We hear a lot these days about using "the cloud" for everything from storing your vacation photos to managing critical business applications. The concept touts convenience and cost savings while raising concerns about security and whether or not the cloud represents real value for business users. And when it comes to critical applications such as color management, it can seem like a major leap of faith.
But is it really?
Just what the cloud is depends upon the applications involved. It could be retrieval to file systems at a remote location, like DropBox. It can be access to complete applications, like Adobe's new distribution model for its Creative Suite software, or a remote collaboration system like CoZone from GMG. Whichever it is, cloud computing involves accessing a remote server to add functionality to a computer or workstation.
There are a number of applications for packaging and printing that rely on some aspect of cloud computing. For example, there are remote servers that drive inkjet printers so print customers can review and even approve color-accurate proofs sent from their marketing services/prepress providers. Color data in a central database can be exchanged between different companies and locations, ensuring that a color specified in a packaging designer's palette is accurate for the ink, substrate and press for which it is intended. And with some applications you can take color-bar readings from a remote press run and validate the color accuracy of the job.
Managing Color in the Cloud
Matthews Brand Solutions is a global enterprise specializing in packaging, merchandising, marking, and fulfillment for household-name customers such as GNC, BP, Sunglass Hut, and more. Today, Matthews utilizes a streamlined workflow system and state-of-the-art technology to provide the highest level of consistency for every project, from design and strategy to color and project management.
Matthews' Chromos integrated system of color hardware and software gives the supply chain complete ownership of color data remotely along with full control over both spot and process colors. This helps them achieve high and consistent product quality. "Our web-based digital proofing, part of our Chromos system, offers maximum transparency and faster processes," says Greg Radencic, Color Room Manager, Matthews Brand Solutions Americas. "We profile the presses where our work goes to assure constantly uniform quality."
But not so long ago the process wasn't quite as efficient. Matthews received art from clients, and operators were responsible for ensuring that artwork for repro print production could be separated correctly. Proprietary proofs were produced and sent to clients by overnight courier to be marked up, approved, and returned—a costly and time-consuming process.
For example, Matthews' Pittsburgh office provided prepress services and plates for several major accounts. No one wanted to wait for repro work to be shipped to the brand owners' offices for review, so Matthews opted to install a remote inkjet proofing station at each brand-owner's office—one that could easily and reliably color-manage and prepare files. Most important was print quality accuracy—both color and dot structure. Often, reproducing the highlight dot was a problem. To address this key point, a GMG ColorProof system was installed. The software drives Epson Stylus Pro 7900 and 9990 inkjet printers that feature 10c/8c color space technology. GMG DotProof offers a 1:1 dot representation for highlight dot control.
The ROI and accuracy of an inkjet system was preferred to an existing proprietary system and came to be relied on for consistently high quality in Matthews offices around the globe. What made this system convenient to the supply chain was its ability to send files to print servers at brand owner offices which used GMG ColorProof to drive the inkjet printers. Brand owners did not have to operate the software—including any calibration, because it was supervised by on-site Matthews employees.
"The more complex the printing job, the more important it is to check results early in the process to ensure corrections can be made without a lot of cost and effort," affirms Radencic. "With this cloud-based system we are able to generate proofs identical to the final product for all imaginable printing applications."
The remote system is now in operation at many of the brands Matthews handles. Customers receive full contract proofs that are automatically dropped into their remote printer queues and managed by color control systems to ensure accurate quality, a process that has saved 1-2 days per proofing cycle. Even more detailed review is possible. When requested by some brand owners to expedite the workflow, Matthews will install remote soft-proofing with a color-calibrated display and viewing station at the brand owner's site, to help push initial artwork along before a final contract proof is required. The first and second rounds of reviews are uploaded to the system, annotated, and returned to primarily check content and offer directional color comments.
"Once our operators went though the software training they were able to run the workflows," explains Radencic. "Now, the Pittsburgh office is the color management hub and we do the profiling here and export workflows to our different locations."
Managing color throughout the supply chain
Extending color management through the supply chain with the promise of increased productivity is the goal of Chromos, an on-site, one-fee system tool that allows printers to access web-based color libraries for the brands they print. Chromos is based on technology from matchmycolor, the developers of Colibri, an innovative, technologically advanced color communication, color-matching, tinting, and color quality control software tool. By using a matchmycolor plug-in for Adobe Illustrator designers can access an in-house library of color 'swatches' by brand, and by printer.
