High end brands have various standards to manage their brand, and color is one of their most important standards. Regardless of the color application on the website, the decoration style and color difference of the store, the color of the products, the color of the packaging, etc., all need to achieve unified management standards. There is also a strict standard for color management when customizing cardboard packaging. For brand owners, it is necessary to ensure that the brand color on each packaging is consistent and standardized. So for a custom cardboard packaging factory, good color management is necessary to serve the needs of customers. ITIS packaging factory, we have a comprehensive color management system. Whether it's our old customers reversing orders or new customers placing new orders. As long as customers request color matching, we can achieve 99.9% color follow-up. This is already the top color matching ability in the packaging and printing industry.
Printing and color matching refers to the process of adjusting the color settings of the printing machine during the printing process to ensure that the color of the printed product matches the original design or sample. This process involves meticulous adjustments to the color of printed materials to ensure that the final product's color quality meets customer requirements or design standards. The purpose of printing and color matching is to reduce color deviation, improve the quality of printed materials, and enhance customer satisfaction.
Due to differences in resolution and color performance between computer monitors and actual printed materials, it is best to print out samples for customer confirmation to ensure color accuracy.
Directly comparing the actual product with the sample: Many customers only check the color through the computer when following the color, which is not enough. Because there may be differences between the colors displayed on the computer and the actual colors printed, it is best to print out a sample for customers to compare and confirm the colors on the actual product to ensure the accuracy of the colors.
Complete color matching work at once: In order to avoid color deviation caused by multiple color matching, it is best to complete the color matching work at once, which can reasonably reduce the occurrence of color difference and remaining printing ink.
Timely communication and adjustment: If any unacceptable issues are found during the follow-up process, such as ghosting, uneven color distribution, or significant color difference, they should be immediately raised and requested to be adjusted until the color is satisfactory.
In the general printing process, there are three types of color matching:
1. Come to the factory by yourself to follow the color, and the printer can adjust the color until the customer is satisfied.
2. Color is adjusted according to the color sample of the printing machine, which means that the machine adjusts the color according to the color adjustment system, and the resulting color is a normal color.
3. Online video color matching, color matching is done by taking photos or videos during printing
Advantages: Through on-site color tracking, color errors in the printing process can be detected and corrected in a timely manner, ensuring color uniformity of printed products and improving overall product quality.
Disadvantage: Due to the long distance or distance, other color matching forms may need to be adopted
Existing misconceptions:
Many customers come to the factory to follow the color, and it is absolutely not possible to only view the color on the computer because there are differences in computer resolution and other issues when viewing the color on the computer
It has no reference value for printing and color. It's best to make a sample, the customer will be satisfied after seeing the color, and the printer will follow the sample for color matching
The advantages of online printing frequency and color matching include speed, flexibility, no need for plate making, suitability for personalized and small batch production, while the disadvantages include the inability to guarantee absolute color difference and the inability to perform specialized color matching for individual files.
Color matching is the key to ensuring the final quality of the design. Therefore, for packaging that requires high standards, designers often need to go to the factory for color matching. Because the packaging is different from other printed products, the color requirements are very high, and once printed, it can reach thousands and cannot be modified!
Not every designer has the opportunity to go to the factory to follow the colors. Some companies do not attach great importance to it or feel that it takes up a lot of work time. Such companies make up the majority, and only a few companies support designers going to the factory to follow the colors! If necessary, you should ask the company to follow the color requirements! Ensuring the final production quality of the product is crucial for its ultimate effectiveness on the market!
Some companies do not agree to go to the printing factory for color requirements mainly due to time costs, lack of professional knowledge, and trust in the printing process
Time cost: The printing process usually requires a certain amount of time. If the company sends someone to the printing factory to follow up on the color, it may disrupt the original work plan and increase time and cost. In addition, if it is necessary to follow orders for multiple consecutive days, it may have an impact on the normal operation of the company.
Lack of professional knowledge: Not all companies have professional color management and printing technology knowledge. If company personnel do not possess these professional knowledge, they may not be able to effectively communicate and adjust requirements with printing factories, resulting in low efficiency in the color matching process.
Trust in the printing process: Some companies may have enough confidence in the printing technology and quality control of the printing factory, believing that they can complete the printing task according to the agreed standards and requirements, so there is no need to personally go to the printing factory for color tracking. In addition, some companies may believe that preliminary work such as sample making and proofreading is sufficient to ensure the quality of the final product, and therefore do not require additional manpower and resources to go to the printing factory for color matching.
When producing a certain product for the first time, if the color is confirmed, the standard upper and lower limits of the product color should be determined, and after the customer seals the sample, it should be designated as a "standard sample sheet". In future production, the standard color of the standard sample will be used as the basis, and it will be strictly stipulated that the fluctuation of color cannot exceed the upper and lower limits of the standard. This can ensure the consistency of product color,
There are generally two situations. If it is a sample, the designer often needs to bring it back to the company to show to the leaders, discuss it, and sign the sample before mailing it to the printing factory. Another situation is that after confirmation, mass production is about to begin, and at this time, it needs to be signed and confirmed to the factory. The factory confirms the color according to the sample and carries out production. The main purpose of asking the designer to sign the sample is to avoid complaining to the printing factory if the final product is not satisfactory!
Using printing standard light sources: While ensuring the quality of printing ink, printing standard light sources should be used for color comparison to ensure color accuracy. Many label printing companies do not use standard lighting sources for printing, which poses a hidden danger to the color consistency control of label products. It is recommended to use printing standard lighting sources for illumination, and companies with conditions also need to equip standard light source boxes for employees to compare colors under the standard light source!
Regularly replace standard samples: Standard samples should be replaced regularly to avoid deviation from the actual printed product due to prolonged use. This helps to maintain color accuracy and avoid color deviation caused by prolonged use of the same standard sample.
Printing is actually a process of copying colors, and there will always be deviations during the copying process, which I call color difference! Due to the different varieties (such as environmentally friendly ink, UV ink, fast drying ink, etc.), manufacturers, and raw materials of each ink, there are differences in the ink itself among different manufacturers. Therefore, when reprinting and printing, it is best to find the previous printing manufacturer to print, as the same common ink may also be purchased from different manufacturers.
It is normal for the color error of the printed image to be within 10%. According to the finished product acceptance standards of the printing industry, the error of CMYK values is controlled within 10% of the upper and lower limits, and the color deviation of the reference color spectrum within this standard is considered to be within the normal range. This means that in the printing process, if the difference between the actual value and the theoretical value of the color does not exceed 10%, it is considered acceptable.
Misconception: Many customers come to the factory to follow colors, and it is absolutely not possible to only view colors on the computer because there are differences in computer resolution and other issues when viewing colors on the computer
For printing and color, there is no reference value. It is best to make a sample and satisfy the customer after seeing the color. Ask the printer to follow the color according to the printed sample
The advantages of online printing video color matching include speed, flexibility, no need for plate making, suitability for personalization and small batch production, while the shortcomings include the inability to guarantee absolute color difference and the inability to perform specialized color matching for individual files.
The above is the ITIS packaging factory. For the detailed process and standards of color matching in the customized paper box packaging process, this is not only our internal management standard, but also our guidance for customers to meet their final brand color management needs from the beginning of design
