Helping companies produce accurate, consistent color is a full-time job for Dillon Mooney. As our Technical Consultant for the Center for Technology and Research, Dillon, a 30-plus-year industry veteran, has encountered many of the challenges your company faces each day. Here Dillon dishes five key improvements you can make today to get the consistent color your customers demand. (Psssst! If you’ve ever called our Technical Hotline, you probably already know Dillon—he answers more than 1,500 inquiries a year!) The success of color management depends on consistency of the output devices. Once color management is implemented, it must be managed through process controls to maintain its repeatability. Run color bars on all jobs and include solid ink density patches, gray balance patches, 50% tint patches, and overprint patches to measure wet trapping. If you don’t measure it, you cannot control it! Consider using under some Gray Component Replacement (GCR). These techniques remove some of the CMY that makes up the grays and add weight to the K separation. This makes it easier to control the color on press. To ensure your presses are printing consistently, first check that the solid ink densities are running at you shop’s standards. Additionally the tonal value increase (TVI or dot gain) values should be in an acceptable range. Once you’ve created a color profile, it will only work if the press is printing with the same attributes. To monitor this, make sure to regularly measure the solid ink densities, TVI, gray balance, and wet trapping values. If different solid ink densities are run on different jobs, the ink film thickness differences can affect TVI, gray balance and wet trapping. Slurring creates differences in TVI and will cause a shift in the color of a process image. Random slurring can cause the appearance of the color to change from sheet to sheet. A good slur indicator is the Ladder Bars on Printing Industries Test Forms. Star Targets included in our color bars will also detect slurring. Maintaining the consistency of the output of the press also involves standardizing consumables, including ink, plates, and fountain solution. Use process inks that are ISO 2846-1 compliant. ISO 2844-1 inks are going to have very similar hue and saturation levels, and are specified in the G-7 methodology. Any time a different plate, blanket, fountain solution, or ink is used, check your process control aim points to ensure the press is printing the same way it was when the color management profile was created. Implement a preventive maintenance program that includes a good roller wash-up, deglazing, and roller setting procedure. For color management profiles to match your output, you need to address maintenance issues or face a gradual decline of...

This article is contributed by guest writer, John Compton, Principle, Compton & Associates, and long-time supporter of the Continuous Improvement Conference. “In my 40 years of attending and presenting at a variety of conferences, I’ve yet to find a conference where the openness and sharing equals that which occurs at the CI Conference.” It’s no surprise to me that we are preparing to hold the 25th annual Continuous Improvement Conference. Why the longevity? It’s simple: the people and companies attending over the years have greatly benefitted from the learning and sharing that occur every year at this conference. No Secrets among Friends From the beginning, the purpose of the conference was to provide a venue for people to learn about quality improvement and share their experiences in applying emerging concepts and tools within the printing industry. In fact, in my 40 years of attending and presenting at a variety of conferences, I’ve yet to find a conference where the openness equals that which occurs at the CI Conference. In the various case studies offered each year, companies voluntarily present methods and techniques they use to significantly improve quality and reduce costs and lead time, often with direct competitors sitting in the audience. Then they entertain specific questions on how they achieved their improvements and offer specific answers. It’s safe to say there are no secrets at this conference!  Will Work for Quality How can this happen when there is so much competition in our industry? Again, I think the answer is quite simple: while there are no secrets on how to achieve a more rapid rate of improvement, it’s clear that it’s not easy to do. (There is a valuable CI knowledge quiz if you want to find your knowledge gaps.) Whether it’s total quality, six sigma, ISO 9000, Lean manufacturing, or any of the other approaches, it’s hard work. And like anything that’s hard, you must have a reason to sweat for it. The print companies presenting their case studies at this conference detail just how hard it is to achieve and sustain improvement in lead times, waste reduction, and operating costs. So while the concepts, methods, and results are laid out for attendees to see, each company must provide its own energy, desire, and resources for a successful CI journey. In short, each must have a good reason to sweat for it. Without it, the methods produce limited, short-term results.  Looking Back and Looking Forward I’ve attended and presented at 23 of the 24 conferences held so far, and as I look back over the 25-year history, I see how far this event—and our industry—have come: Initially, those attending the early conferences were primarily QC managers and...

