PANTONE Metallics and Premium Metallics combined in one fan

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PANTONE Metallics Solid Coated fan by PANTONE
Photo: PANTONE.com

PANTONE has combined and supplemented its two metallics fans “PANTONE Metallics Coated” and “PANTONE Premium Metallics Coated” into one fan. On the one hand, a new metallic base colour, “PANTONE Rose Gold 10412 C” has been added to the existing “Premium” base silver “PANTONE Silver 10077 C”, adding 54 new metallic shades. On the other hand, the two previous fans are now separated according to Metallics base colours, the fan is divided into two areas: Into one Metallics area for “packaging” and into one for the classic “printed graphics”.

The 354 high-gloss, durable metallic packaging colours are based on the two premium metallic base colours PANTONE Silver 10077 C and PANTONE Rose Gold 10412 C and form the front part of the fan. Fan pages with the 54 new colours are now marked with a black square on the top pagination to make the new colours easier to recognise, a good idea in my opinion. The 301 metallic spot colours for advertising graphics are based on the seven classic, “old” PANTONE gold and silver shades with PANTONE 871 C to PANTONE 877 C and form the back part of the fan.

Printed graphics PANTONE Metallics (previously referred to as “Metallics”)

Metallic inks for non-packaging projects Marketing and sales materials, publishing and literature. The colours are based on the seven classic PANTONE Gold and Silver Shades 871 to 877 C.

Packaging PANTONE Metallics (previously referred to as “Premium Metallics”)

Metallic packaging inks for packaging printing. These former “Premium Metallics” colours are created with the basic colours Pantone Silver 10077 and Pantone Rose Gold 10412. These special inks are made with pigments that are easier to process with water-based and UV varnishes. The varnish seals the inks, this protects the inks and thus provides the protection that is often required in the packaging sector. According to PANTONE, the new inks offer

  • Better print results
  • Greater brilliance
  • Higher gloss
  • More durability
  • Less leafing and tarnishing in the long term

According to PANTONE, the inks used to produce these inks (if my memory serves me well, from Sun Chemical) are somewhat more expensive, but are also suitable for a wide range of aqueous and UV coatings.

PANTONE and EFI? No chance.

After having implemented the new PANTONE colours in our proofing system over the past few days via a difficult update from Fiery XF, we noticed that the new Metallics colours were still missing.

Currently, the PANTONE Metallics colours for packaging printing are not yet supported by Fiery XF, and there are no plans to support them, according to Fiery Support. For us an incomprehensible decision. Admittedly, metallic colours cannot be reproduced in the proof anyway, as only the colour but not the metallic gloss can be reproduced. For us as a service provider, however, this decision by EFI means that we – when customers order proofs with Premium Metallics colours – have to create them manually with LAB values in the job, because our proofing software will not recognise all current PANTONE colours, but will mark them as unknown special colours and refuse the proof.

Since the current PANTONE V4 colour palettes can only be integrated into the Adobe product palettes with considerable effort on the part of the users, it is not quite clear to me whether the lack of colours in Fiery is due to a profit-driven, ostentatious PANTONE licensing policy or a miserly, ostentatious EFI product policy. However, be sure:

We at proof.de will provide the service and also offer these colours for the proof. We owe this to our customers.

Barcode Check: New in ISO 15416:2016

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Proof.de: New criteria for barcode checking according to ISO/IEC 15416:2016

The “ISO/IEC 15416:2016 – Information technology – Automatic identification and data capture methods – Test specifications for bar code print quality – Linear symbols” specifies the current criteria for testing bar codes. ISO 15416:2016 replaces ISO 15416:2000 and defines modified bar code quality calculations for some areas. During the barcode check by Proof GmbH, barcodes are checked according to the current criteria of ISO 15416:2016.

An overview of the most important changes in ISO 15416:2016:

  • Proof.de: New criteria for barcode checking according to ISO/IEC 15416:2016Four of the seven barcode parameters – symbol contrast, modulation, defects and decodability – were previously graded by whole numbers, so the evaluation could be 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4. With the adoption of the ISO/IEC 15416:2016 standard, evaluations are now graded to one decimal place. So under the old standard there were only five possible parameter gradations (0/1/2/3/4), now there are forty-one (0.0/0.1/0.2 etc. to 4.0).
  • This also changes the rating with letters. Since this is even less precise than the evaluation by numbers, it is omitted in the new standard, whereby the usual letter notes can still be provided for information purposes. However, the nominative standard must be given as a decimal number.
  • Defects are now calculated methodically differently. A defect is a light spot on a dark bar or a dark spot on a light surface. If a defect was at the edge of a bar or a gap, the old standard gave a worse rating than the same defect that was further from the edge. The calculations in the new ISO/IEC 15416:2016 standard describe the effects on the readability of the barcode much more accurately.

The new calculation methods lead in some cases to a higher averaged score for the barcode compared to the method described in ISO 15416:2000.

We have also updated our REA TransWin 32 evaluation software to the latest version and also provided our barcode checking device with a firmware update.