Matthews is also testing a system that would connect Chromos with the cloud. It will connect all participants in the color supply chain, including brand owners, designers, printers and converters. Suitable for all print processes, substrates and applications, the combined systems will cover every stage from design, through specification, production, approval and certification, to supplying finished product. It will spell out the color information through metadata. GMG's proofing system, with the help of color management from GMG OpenColor, can refer to this data and identify and process whether the color must be redefined.
GMG's technology collects matchmycolor spectral color data and combines these with the necessary process colors for accurate, high-end proofs. This helps the Chromos system more accurately calculate overprints and provide more predictable results. In the past, Matthews' RIP could overlap spot colors but still not offer a good prediction on the proof. Now they can take two colors from a press fingerprint and demonstrate what the resultant color will be.
"Remote proofing technology and the ability of our color management workflow helps us predict colors correctly. With great color predictions, a job coming through the system travels 20-30 percent faster from initial art to final proof," says Radencic. "With OpenColor we're already reducing the number of iterations for each job. We used to go through four or five revisions. Now we go through one or two."
Another big advantage is in handling spot colors. "We ran into a couple of scenarios where a brand's spot colors were built with 2-3 spot color overprints," continues Radencic. "Until a year ago, it took a lot of time and guesswork to achieve an acceptable proof. We'd say, 'It may look like this now, but when it goes on press it will look right.' It was difficult to explain why it was not accurate. Now that's not a problem."
Getting it right on remote presses
"Part of our job at Matthews is to approve jobs on the press. The brand owner's fear is that the printer may not have a vested interest in the brand, and might approve a job outside of tight constraints," explains Radencic. "With our Chromos database in the cloud, the computing power of GMG OpenColor, and our color tolerances determined by our color management, we're able to compare color matches."
When technicians use their spectrophotometers at a press run on site, they can approve the color live, through the system. "They connect color bar matching data from their portable X-Rite eXact™ spectrophotometer to Chromos. From there they verify the color to the digital color chip that was used in design as well as for proofing from GMG OpenColor," describes Radencic. "The system determines the delta-e deviation from color and provides an OK to run the job."
"The biggest benefit in using the cloud is our ability to communicate faster and more accurately," concludes Radencic. "If we need to, we can address artwork color by sending a proof to the brand owner. We can explain it over the phone while they are looking at it on their computer or on a proof print. In the same way, we can work directly from the press to ensure that the same color is accurate. The remote, cloud-based system is all-encompassing for us." pP
"Cloud Computing" Works for Consistent Color
We hear a lot these days about using "the cloud" for everything from storing your vacation photos to managing critical business applications. The concept touts convenience and cost savings while raising concerns about security and whether or not the cloud represents real value for business users. And when it comes to critical applications such as color management, it can seem like a major leap of faith.
But is it really?
Just what the cloud is depends upon the applications involved. It could be retrieval to file systems at a remote location, like DropBox. It can be access to complete applications, like Adobe's new distribution model for its Creative Suite software, or a remote collaboration system like CoZone from GMG. Whichever it is, cloud computing involves accessing a remote server to add functionality to a computer or workstation.
There are a number of applications for packaging and printing that rely on some aspect of cloud computing. For example, there are remote servers that drive inkjet printers so print customers can review and even approve color-accurate proofs sent from their marketing services/prepress providers. Color data in a central database can be exchanged between different companies and locations, ensuring that a color specified in a packaging designer's palette is accurate for the ink, substrate and press for which it is intended. And with some applications you can take color-bar readings from a remote press run and validate the color accuracy of the job.
Managing Color in the Cloud
Matthews Brand Solutions is a global enterprise specializing in packaging, merchandising, marking, and fulfillment for household-name customers such as GNC, BP, Sunglass Hut, and more. Today, Matthews utilizes a streamlined workflow system and state-of-the-art technology to provide the highest level of consistency for every project, from design and strategy to color and project management.
Matthews' Chromos integrated system of color hardware and software gives the supply chain complete ownership of color data remotely along with full control over both spot and process colors. This helps them achieve high and consistent product quality. "Our web-based digital proofing, part of our Chromos system, offers maximum transparency and faster processes," says Greg Radencic, Color Room Manager, Matthews Brand Solutions Americas. "We profile the presses where our work goes to assure constantly uniform quality."
But not so long ago the process wasn't quite as efficient. Matthews received art from clients, and operators were responsible for ensuring that artwork for repro print production could be separated correctly. Proprietary proofs were produced and sent to clients by overnight courier to be marked up, approved, and returned—a costly and time-consuming process.
