COLOR CONTROL -- Managing the Variables

In some cases, there can be sound reasons for not taking the final step of profiling—in the ICC sense—a press, he notes. One example is if a shop can't control the media it runs, possibly because it is supplied by customers.

Time to Take Control

"Nevertheless, it's certainly time for printers to calibrate their presses and understand how to control them on an ongoing basis," the consultant asserts. "The metrics we've used in the past—such as solid ink density and dot gain—may be useful for controlling a press, but they really don't suffice when it comes to appearance matching."