Order Barcode Checks for EAN13 and EAN8 Codes in our Proof Shop

 

 

eciCMYK_v2 / Fogra 59 Available for Proof

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The new CMYK exchange colour space eciCMYK v2 (FOGRA59) is the successor of eciCMYK (FOGRA53) from 2017. The new “V2” profile is based on the revised characterisation file FOGRA59. For the same colour space, the new profile offers a significantly modified and improved grey axis, which now contains the familiar cyan, magenta and yellow components from classic printing processes. Thus eciCMYK v2 offers a further advantage besides a large colour space and proofability. Practical tests with various digital printing systems have shown that, in addition to the conversion from “ISO Coated v2” to “PSO Coated v3” data, the assignment of the new CMYK exchange colour space profile also enables improved output on digital printing systems with a larger colour space: the printed image appears richer in contrast, with brighter colours. The icc-profile “eciCMYK_v2.icc” can be downloaded from the ECI in the download section.

Proofs in the eciCMYK_v2 colour space can now be ordered in the shop at Proof.de.

DeviceLink PDF Colour Conversions for Ads

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DeviceLink PDF Colour Conversion

We have recently started offering DeviceLink colour conversions via DeviceLinks made by ColorLogic from numerous RGB and CMYK standards into other CMYK standards from offset and gravure printing.

DeviceLink PDF Colour Conversion

Optimised colour conversion between different printing standards

The colour conversion profiles preserve the separation structure, limit the total colour application for the selected printing standard and maintain the purity of the primary and secondary colours. They ensure smooth transitions in gradients and enable correct conversion of PDF and PDF/X data. Separation-preserving conversion ensures that pure grey tones are not built up into four colours and that duplex tones (black+primary colour) and triplex tones (black+secondary colour) remain pure, while still being colour-metrically transformed in the best possible way. In addition, the colour impression of the source colour space is optimally preserved in the target colour space by taking into account both paper colouration and dot gain.

Limitation of Total Allocation of Colour (TAC)

For current printing standards of ISO, Fogra, ECI, Ifra, Gravure (PSR), Gracol, Swop, SNAP, these profiles ensure a targeted limitation of the maximum ink application without completely new separation. This reliably prevents problems with set-off and improves the drying behaviour. These profiles are suitable if the data is generally already in the desired colour space, but individual images or objects have too much ink application.

You can order the Devicelink PDF colour conversions for advertisements here

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Proof.de Support Chat Software updated

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Proof.de Live-Chat

Today we updated our chat software Livezilla Pro to offer you even more comfort and speed in the chat. Simply contact us directly via chat … a lot of minor details or brief queries can be dealt with quickly and conveniently.

In addition to security updates and performance improvements, the chats should now be even more reliable in every possible browser and PC combination. Uploading and downloading files such as screenshots in the chat history should also be improved.

A word about data protection: We don’t use any supposedly free chat solutions based in Las Vegas, we care about the protection of your data and your anonymity in the chat:

  • We use the chat software of LiveZilla GmbH from the beautiful town of Singen in Baden-Württemberg,
  • anonymise or mask automatically the last 6 digits of your IP address,
  • host the chat software on our own server and
  • have of course SSL-encoded the chat with you.
  • All data is transmitted purely via our server,
  • there is no access by third parties and
  • Livezilla works without cookies.

So please don’t be surprised if you already have an order in your shopping cart and then start a chat with us, that we neither see who you are nor what you want to order from us. We only chat with “Guest 0288” or “Guest 6452″… only if you tell us your order number or your name, you will be “recognisable” as a person or company in the chat.

Gamut map: The colour tool for cross-media design

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Due to our involvement with freeColour e.V., at the last meeting in Switzerland the desire for a cross-media tool for designers was expressed with which one can create intersections of colourspaces from the freieFarbe CIELAB HLC Colour Atlas XL.

With Gamutmap, Proof GmbH has now created such a tool, which is available to all designers free of charge. With Gamutmap nearly 100 individual colour spaces can be indicated from 34.250 colours of the entire CIELAB colour space, or intersections from many combined colour spaces can be indicated.

An example: As a designer you are looking for colours for a new corporate design, which are available in sRGB for the internet, in ISOCoatedV2 for printing image brochures and in PSOUncoatedV3 for printing stationery. For video productions, the Rec.709 colour space is also to be taken into account.

In Gamutmap you can now easily select the colour spaces sRGB, ISOCoatedV2, PSOUncoatedV3 and Rec.709 and then click on “show”. After a few seconds you will only see the colours that are available in all selected colour spaces. If you move the mouse over a colour field, you will directly see the absolute colorimetric values of the colour in all selected colour spaces and you can copy them directly to your clipboard.