For example, Matthews' Pittsburgh office provided prepress services and plates for several major accounts. No one wanted to wait for repro work to be shipped to the brand owners' offices for review, so Matthews opted to install a remote inkjet proofing station at each brand-owner's office—one that could easily and reliably color-manage and prepare files. Most important was print quality accuracy—both color and dot structure. Often, reproducing the highlight dot was a problem. To address this key point, a GMG ColorProof system was installed. The software drives Epson Stylus Pro 7900 and 9990 inkjet printers that feature 10c/8c color space technology. GMG DotProof offers a 1:1 dot representation for highlight dot control.
The ROI and accuracy of an inkjet system was preferred to an existing proprietary system and came to be relied on for consistently high quality in Matthews offices around the globe. What made this system convenient to the supply chain was its ability to send files to print servers at brand owner offices which used GMG ColorProof to drive the inkjet printers. Brand owners did not have to operate the software—including any calibration, because it was supervised by on-site Matthews employees.
"The more complex the printing job, the more important it is to check results early in the process to ensure corrections can be made without a lot of cost and effort," affirms Radencic. "With this cloud-based system we are able to generate proofs identical to the final product for all imaginable printing applications."
The remote system is now in operation at many of the brands Matthews handles. Customers receive full contract proofs that are automatically dropped into their remote printer queues and managed by color control systems to ensure accurate quality, a process that has saved 1-2 days per proofing cycle. Even more detailed review is possible. When requested by some brand owners to expedite the workflow, Matthews will install remote soft-proofing with a color-calibrated display and viewing station at the brand owner's site, to help push initial artwork along before a final contract proof is required. The first and second rounds of reviews are uploaded to the system, annotated, and returned to primarily check content and offer directional color comments.
"Once our operators went though the software training they were able to run the workflows," explains Radencic. "Now, the Pittsburgh office is the color management hub and we do the profiling here and export workflows to our different locations."
Managing color throughout the supply chain
Extending color management through the supply chain with the promise of increased productivity is the goal of Chromos, an on-site, one-fee system tool that allows printers to access web-based color libraries for the brands they print. Chromos is based on technology from matchmycolor, the developers of Colibri, an innovative, technologically advanced color communication, color-matching, tinting, and color quality control software tool. By using a matchmycolor plug-in for Adobe Illustrator designers can access an in-house library of color 'swatches' by brand, and by printer.
Matthews is also testing a system that would connect Chromos with the cloud. It will connect all participants in the color supply chain, including brand owners, designers, printers and converters. Suitable for all print processes, substrates and applications, the combined systems will cover every stage from design, through specification, production, approval and certification, to supplying finished product. It will spell out the color information through metadata. GMG's proofing system, with the help of color management from GMG OpenColor, can refer to this data and identify and process whether the color must be redefined.
GMG's technology collects matchmycolor spectral color data and combines these with the necessary process colors for accurate, high-end proofs. This helps the Chromos system more accurately calculate overprints and provide more predictable results. In the past, Matthews' RIP could overlap spot colors but still not offer a good prediction on the proof. Now they can take two colors from a press fingerprint and demonstrate what the resultant color will be.
"Remote proofing technology and the ability of our color management workflow helps us predict colors correctly. With great color predictions, a job coming through the system travels 20-30 percent faster from initial art to final proof," says Radencic. "With OpenColor we're already reducing the number of iterations for each job. We used to go through four or five revisions. Now we go through one or two."
Another big advantage is in handling spot colors. "We ran into a couple of scenarios where a brand's spot colors were built with 2-3 spot color overprints," continues Radencic. "Until a year ago, it took a lot of time and guesswork to achieve an acceptable proof. We'd say, 'It may look like this now, but when it goes on press it will look right.' It was difficult to explain why it was not accurate. Now that's not a problem."
Getting it right on remote presses
"Part of our job at Matthews is to approve jobs on the press. The brand owner's fear is that the printer may not have a vested interest in the brand, and might approve a job outside of tight constraints," explains Radencic. "With our Chromos database in the cloud, the computing power of GMG OpenColor, and our color tolerances determined by our color management, we're able to compare color matches."
When technicians use their spectrophotometers at a press run on site, they can approve the color live, through the system. "They connect color bar matching data from their portable X-Rite eXact™ spectrophotometer to Chromos. From there they verify the color to the digital color chip that was used in design as well as for proofing from GMG OpenColor," describes Radencic. "The system determines the delta-e deviation from color and provides an OK to run the job."
"The biggest benefit in using the cloud is our ability to communicate faster and more accurately," concludes Radencic. "If we need to, we can address artwork color by sending a proof to the brand owner. We can explain it over the phone while they are looking at it on their computer or on a proof print. In the same way, we can work directly from the press to ensure that the same color is accurate. The remote, cloud-based system is all-encompassing for us." pP