Quality Control: Measure it, Control it!

Of densitometers, “Knowing your ink densities helps you ensure proper ink coverage, but doesn’t guarantee accuracy in shades of color,” LaFontaine explains. “Colorimeters and spectrophotometers more accurately define colors and, therefore, are better at ensuring that colors truly match. However, because proofing and print processes are different, the final piece still may look ‘off,’ even when the color patches between the proof and the printed substrate match.” This “subjective color shift” occurs when tone value increase causes the color to look “off,” even when it isn’t, he says. Plate analysis is helpful in making sure that the press matches the continuous-tone image that produces the color as it was meant to be visualized.