Since the hex value of the sRGB colour space was also still interesting, this colour space was additionally marked for display. The HLC and Lab values of all colours can be read directly in the colour table. All other colour values can be copied to the clipboard simply by moving the mouse to the desired colour field. For the colour field shown in the example above, it looks like this:

HLC: H005 | L055 | C035
Lab: 55 | 34,867 | 3,05
sRGB: 188 | 106 | 128
sRGB (HEX): #BC6A80
Rec. ITU-R BT.709-5: 188 | 87 | 115
ISO Coated V2 (ECI): 14 | 64 | 27 | 11
PSO Uncoated V3 (Fogra52): 10 | 70 | 34 | 8

Gamutmap is “Work in Progress”

We are sure that gamutmap will be a great help to many designers in creating cross-media corporate designs and are very happy that we were able to start and push the project with the members of freieFarbe e.V. For us, gamutmap is “work in progress”, which means: In the coming weeks we will add further functionalities and features to gamutmap. For example, a German version is in progress, and the download of spectral D50 CxF data of the selected colours should be possible in the future directly while hovering over the respective colour field, if the field is in the gamut of the freefarbe CIELAB HLC Colour Atlas XL. Further function extensions are already on our wish list… 🙂

We welcome suggestions, criticism, wishes and any support for the expansion and addition of Gamutmap.

Proof cheap. What does that mean?

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proof.de Packaging of a Proof/ Digital proof

Proof cheap is a typical search term that people use in search engines to find a cheap, colour and legally binding proof. But what makes a cheap proof?

A proof is one that is produced according to the specifications of the latest revision of the proofing standard ISO 12467-7 and is within the tolerances of this standard. The current revision is ISO 12647-7:2016, which has been tightened even further with this standard and has been supplemented by a certified edition of spot colours such as PANTONE and HKS.

Such certified proofs can be ordered at shop.proof.de for all proof profiles.

But what makes the certified proof cheap? That’s the low price. Proofs are printed on certified proof papers on very high-quality pigment inkjet printers, usually using expensive proofing software, and measured with spectrophotometers. So how can production be done cheaply here?

1: Using cheap pigment ink?

One litre of ink for proofing devices is around 400 EUR, so it makes sense to use inexpensive alternative ink from China. The problem: there are no manufacturers – neither in China nor anywhere else – who produce inks that would actually produce similar inks in terms of pigment colour and spectral composition. I once called a manufacturer who advertises that his – already quite expensive – inks could also be used for proofing. When I asked him, he said: “No, no, that’s just for advertising, but of course I would never do that or recommend it, and I don’t know anybody who does that. As for the China inks, he said: “They start at 20 EUR per liter, but you get a different ink with every delivery, depending on where the wholesaler buys. Then they have to re-measure the proofer every time… forget it.” In addition, replacing a clogged print head costs around 2,500 EUR, so the risk is too high. A real proof therefore only works with original, very expensive ink.

2: Using cheap software?

GMG ColorProof, EFI Fiery XF and ORIS Color Tuner are just some of the most important proofing solutions on the market. What they all have in common is that proofing software is rather a niche software, so the programming effort is very high compared to the sales figures. Depending on the size of the output device and the range of functions in terms of verification, spot colour display or proofing on special materials such as transparent foils, etc., the software costs between 5,000 and 10,000 EUR, and in combination with other software products from GMG or Colorlogic it can quickly cost considerably more. Although there are a few low-cost solutions here too, these are usually irrelevant in professional proofing, as they are either not suitable for more than one workstation, or important functions such as spot colour libraries etc. are missing.

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Look back: Fogra Color Management Symposium 2020

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The 7th Fogra Color Management Symposium was held in Munich from February 12 to 13, 2020, to which I was invited as a speaker for the area of proofing in Session 6. I reported on our tests in proofing for the Fogra58-Beta-Textile-RGB Standard for textile digital printing.

The Fogra Color Management Symposium is one of the events in the field of colour management and brings together scientists and users from all over the world for a two-day exchange of ideas in Munich. A total of 21 speakers and 7 moderators reported on the topics multicolour printing, proofing, print procurement, customer expectations, colour management for 3D printing and colour management for textile digital printing, the topic to which I was also assigned.

I arrived one day earlier, because there was a “Speakers Dinner” the evening before, and I also had to discuss with Jan-Peter Homann and Joe Tschudi the structure and selection of our patterns in terms of textile RGB. On site in Munich we set up the standard light booth LED Color Viewing Light XL HYBRID 2.0 provided by Just-Normlicht and coordinated once again which samples we would show best during the Color Management Symposium.

Joe Tschudi and Jan-Peter Homann and I discuss which samples we want to show at the Fogra Colour Management Symposium 2020 for the proof comparison of Fogra58beta-TextileRGB
Joe Tschudi and Jan-Peter Homann and I discuss which samples we want to show at the Fogra Colour Management Symposium 2020 for the proof comparison of Fogra58beta-TextileRGB
A sample that we showed at the Fogra Colour Management Symposium 2020 for the proof comparison of Fogra58beta-TextileRGB Below the proof we made, above Joe Tschudi's fabric produced by sublimation printing, both illuminated in Fogra58-beta-TextileRGB under D50 standard light.
A sample that we showed at the Fogra Colour Management Symposium 2020 for the proof comparison of Fogra58beta-TextileRGB Below the proof we made, above Joe Tschudi’s fabric produced by sublimation printing, both illuminated in Fogra58-beta-TextileRGB under D50 standard light.

