Correctly Understand The Printing Color Management Of Gift Box Packaging Paper

Correctly understand the printing color management of Gift Box Packaging Paper

Color is the core of print quality control. In the whole production management of printing enterprises, color management is in the central position.

1. The three steps of print color management

Color management theory divides the implementation of color management into three steps: calibration, device characterization, and color conversion. Calibration refers to the calibration of each equipment in the printing production process and the standardization of process parameters to make it work in a stable state. Device characterization refers to the measurement of color data by various software and hardware tools on the premise of device calibration, and the generation of device color characteristic files to record the gamut characteristics of the device. There are three general color characteristic files, that is, the characteristic files of input devices, display devices and output devices. The third step is to use the color management module to convert the device dependent color space (CMYK, RGB, etc.) through the device Independent color space (Lab) to achieve the consistency of color output in the whole process from prepress to printing.

Of the three steps, calibration and device characterization are key to effective color management. Calibration is not only a simple correction of each equipment, but also a comprehensive diagnosis of printing production technology and process, and is the normalization and standardization of printing production process parameters. The key of equipment characterization is to obtain high quality color characteristic files. The emphasis is to select printing proofs that can correctly reflect the printing conditions, and to use professional measurement tools and professional color characteristic description file generation software.

2. Print color management is the process of automating color control

The printing process is a process of color transfer and reproduction. Colors are converted to each other in various color Spaces, so the accurate transfer of color is the key and difficult point. In the past, the transmission of color was controlled mainly by human experience, which was a kind of post-hoc control. This inefficient method was feasible in the past, but it can not adapt to the fierce competition environment faced by modern printing enterprises. Therefore, achieving efficient and automatic color transfer control and accurate color reproduction has an important impact on improving the competitiveness of printing enterprises.

Printing color management is the means of automatic color transfer and control in printing production. To achieve this, it is necessary to look at color reproduction from the point of view of the printing press and coordinate the mutual influence between the processes of pre-press processing, plate making, proofing and printing. The characteristics of the printing press should be integrated into the prepress stage, so that any changes in printing conditions will be automatically reflected in the proofing and plate making process. Therefore, the complete printing color management should be a cycle process of printing presetting, calibration, characterization, color conversion, on-machine measurement, feedback and correction using pre-press data. The automatic control of color by printing color management is a kind of pre-control. Printing enterprises can reduce consumption and increase efficiency through color management and improve the core competitiveness of enterprises.

3. Print color management is an ongoing process

In recent years, the author has found two problems in the communication with printing enterprises. First, more and more enterprises have implemented digital proofing, and think that color management is digital proofing. The other is that the application of digital proofing is one-time, and does not pay attention to the continuity of printing production standardization and the update of color characteristics files. These two problems have considerable obstacles to the effective implementation of print color management. It is a misunderstanding that color management is digital proofing. In fact, digital proofing is only a part of color management, which is a system that simulates the printing results. It is a more suitable proofing method for CTP system. Color management is not a "once and for all" work. It is a continuous process to realize automatic color transfer and control on the basis of continuous optimization of printing production with the change of printing conditions.