This article is contributed by guest writer, John Compton, Principle, Compton & Associates, and long-time supporter of the Continuous Improvement Conference. “In my 40 years of attending and presenting at a variety of conferences, I’ve yet to find a conference where the openness and sharing equals that which occurs at the CI Conference.” It’s no surprise to me that we are preparing to hold the 25th annual Continuous Improvement Conference. Why the longevity? It’s simple: the people and companies attending over the years have greatly benefitted from the learning and sharing that occur every year at this conference. No Secrets among Friends From the beginning, the purpose of the conference was to provide a venue for people to learn about quality improvement and share their experiences in applying emerging concepts and tools within the printing industry. In fact, in my 40 years of attending and presenting at a variety of conferences, I’ve yet to find a conference where the openness equals that which occurs at the CI Conference. In the various case studies offered each year, companies voluntarily present methods and techniques they use to significantly improve quality and reduce costs and lead time, often with direct competitors sitting in the audience. Then they entertain specific questions on how they achieved their improvements and offer specific answers. It’s safe to say there are no secrets at this conference!  Will Work for Quality How can this happen when there is so much competition in our industry? Again, I think the answer is quite simple: while there are no secrets on how to achieve a more rapid rate of improvement, it’s clear that it’s not easy to do. (There is a valuable CI knowledge quiz if you want to find your knowledge gaps.) Whether it’s total quality, six sigma, ISO 9000, Lean manufacturing, or any of the other approaches, it’s hard work. And like anything that’s hard, you must have a reason to sweat for it. The print companies presenting their case studies at this conference detail just how hard it is to achieve and sustain improvement in lead times, waste reduction, and operating costs. So while the concepts, methods, and results are laid out for attendees to see, each company must provide its own energy, desire, and resources for a successful CI journey. In short, each must have a good reason to sweat for it. Without it, the methods produce limited, short-term results.  Looking Back and Looking Forward I’ve attended and presented at 23 of the 24 conferences held so far, and as I look back over the 25-year history, I see how far this event—and our industry—have come: Initially, those attending the early conferences were primarily QC managers and...

Take the Print Master Monday Challenge! Think you know the answers to the quiz questions below? Each Monday, we’ll reveal an answer on our Twitter page. All you have to do is: * Follow Printing Industries of America on Twitter (if you aren’t already) by clicking here.* Starting Monday, June 24, we’ll post a question and an answer on Twitter each week until July 15.* You can post your guesses and track the questions and answers by searching #PrintMasterMonday on Twitter. 1.  In which of the following places can an ICC profile be utilized? a)  The operating systemb)  PDF creationc)  Page layout applicationsd)  All of these 2.  What two items must a press operator continually balance on an offset press? a)  Ink and register b)  Ink and colorc)  Color and registerd)  Ink and water 3.  A unit of measure used to describe differences in color is a)  Delta A b)  CIELABc)  CMMd)  Delta E 4.  Fountain solution is primarily composed of a)  Alcoholb)  Gum Arabicc)  Sensitivity solutiond)  Water Could you or your staff answer these questions? This quiz is just a sample of what you will learn in the Orientation to the Graphic Arts training workshop. Printing Industries of America supports our industry with a variety of in-depth technical training and education opportunities for the seasoned professionals, but we understand that you can’t put the cart before the horse. It’s important that both the novice and the veteran understand the core principles of print. Why are the fundamentals important? These elements are the “bread and butter,” or the foundation of the printing and graphic arts industry—an industry that is rich in both creativity and technology. New hires and print sales professionals must know these fundamentals to better communicate with each other, and more importantly, the client! To get oriented (or reoriented) with the industry, join us for the Orientation to the Graphic Arts workshop at Printing Industries of America headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA, October 21–24, 2013. For more on training, visit...

Take the Print Master Monday Challenge! Think you know the answers to the quiz questions below? Each Monday, we’ll reveal an answer on our Twitter page. All you have to do is: * Follow Printing Industries of America on Twitter (if you aren’t already) by clicking here.* Starting Monday, June 24, we’ll post a question and an answer on Twitter each week until July 15.* You can post your guesses and track the questions and answers by searching #PrintMasterMonday on Twitter. 1.  In which of the following places can an ICC profile be utilized? a)  The operating systemb)  PDF creationc)  Page layout applicationsd)  All of these 2.  What two items must a press operator continually balance on an offset press? a)  Ink and register b)  Ink and colorc)  Color and registerd)  Ink and water 3.  A unit of measure used to describe differences in color is a)  Delta A b)  CIELABc)  CMMd)  Delta E 4.  Fountain solution is primarily composed of a)  Alcoholb)  Gum Arabicc)  Sensitivity solutiond)  Water Could you or your staff answer these questions? This quiz is just a sample of what you will learn in the Orientation to the Graphic Arts training workshop. Printing Industries of America supports our industry with a variety of in-depth technical training and education opportunities for the seasoned professionals, but we understand that you can’t put the cart before the horse. It’s important that both the novice and the veteran understand the core principles of print. Why are the fundamentals important? These elements are the “bread and butter,” or the foundation of the printing and graphic arts industry—an industry that is rich in both creativity and technology. New hires and print sales professionals must know these fundamentals to better communicate with each other, and more importantly, the client! To get oriented (or reoriented) with the industry, join us for the Orientation to the Graphic Arts workshop at Printing Industries of America headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA, October 21–24, 2013. For more on training, visit...