During the Speakers Dinner I had the opportunity to talk to Jürgen Seitz from GMG, the moderator of my session, and Jeffrey Stauffer from oneflexo GmbH, in order to organize our session on day 2 well. Gerardo Cerros from CMA Imaging Belgium SPRL, the third speaker of our session arrived directly for his presentation. Furthermore we could test our presentations on the Fogra computers and already got to know the lecture room and familiarize ourselves with the stage. On the stage sat the three speakers per session plus the moderator of the session. All presentations, moderations, questions etc. were translated live from English to German and German to English. I held my presentation in German, but I had kept the slides in “Denglish” so that they were understandable for Germans as well as for everyone else.

The speakers and presenters visit the stage and stage technology. The grey box at the back left is the interpreter's booth, which housed the two simultaneous interpreters.
The speakers and presenters visit the stage and stage technology. The grey box at the back left is the interpreter’s booth, which housed the two simultaneous interpreters.

The complete programme of the symposium can be found on the Fogra website. The topics of the seven sessions were:

1. Managing customer expectations – Managing colours throughout the  food chain
2. Creating colour credibility in CMYK and extended gamut printing
3. Real-world multicolour packaging implementations (ECG)
4. Industrial Printing application:  High Speed Inkjet beyond commercial and packaging printing
KEYNOTE: Colour workflows in the motion picture  world –  How HDR & Wide Gamut  change the game (Harald Brendl, ARRI)
5. Colour communication for fashion textile applications
6. Colour Proofing for Packacking & textile applications
7. Colour in 3D (3D Softproof & Appearance measurement)

You can download the presentation of my lecture “Proofing in textile printing: Contract proofs for RGB-(FOGRA58) based textile workflows” here

After the session, there were lively discussions at our Fogra58 stand and the fabric/proof comparisons exhibited were discussed. Special attention was paid to a pattern with different shades of grey by Joe Tschudi. The proof was quite neutral grey for the human eye, but the fabric had a clearly visible green cast. In terms of measurement, however, the two patterns were only DeltaE00 0.3 apart for an i1Pro2, and a ball-head meter also showed a similar distance. A nice example to demonstrate the difficulty between textile printing and proof, between measuring devices and human perception.

Fogra has issued a good conclusion of the proofing session here.

Many thanks to Andreas Kraushaar and the entire Fogra team for the excellent organisation and support during the entire Colour Management Symposium. An outstanding event that shows current developments in colour management and broadens the view to new markets and segments.

Update of shop.proof.de successfully completed

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Shortly before Christmas, we initiated a major shop update, and adapted and improved numerous detail functions. But we are especially pleased that the update went without any major disruption for our customers, and that the shop was online and accessible for only a few hours, even though the update had to be carried out at the live shop.

The most important point for us was to update the upload area. The new file upload can now process up to 2GB per file and up to 50 files per article and: The upload now starts automatically, and does not need to be started first. We are thinking about increasing the file limit further here, but we really recommend our customers to simply zip many small files and upload the .zip file before uploading. This helps with the overview, and also helps us in handling.

Another new feature is that now all upload areas of all articles are uploaded in parallel and after successful upload all data is displayed appropriately for the articles. Only after the successful last upload the overview page is updated.

The overview of the loaded data has also improved.

Due to an updated shipping module we have more and more variable shipping methods at our disposal. Thus, starting next year, we will also be able to offer a UPS Express before noon, presumably parallel to the DHL Express before noon.

This is how well organized the new shipping selection now looks

The most important point for us, however, is that the integration of the external modules has now changed so that we can import updates to the shop without having to touch all external modules at the same time. This will give us a lot of flexibility and allow us to respond even faster to better functions in the future and implement them in the shop.

A lot of changes in the background are security patches and an update to a current PHP version, which makes the shop overall more performant and secure.

Next year we are planning a graphical update of the shop before, which will make the website even clearer and faster.

EAN / GTIN test e.g. for ALDI 3B verification according to ISO/IEC 15416, ISO/IEC 15420

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From now on we offer our customers the service to check EAN 8 and EAN 13 codes metrologically. This is important, for example, if you deliver articles for ALDI or HOFER, for which you have to provide proof of readability according to the so-called “3B” standard or better. You can order such an EAN GTIN barcode test report here in our shop.

Proof.de Test report according to ISO/IEC 15416 / ISO/IEC 15420 according to 3B criteria e.g. for barcodes for ALDI and Hofer. The test report is created on the same day and sent to you as a PDF or by post.

For this purpose we check your EAN or GTIN code with a modern REA Check ER barcode checking device and prepare a test report according to ISO/IEC 15416 and ISO/IEC 15420:

  • Symbol contrast
  • Edge Contrast
  • Modulation
  • Rmin/Rmax
  • Defects
  • Decodability
  • Rest area Left
  • Rest area Right
  • Bar deviation
  • Code length

Other optional parameters are also checked:

  • PCS (SC)
  • Bright value (Rmax)
  • Bar
  • Gap
  • Mean value
  • Z-Module
  • Size
  • MF
  • CPI

For example, in the “Size” field you can see directly whether your code corresponds to the size SC2 preferred by ALDI, for example. We have attached an exemplary evaluation above.

