Extend Colors to Extend Reach

Extended gamut color sets like Hexachrome, Opaltone, and FMsix are defined and distinguished by the differences in overall gamut size when compared with CMYK. "With CMYK, there is only so much color available to produce spot color matches because you are limited to the overprint combinations of these four colors," says Scott Thompson, director commercial technology for Southern Graphic Systems (SGS, www.sgsintl.com). "By adding additional colors, the color space is expanded, and there are more color combinations and more opportunities to match colors that are unattainable with CMYK alone. This is especially beneficial when you look at the more difficult colors to match (like oranges, purples, and greens), which is why many of the ink sets are in this color family."