Keeping colors consistent in the process of creating packaging materials can be a difficult prospect, but companies are increasingly working to improve how they use coloring technology in several ways.
A press release from Toyo Ink, a company soon to present at the Tokyo Pack industry event, reported it is increasingly working to make color management a more viable prospect for many companies. Due to the increased globalization of flexible packaging in particular, color management is a primary concern for businesses, and Toyo is as a result giving two live presentations on better approaching the market.
One solution that Toyo has developed is that of a product lineup based on its flexo inks, which are primarily composed of water. These inks will be viable in production from pre-pressing to post-printing for companies. In addition, it will bring case studies of additional solutions using these products, and can also offer a better hands-on display of a solvent-free adhesive mixing device.
The company will also feature a variety of high-performance ink materials, including ultraviolet coatings, overpaint varnishes and hot-melt adhesives, in addition to new UV inks as well. It will also highlight new packaging solutions that are becoming more common in international markets as companies expand their services into new markets.
New product update allows for new coloring
A second press release from Color-Logic, found that while graphic designers often struggle to use variable colors and designs in a foil area, new software updates can ease the design process and make it easier for strong, approachable designs to be used like never before. The problem is that foil and CMYK inks are difficult to match, as each design and variation requires its own white ink mask. However, with the software change, those masks are automatically formed, and as a result their quality can be expanded by leaps and bounds.
"Graphic designers and advertising agencies typically shy away from using variable data when printing on foil substrates because creating white ink masks can be tedious and may require lots of time," said Mark Geeves, the director of sales and marketing for Color-Logic. Instead, a simple plugin update in the company's design releases makes it immediately possible for developers to put brand-new elements into their products, and it's compatible with offset, inkjet, flexography and many other forms of technology to better suit whatever developers need to use a product for. This can allow companies to differentiate themselves from competitors and make it easier for them to reach their markets over time.
New workflow to make packaging easier
Heidelberg, a supplier of workflow integration processes, found that in the last five years, it has been able to develop several pieces of technology that allow for better workflow when it comes to packaging printers. First introduced in 2008, the company's Prinect Packaging concept has seen more functions added that extend what companies can do with their packaging. With its updates, the technology can do anything from reduce what's needed to implement colorization to integrate all print shop processes into a specific delineation of performance.
"Heidelberg's Prinect Workflow provides Inland with tools to establish and maintain a custom color management system," said Amy Jungerberg of Inland Label, a company that adopted Heidelberg's Prinect packaging procedures and technology. "This system has given us the knowledge and opportunity to reduce the number of spot colors printed on press by replacing these colors with 7-color process. This is becoming more and more favorable to our customers as it helps them reduce costs."
These changes show that it will likely become more simple and easier in the future for companies to put new elements of color into their products.