For the measurements we need original packaging with your printed EAN / GTIN codes. All codes will be checked on the day of their arrival and the test reports will be sent to you the same day.

Epson launches new generation of proof printers SureColor SC-P9500

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In late 2019, Epson will present its new generation of proof printers: the Epson SureColor SC-P9500 and SC-P7500 proof printers.

EPSON SureColor P9500 spectro
EPSON SureColor P9500 spectro

Epson has incorporated many improvements into the new printer generation. For example, fully loaded print heads now work in the new printers, which can finally handle photo black, matt black and the two grey tones LightGray and LightLightGray as well as the colours orange, green and violet simultaneously in one print head. For cyan and magenta there are also the light variants light-cyan and light-magenta, so that besides yellow, cyan and magenta, 12 full colours are available in the print head. The printer uses the new UltraChrome Pro12 ink set, which could possibly bring some detail improvements to the classic K3 inks, although nothing more is known about this yet.

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Proof GmbH is now four times Fogra and Fogra “Spot cert” certified

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Fogra Zertifizierung Proof GmbH 2019 Contract Proof Creation 33246

This year we have again submitted proofs for Fogra certification. We thus prove that we not only deliver outstanding proof quality through internal quality controls and checks, but that the quality of our proofs is also confirmed by an external body. We have therefore had proofs certified for the seventh year in succession.

In 2019 we have made two innovations in Fogra certification.

  • We were certified for the first time for the new standard Fogra 54
  • We have also carried out a certification for PANTONE spot colours for all four printing conditions, the “Spot cert”. We have certified the spot colours PANTONE 2270 C, PANTONE 151 C and PANTONE Cool Gray 6 C for the proof standards ISOCoatedV2, PSOCoatedV3 and PSOsc-b_paper_v3 and PANTONE 2270 U, PANTONE 151 U as well as PANTONE Cool Gray 6 U for the standard PSOUncoatedV3

The quality of our prints and our spot colour reproduction of the PANTONE colours was confirmed by Fogra for all four proof standards.

Proof.de Fogra Prüfzertifikat für Fogra Zertifizierung und Spot cert Sonderfarbzertifizierung

The complete 14-page Fogra test report can be downloaded here.

These new certifications have been implemented on the current software revision Fiery XF 7.1.3 and have been applied to the papers EFI Gravure Proof Paper 4245 Semimatt, EFI Proof Paper 8245OBA Semimatt and EFI Proof Paper 8175OBA Matt.

Good times: The general meeting 2019 of freieFarbe e.V. in Switzerland

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After the association freieFarbe e.V. had met last year in Tübingen for their annual general meeting, this year we met in a rustic hut in the Appenzeller Land, which Peter Jäger from pre2media and Eric A. Soder from pixsource.com had excellently chosen, just like the sunny weather that should accompany us from Friday to Sunday.

freieFarbe e.V. Mitgliederversammlung 2019: Unsere Unterkunft in den schweizer Bergen
freieFarbe e.V. general meeting 2019: Our accommodation in the Swiss mountains

The chairman of the association, Holger Everding from DTP Studio Oldenburg and Jan-Peter Homann from Homann Colormanagement in Berlin arrived in Tübingen on Thursday, and after a first long night full of discussions and a meeting in the Proof.de office on Friday morning around noon, the three of us continued our journey to Switzerland. After a joint dinner with Peter Jäger and Eric A. Soder (from Tübingen, we had taken some Swabian potato salad and my handmade Maultaschen with us the evening before), an evening full of planning and a strategy workshop for the tasks and goals of the next year began. Without question, this evening was also spent discussing, developing, laughing and working creatively until late into the night between Flensburger Pils, Swiss mountain beer and wine in attractive red and light yellow shades.

Ausschnitt der Ergebnisse des freieFarbe Kreativworkshops am Freitag Abend mit Gewichtungen (blaue Aufkleber) und Zuständigkeiten (Namenskürzel)
Part of the results of the freieFarbe creative workshop on Friday evening with importance (blue stickers) and responsibilities (name abbreviation)

After breakfast, we continued on Saturday to swissQprint, where we had the opportunity to learn more about the status quo of large format digital printing from association member Guy Flüeli, as well as visit the production facilities and conduct print tests on the Karibu and other SwissQPrint presses.

Jahreshauptversammlung freieFarbe e.V. 2019 in der Schweiz
from left to right: Matteo Baschera, Jan-Peter Homann, Matthias Betz, Holger Everding, Eric A. Soder, Martin Spaar, Peter Jäger, Michael Jakobi. It is missing: Kai-Uwe Behrmann, Jan Seguda, Guy Flüeli (photo)
  • Holger Everding, Guy Flüeli, Jan-Peter Homann
  • Showroom swissQprint
  • Michael Jakobi, Matteo Baschera, Martin Spaar, Matthias Betz, Guy Flüeli, Jan-Peter Homann

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Convert PANTONE colours optimally into CMYK. Practical aspects to the new old discussion.

