Extend Colors to Extend Reach

Of all the assets associated with a given brand, color is arguably the most identifiable. And not just any color, but rather the intense, vibrant color that differentiates a company from its competition and is a key component of high-impact graphics designed to grab the consumer's attention and hold it long enough to trigger a purchase decision. Any technology that can make this happen without incurring the expense of additional prepress work or multiple passes through the press will be of special value to profit-minded printers and their price-sensitive customers.

Transcending the limits of CMYK

The fact that the CMYK color space is significantly smaller than the color space visible to the human eye underscores the limitations of 4-color process printing in color-critical applications like fine art and packaging. Violets, greens, and oranges, for example, are very difficult to match using 4-color process. With its limited gamut and ability to simulate only about 60 percent of standard Pantone colors, therefore, the 4-color process system based on CMYK alone packs insufficient marketing punch for many packaging applications. At the same time, working with spot colors can be time-consuming and costly. A more visually and emotionally satisfying—and potentially more cost-effective—option is to add two or more special colors to the standard 4-color set to extend the color gamut and enable the press to print a wider range of colors.

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."

For the printer/converter, using one set of inks can effectively simulate a vast number of spot colors1 while reducing the number of press runs, wash-ups, and inks involved. Fewer changeovers also yield greater consistency over the length of the print run. For the end user/CPC, the payoff comes in the form of dramatic visual shelf impact that translates into dollars at the cash register.

Advantages and expectations

Extended color printing offers the package designer a greatly expanded palette and the ability to more faithfully reproduce original artwork. In terms of overall image enhancement and packaging "pop," therefore, design considerations are tremendously important and should be well understood by all parties and adapted into the design strategy. There are special considerations, however, as Thomson points out: "Type and keylines need to be managed properly so that registration issues don't occur. Vignettes and other tint areas that may have been one color in the past now need to be created out of two or three colors. These are hurdles, and it is why the design phase is so important. If you want the image and quality enhancements, some give-and-take has to be incorporated so the design is successful on press."

Each of the extended above ink sets varies individually based on gamut, as well as on how the colors are integrated into the workflow. The 6-color Hexachrome process, introduced by Pantone, Inc. (www.pantone.com) more than a decade ago, uses customized CMYK inks, plus orange and green, enabling printers to achieve almost twice the color gamut of conventional CMYK inks. In most areas of the color spectrum, Hexachrome meets or exceeds the gamut of RGB, meaning that designs created on screen can be reproduced in print. Moreover, instead of changing the press every time a new spot color is needed, the press stays configured for Hexachrome, which simulates them. More than 90 percent of the spot colors found in the Pantone Formula Guide can be matched using Hexachrome. Requirements include a 6-color press, access to a 6-color proofing system, and specially formulated Hexachrome inks.

Opaltone Digital Color, developed by Opaltone Graphic Solutions (www.opaltone.com) in 1998, is a 7-color reproduction system that mixes CMYK plus Opaltone Red, Green, and Blue in the halftone screens to achieve more than 2,800 colors without resorting to spot colors. Suitable for rotogravure, offset, and flexo presses, Opaltone Digital Color reportedly overcomes the saturation deficiencies in CMYK inks, producing greater optical contrasts and richer, brighter color. For the printer, ink inventory for process work is slashed to only seven base colors: CMYKR'G'B'. Designers can look forward to the accurate reproduction of their artwork, absent the limitations of traditional CMYK.

FMsix is a relatively new printing technology that became commercially available in 2003. It uses frequency-modulated (FM) screening technology, eliminating concerns related to screen angles and moiré. FMsix requires only M.Y. PrintTech's conversion software to apply the conversion of spot colors to the appropriate FMsix color. Although only six colors are printed at one time, FMsix uses standard CMYK colors and two colors of either FMsix® Orange, FMsix® Blue, or FMsix® Green, depending on the image being reproduced.

