benefit from the enhanced handling of white ink and transparent areas when proofing on foil, along with enhanced integration with GMG OpenColor. GMG DotProof users will find a much sharper dot.
• GMG ColorServer 4.9: A recently updated version of the popular colour management software, GMG ColorServer provides superior, easy-to-use colour management, delivering consistent and repeatable colour results to all output processes—print as well as online digital displays. New for GMG ColorServer 4.9 is support for the PDF/VT-1 variable-data printing (VDP) file format.
• GMG CoZone: A modular production environment based in the cloud, it is an indispensable control centre for every online production workflow. Content 100% safe; there is no more email forwarding. Users can create configurable download access, with easy to manage permission options. GMG CoZone integrates the cloud and project collaboration with high-quality colour management toolsets.
