The Colour of Money It was recently announced that a series of tests on spectrophotometers conducted by the Flemish Innovation Centre for Graphic Communications had found deviations up to a delta E of nearly 4 when printers typically demand a maximum delta E of 2 for high quality print jobs.

The causes of the deviations were not problems with one brand or type of spectrophotometer but were considered to be generated by dirty optics, poorly calibrated devices, years of use and abuse, and insufficient light due to deterioration of the light source as the units age which means the spectral power distribution is not sufficient and limits accuracy detecting small variations in particular colour regions.

Many agree that colour quality is the biggest challenge in the printing industry and printers will follow every avenue to achieve the colour standard required by the customer who will use colour as the most important criterion to accept, or reject a print job. This makes a regularly calibrated spectrophotometer and on-line colour monitoring device a worthy cost saving, essential investment.

“Rejecting jobs because of colour differences should be about seeing differences, not just about measuring a certain number” is a view taken by many printing companies who after many years experience juggling with the subject of colour have installed on their presses print inspection systems for on-line monitoring of colour.

In 2007 Tectonic International introduced to the market the industry’s first, low-cost Print Inspection System K2colour-check a development which “shook-out” of their high-end JAGUAR print inspection system.

Ninety per cent of their customers wanted on-line colour monitoring on every press but the cost of installing a JAGUAR with full colour inspection was prohibitive for most.

K2colour-check, a clever development and still unique today, is a different matter costing no more than other basic, low-end Print Inspection Systems but providing effective colour monitoring and register check using three “active” icons. Fast and easy to set up, customers report that colour is no longer a battlefield and that the inability to check the accuracy of large and small colour defects is a thing of the past.

Designed in favour of the printing industry and its customers, K2colour-check has no competitor and is the choice of the world’s most advanced and knowledgeable printing companies.

Tectonic, world-leader in web inspection and mounting machines for plates and sleeves. For further information and a demonstration please contact us or visit our website www.tectonicinternational.com for further product information and to view a “live” plate-mounting demonstration using one of our FLEXICO V5 plate mounting machines.

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