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A very frequent topic for us in the area of proofing is the optimal conversion of PANTONE colours in CMYK for classic, inexpensive four-colour printing. In the last few days, there has been a lively discussion on this topic in the Adobe Forum and in the colour management forum of hilfdirselbst.ch, which I would like to summarise briefly, as our customers often struggle with the same issues.

PANTONE and the PANTONE CMYK values from Bridge: The Problem

The central question is to which standard or colour profile a CMYK value of a PANTONE colour in Bridge actually refers. Specifically, a user asked for the conversion of PANTONE 116 C, a colour tone that is specified in the PANTONE Bridge fan in CMYK 0/14/100/0 (here you can see the original value in PANTONE). But if you now convert the underlying PANTONE Lab color value in InDesign or Photoshop into different CMYK profiles, you will get different, significantly different color values. “What does the PANTONE Bridge CMYK colour value refer to” was the original question of the discussion.

The starting point of the PANTONE Bridge fan

In the PANTONE Bridge Fan, “equivalents” of the PANTONE spot colours on a coated and an uncoated paper grade, separated with 4 Pantone scale colours, are visualised and the CMYK values are specified.

But one thing is clear: without precise information on the substrate, print density, inks used, etc., the information provided there has only limited validity. If, for example, one converts the LAB colour value of PANTONE 116 C into the SWOP Web coated commonly used in the USA, then one reaches a value of 20 in magenta instead of 14 as indicated in the PANTONE Bridge Fan.

Comparison of PANTONE LAB values with PANTONE Bridge CMYK values in PSOUncoatedV3 and PSOCoatedV3

If you compare the original PANTONE LAB values and the PANTONE Bridge CMYK values in European standards such as ISOCoatedV2 or PSOCoatedV3 for coated or PSOUncoated or PSOUncoatedV3 for uncoated paper, there are sometimes serious colour deviations. The PANTONE Cool Gray 2 is much too light in CMYK conversion, the PANTONE Cool Gray 11 is always much too dark. For the PANTONE 3278 C, the Bridge CMYK value for PSOCoatedV3 fits quite well, but the same comparison for Uncoated is noticeably worse. What is the reason for this?

Comparison of PANTONE C Solid Coated LAB values with PANTONE Bridge CMYK values in PSOCoatedV3 colour space
Comparison of PANTONE C Solid Coated LAB values with PANTONE Bridge CMYK values in PSOCoatedV3 colour space
Comparison of PANTONE U Solid Uncoated LAB values with PANTONE Bridge CMYK values in PSOUncoatedV3 colour space
Comparison of PANTONE U Solid Uncoated LAB values with PANTONE Bridge CMYK values in PSOUncoatedV3 colour space

The question was therefore specified once again:

  • How can PANTONE specify “official” CMYK values for a particular colour if it is not clear what paper white, print density, ink coverage, etc. the values refer to?
  • How does PANTONE arrive at the specified colour values?
  • Which ICC profiles are possibly the basis?
  • Are there errors if programs such as Photoshop or Affinity Publisher do not show the same values when converting a Pantone color as those specified by Pantone?

Thesis 1: Why should a spot colour manufacturer deliver perfect CMYK replacement values for his products? That would be detrimental to business.

One thing is clear: there are no system errors. PANTONE knows what they do. But it is surprising that the bridge values have apparently been fluctuating by several percentage points for many years. Perhaps one reason for this is that different base pigments have been used over the years and the values have therefore been adjusted. But it was not possible in any way to find out how the values are created, what profiles or logic could be behind the values. Some discussion participants thought of a deliberate system error: “Cui bono? Why should a spot colour manufacturer deliver perfect CMYK replacement values for his products? That would be detrimental to business.”

This is an exciting approach which, at second glance at the latest, does not lack a certain logic. If the head of the company has only seen bad CMYK conversions of his PANTONE spot colour for long enough, he will sigh and agree to any surcharge for a five-colour print, only to finally find his corporate colour correctly reproduced again.

But another thesis is also very plausible:

Thesis 2: The sales department defines the CMYK values

Let’s assume that a PANTONE “Green1” corresponds colorimetrically to a CMYK of 30/0/100/0. If two more saturated green tones (“Green2” and “Green3”) are displayed in the fan, which theoretically should be displayed with CMYK 35/0/110/0 and CMYK 40/0/120/0, what then?

To set all three green tones to CMYK 30/0/100/0, i.e. the next CMYK value that can be achieved absolutely colorimetrically? That would actually be the most obvious way, especially since it is very unlikely in practice that two adjacent PANTONE colours would ever be used in CMYK conversions. Because a company has either green1 or green2 as its corporate colour, but hardly both at the same time.

On the other hand, buyers of PANTONE Bridge fans would probably be very surprised if different PANTONE colours in the fan had the same CMYK value.

Therefore, a psychological-sales-department correction is obvious: In order to avoid identical CMYK values, we set the most saturated green tone to the not matching CMYK 30/0/100/0, and then the less saturated colors to 25/0/0/90/0 and 20/0/0/80/0, i.e. also not matching CMYK values. Now nothing fits anymore, but at least all colors have different CMYK values.