Photographic images are always printed with CMYK; then any spot colors can be converted to a compatible FMsix color mix. FMsix is licensed to printers by M.Y. PrintTech B.V.

"While each of these ink sets uses red/green/blue, orange/green, or orange/green/violet," Thompson says, "the real differentiator is how these inks are utilized within process images and for line color builds." As a result, he notes, "I can't say one ink set has a clear advantage over another. It really depends on the goals of the program and process involved."

Cost savings: A moving target

Significant cost savings associated with the use of expanded gamut systems is frequently assumed. But, Thompson says there is no simple answer to the question of cost. He claims it comes down to a variety of factors, including:

• Is there opportunity to create mixed sheets/forms that eliminate make-ready and changeovers?

• Can the press be dedicated to the ink set, so that wash ups and changeovers are reduced significantly?

• Are the design considerations that extended gamut requires adhered to and integrated correctly into the process?

• Are prepress and press operators properly trained to understand the process?

Supporting players

Obviously, both ink and equipment manufacturers have critical roles to play in the adoption and use of extended color systems. Whatever system is used, the extra inks must be formulated to interact correctly with the other inks in the set. They also have to trap correctly and have the right opacity. "SGS is not an ink manufacturer or expert in this domain," Thomson says. "We typically recommend that the printer engage its ink manufacturer, and suggest the extended gamut inks be made as 'process inks' rather than line color inks. On the equipment side, the ability of the press to hold registration [within certain tolerances] is paramount."

The adoption of extended gamut printing has been generally slow. Despite persistent wariness among packaging printers, however, Thompson thinks that the various extended gamut methodologies are gaining traction in some circles. "I don't know if I am ready to say 'most,' " he says.

For some that eschew the use of extended color sets, Thompson believes the main obstacles relate primarily to issues of cost and training outlined above. For others, he says, "I think equipment plays a large role. Registration is critical and the press must be able to produce consistent results day in and day out within tight tolerances. With technologies like flexo, there is some potential capital outlay for things like high-line anilox rolls, or new web registration systems. These are very real challenges for some printers in this economy and the margin pressures that exist in today's market." Extended color applications also can be difficult and expensive to produce because of the need for more plates and special inks, especially in short-run applications.

Forewarned is forearmed

For those that decide to take the plunge into extended gamut printing, advantages can include less color correction on press; consistent, repeatable color that displays customer-pleasing detail, contrast, and brightness; efficiencies related to the use of a single ink set resulting in time and labor savings; faster makereadies; and competitive advantages arising from increased press uptime. When the net result is shorter time to market, expanded color printing can be a win-win for all concerned.

But again, there is groundwork to be laid, Thompson says, including "training on both the press and prepress sides." In the prepress department at SGS, for example, "We are now building every line color with tint combinations, instead of using a spot ink. At the same time, we are trying to ensure that we maintain the highest level of printability without giving up too much of the gamut we gained by adding the additional inks." He adds, "Press operators also have to know how to balance six or seven colors, as opposed to just four. If something is too red on press, does the magenta ink need adjustment or does the red ink? Is it both? Is it the yellow or another color in the build?"

Other choices

Depending on the requirements of a high-volume customer, a converter might also opt to use a "homegrown" system developed specifically for that customer. "This could potentially minimize the necessary design concessions arising from the use of an off-the-shelf ink set—provided such a system succeeds in maximizing efficiencies on press," Thompson says. pP

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1) So far, fluorescents and metallic colors have been outside of the extended gamut arena. When a brand equity color cannot be manufactured appropriately (or accurately) enough, SGS advocates running a 6-color ink set and having the seventh color be the brand color. "If there are enough decks," Thompson says, "that color can be added to the larger set, but both of these strategies can diminish the savings potential. If we have a swatch or PMS number for special spots, we have developed proprietary methods to create a formula to 'build' the equity color, but this only applies if the color falls within an acceptable range, based on the gamut of the ink set."