Feast for the Eye

Satisfying packaging's "universe"

Wick McCaleb, product manager at Kodak Polychrome Graphics, likens package printing to "not a category, but a universe"—making the ideal digital proofer for one printer a mismatch for another.

Continuous tone proofers encompass dye sublimation and inkjet technologies, and can be acquired for less than $20,000. Halftone proofers show actual dot shapes and screen angles and can run more than $100,000. Contone systems typically control color with color management profiles, McCaleb notes, while halftone systems are programmed with fixed colors that are adjusted via dot gain or density.