Practice shows: An adjusted conversion via ICC profiles often provides a better CMYK color value for the conversion of PANTONE colors like the CMYK value from the PANTONE Bridge.

We have converted the PANTONE colours used in the above mentioned graphics also via ICC profiles partly absolutely colorimetrically and relatively colorimetrically with depth compensation (marked with an “r” behind the CMYK colour value) into the two output colour spaces PSOCoatedV3 and PSOUncoatedV3 and have mapped the visually best match in each case.

In most cases, this conversion adapted to the output color space delivers the significantly better results. See for yourself:

We support you in determining the optimal CMYK conversions for your PANTONE house colours

If you need the best possible conversion of one or more PANTONE colours to CMYK, we will be happy to support you with our know-how and our measuring and proofing technology. We determine and compare different imaging variants of a PANTONE colour in CMYK and show you the best determined conversions in CMYK with metrological evaluations in Delta-E00.

Paper white from Arctic Paper, Surbalin from Peyer and more added

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We have added 140 additional paper white values from Arctic Paper, Peyer, Igepa, Antalis and Mondi. As a result, a total of almost 1400 paper whites are now available in our database.

From the company Peyer we have added the colour shades of the Surbalin product range, although we have not covered all surfaces individually here. However, we have now also included other Peyer products such as Peytan, Peydur, Peyprint and Comet in the paper white database.

You can find the paper white database at shop.proof.de:

https://shop.proof.de/en/info/paper-white.html

Papierweiß von Arctic Papier, Igepa, Mundi und mehr

How to match the production paper, proof standard and the proof precision of spot colours

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Today a customer called who wanted to order a proof of several HKS N spot colours on an uncoated paper. “Which proof profile should I choose? And how exactly can you match my special colours in the proof? I probably have to proof several HKS N red tones in comparison. By the way, the printing is to be done on Fly Cream, a slightly yellowish paper.”

What is the paper white of the production paper?

First of all, I searched with the customer for the production paper in our paper white database. A quick look via full text search revealed that we have measured Fly Cream from Papier Union:

Fly Cream enthält gemäß unseren Messungen keine optischen Aufheller, also "keine OBA". Das LAB Papierweiss liegt bei allen drei Messungen bei rund LAB 95 / 0,7 / 9,2
According to our measurements, Fly Cream does not contain any optical brighteners, i.e. “faint”. The LAB paper white in all three measurements is around LAB 95 / 0.7 / 9.2

With a B-value in LAB of 9.2, Fly Cream is really not just a little yellowish, as the customer said, but clearly yellowish, chamois, creamy … whatever you want to call it. So it was natural to check the proof profile “ISOUncoatedYellowish”, Fogra 30, to see to what extent the paper white could match.

What is the paper white of the possible proof standard?

Together with the customer we looked up our “paper white of proof profiles” table:

Das Papierweiss des Proofstandards Fogra30, ISOUncoatedYellowish
The paper white of the proof standard Fogra30, ISOUncoatedYellowish in LAB: 95.93 / -0.77 / 3.85

Contrary to the customer’s expectations, the paper white of ISOUncoatedYellowish is not even as yellowish as the paper white of the edition paper Fly cream, which is more yellowish by more than 5 steps on the B axis. So it was clear: PSOUncoated as a brighter-free uncoated paper proof standard is clearly too white, ISOUncoatedYellowish is much more suitable.

On what kind of proof paper will this proof standard be printed?

Read more

Which proof profile for corrugated plastic posters and election posters?

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As is well known, elections are always around the corner, and the trend towards ever larger and more numerous election posters is unbroken. In the past, only Mother Nature made the landscapes colourful in spring, but today every local, state, federal and European election does so easily. Every candidate, every large or small party now has the technical and financial means to transform entire streets into a colourful sea of messages and faces. Once the photographer has captured the election candidates well in the studio, the pictures go off for retouching and then for layout.

Until a few years ago, election posters were usually produced in classic offset printing and then glued onto hardboard with paste, drilled or screwed onto roof batten stands and then attached to street lamps with wire. And if the election took place in the summer, the posters were printed in a double edition, so that in an emergency the faded prints could be pasted over and refreshed with new ones after one month for the final spurt.

Today, however, the corrugated plastic poster is becoming more and more popular, as it is supplied pre-drilled and ready to use, retains its colour for several months and can be attached to street lamps with cable ties. But how should print data be created and how should data be prepared and proofed?

All manufacturers of corrugated plastic posters and election posters known to us want proofs in ISOCoatedV2 or ISOCoatedV2 300%

Corrugated plastic posters are produced on different systems. Sometimes four colours are used, sometimes six, sometimes more colours. Therefore, there are no binding proof standards for most digital print products produced in this way.

Instead, it works the other way around: Since most of these digital printing systems have at least the colour gamut of offset printing on picture printing paper, these printing systems are based on the established colour gamut of ISOCoatedV2.

For example, Printpartner-XXL writes: “For colour-critical motifs, we therefore recommend a prepress proof on the original material or the delivery of a colour-binding proof (with media wedge and date). Data that is delivered without colour information is provided and produced with the standard profile “ISO Coated v2”. In such a case, a colour complaint cannot be accepted.
Eine Reklamation der Farbe kann in so einem Fall nicht anerkannt werden.

From our point of view, most printing specialists demand ISOCoatedV2, some like flyeralarm and wir-machen-druck ISOCoatedV2 300%. Some want black exclusively as pure black, some exclusively as CMYK 50/50/50/100 colour black … and some do not give any information about the required colour profiles … but if you don’t specify anything, you probably won’t stick to anything … so if you want to be on the safe side, you should choose a supplier with a functioning colour management system and specifications for colour profiles.

eciCMYK profile available for proofing

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Today we have activated the exchange colour space eciCMYK, Fogra53 for proofing and integrated it into the online shop of proofing.de for ordering.

eciCMYK is the colour space for CMYK print production and complements the other Fogra colour spaces, but in contrast to these it does not represent a specific printing process, but is rather “neutral CMYK”. Due to the large gamut of eciCMYK all classical printing processes can be represented, it can be proofed on modern proofing systems without any problems and corresponds in its characteristics to typical CMYK printing colour spaces.

Proofs in eciCMYK / Fogra 53 can now be easily ordered in our Proof Shop, you can select the profile directly when ordering.

Further information on Fogra 53 can also be found on the homepage of the European Color Initiative ECI. Andreas Kraushaar from Fogra also presented the colour space in the Fogra aktuell issue 201, which you can download for free.

PANTONE and HKS colour deviations in proofing updated

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PANTONE and HKS color deviations in proofing. All PANTONE color systems and HKS and HKS 3000+ for proofing standards without optical brighteners and standards with optical brighteners have been updated in the past months.
PANTONE and HKS colour deviations in proofing. All PANTONE colour systems and HKS and HKS 3000+ for proofing standards without optical brighteners and standards with optical brighteners have been updated in the past months. https://shop.proof.de/info/spot-color-tables.html

Current proofing systems can reproduce spot colours such as HKS or Pantone very well. With the Fiery XF 6.5.2 proofing software and the Epson SureColor-P9000V Spectro proof printer, we have evaluated the colour deviation in Delta-E00 with which the various PANTONE and HKS colours can be proofed. On shop.proof.de, the tables are now available for all important PANTONE and HKS colour systems, sorted by colour fans.

A distinction is made between the proofing substrates that we use, since the surface texture and the paper white also have an influence on the representability of the colours. The colour deviations were calculated by the proofing software on the basis of the measured colour space of the proof.de proofing system. Deviations are therefore possible in practice. However, it turns out that almost all spot colours can be simulated quite well in the large colour space of our proofing devices. The smaller the ∆E00 value, the smaller the colour distance from the spot colour reference to the proofed colour. Higher ∆E00 values show which colours can be reproduced more poorly in the digital proof.
As a rough guide: From ∆E00 > 1 a colour difference is visible to the human eye, below it it can only be measured, but not seen.

Paper white of many paper manufacturers and online printers measured

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We spectrally measured the paper white tone and the proportion of optical brighteners of over 1,000 papers of the most important paper manufacturers such as Berberich and Papier Union as well as online printing companies such as Flyeralarm and wir-machen-druck.de.

Example: Spectral data comparison of Antalis Coqueror CX 22 white for the measurement standards M0 and M1. Below you can also see the color deviation in Delta-E00 of 1.97 and the two paper white values in LAB and LCH.

Only a few paper manufacturers currently publish data on paper whiteness and the proportion of optical brighteners in their papers, but only technical indicators such as whiteness according to ISO 2470-2 or CIE ISO 11475. However, designers can hardly record paper whiteness with these values. In addition, it is not possible to read from these data whether and what proportion of optical brighteners the paper has.

Example above: Spectral data comparison of Antalis Coqueror CX 22 white for the measurement standards M0 and M1. Below you can also see the color deviation in Delta-E00 of 1.97 and the two paper white values in LAB and LCH.

Left: CGATS.17 Data for measurement conditions M1 and M0 for paper Antalis Conqueror CX 22 white

We have therefore measured the most important papers and dyes of all central paper producers and paper distributors as well as online printers in the three measurement standards M0, M1 and M2. From the difference in the paper whiteness of the two measurements M2 (UV cut without UV portion) and M1 (ISO 3664:2009 with noticeable UV portion), we determined the color distance on the yellow-blue axis of LAB in Delta-b and derived from this the proportion of optical brighteners according to Delta-B according to ISO 15397 and evaluated it.

Delta-B conversion: OBA share in the paper

Delta-B < 1 = faint OBA
Delta-B < 4 = little OBA
Delta-B < 8 = low OBA
Delta-B < 14 = moderate OBA
Delta-B > 14 = high OBA

Spectral data of all measured papers for download

Parallel to the images of the spectra, we have also provided spectral data in CGATS format for the measurement modes M0, M1 and M2, which can be downloaded for any paper. These values can be used, for example, in proofing software to calculate a paper white simulation for a specific production paper.

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