The shift to digital color workflow helps simplify production.
Digital color standards can be used in software to specify and communicate colors, formulate new colors, perform batch corrections, and control color quality.
Processors need new ways to formulate and produce accurate colors faster and reduce waste. Implementing digital color standards into digital workflows is an effective way to simplify production, maintain agility, and achieve sustainable development goals. Digital color references and digital workflows also support color work and communication at remote locations.
Digital color standards can be used in software to specify and communicate colors, formulate new colors, perform batch corrections, and control color quality. They reassure brand owners that the colors they convey are the colors that will be produced, and manufacturers are confident to work faster and more efficiently.
The digital standard is the color identified by the name and the basic data created by the spectral measurement. They quantify color characteristics based on plastic type, gloss or surface reflection, special effect additives, etc. In fact, spectral data describes a color fingerprint to accurately convey its unique identity. Digital standards are used as named colors in the design process and as spectral targets in the color workflow from design to pre-production, production, and quality control.
Digital standards will not replace widely used physical standards; they add to them. Physical standards such as the Pantone color guide and plastic sheets are important reference materials and are also trusted tools for designers when choosing colors. However, instead of providing new copies of samples or physical references for each process step, digital standards provide real-time access to the original color data.
Digital standards will not replace widely used physical standards; they add to them.
Spectral data from digital color standards helps brand specifiers and their suppliers minimize the time to find physical reference guides and eliminate errors that occur when physical standards become old, faded, dirty, or damaged. In turn, this helps masterbatch manufacturers calculate and mix accurate color formulas, and reduce wasted and unnecessary time in the iterations passed back and forth between design and production.
If you use Pantone chips as your samples, use PantoneLIVE Production for Plastic, Coatings and Textile to easily incorporate digital standards into your workflow. It is a cloud-based digital ecosystem that includes the official spectral colors of plastic chips representing colors in the Pantone Fashion, Home + Interior Design (FHI) color system, and the Pantone Color Matching System (PMS) formula guide physical coating color system value.
PantoneLIVE is used in conjunction with formulation and quality control software to enable masterbatch producers to immediately start formulation and QC professionals to ensure that the finished product meets color specifications. (PantoneLIVE is sold by Pantone, X-Rite, and authorized partners. It includes official spectral data from PMS for plastics and coatings and Pantone Fashion, Home + Interior System for cotton. If the company uses PMS, PantoneLIVE is the only tool that allows them or Suppliers immediately share/access spectral data without having to ship PMS chips for measurement.)
However, the more common approach is to create a custom digital standard. This requires an accurate and repeatable master spectrophotometer. When choosing the right spectrophotometer to create a custom digital color standard, keep the following five tips in mind:
▪ Use the instrument with the strictest inter-instrument agreement. The inter-instrument agreement tells you the accuracy of repeated color measurement for two devices of the same brand and model. This means that you want to compare the measurement results of two benchtop spherical spectrophotometers from the same manufacturer and the same model.
This is important when you need to communicate color throughout the supply chain. You need to make accurate measurements with equipment designed to minimize differences between instruments and color errors. If your supplier uses the same brand and model of spectrophotometer, the data generated will be compatible.
▪ Need to verify and optimize equipment performance: Over time, all measurement equipment will deviate from its peak performance. This is due to age, general wear and tear and environmental conditions. When creating a custom digital standard, it is important to first verify that your equipment is working and optimized. You can send the device back to the manufacturer for recertification, or you can use device optimization software (such as X-Rite Netprofiler), which combines software and a set of Munsell color standard blocks to calibrate the device. This helps ensure equipment performance and reduces any differences between measurement equipment that may cause color inconsistencies throughout the supply chain. This is an easy-to-use solution that is a key element of an effective end-to-end color workflow.
▪ The ability to quantify haze. Haze tells you how much light is transmitted through and how much light is scattered when passing through the sample. It can be good or bad. For example, if the transparent film envelope window is foggy, the post office character recognition machine may not be able to recognize the address. On the other hand, haze can help disperse the light in the vehicle's brake bulbs, so you can see the scattered red light, not just the filament.
Whether you want to include or exclude haze, look for measuring equipment that meets ASTM D1003-Procedure B specifications and quality control standard methods.
▪ Pay attention to sample size, aperture size and video preview. One problem encountered by many manufacturers is sample size. If 40% of the samples are too small to be measured with your equipment, how can you ensure accuracy? Choose a measuring device that includes a variety of aperture sizes (25 mm, 17 mm, 10 mm, 6 mm, and optionally 3.5 mm). These can be used for reflection and transmission measurements of opaque, transparent and translucent materials.
Some spectrophotometers can also provide video previews of even the smallest objects on any PC monitor instead of a tiny device screen. This allows you to accurately determine what to measure.
▪ Look for instruments with an onboard audit trail. When creating a digital color standard, look for a spectrophotometer that can provide a photo audit trail. The ability to save the image as part of the job file helps to accurately track and trace all measurements. If the measurement is wrong or the sample is flawed, the audit trail will help identify.
In addition to the spectral data, the digital standard should also include the conditions set on the color measurement equipment, including the light source, observer, measurement size, and spectral composition information. This includes color tolerance data, measurement mode (reflectance or transmittance), whether to include or exclude spectral gloss, etc. These additional data points create a complete digital color standard that can be shared in your supply chain to ensure color consistency.
Using digital standards and acceptable tolerances in formulation software, measuring equipment, and quality control software, a holistic and integrated plastics workflow was created to achieve seamless color management throughout the supply chain.
Once a digital standard is created, it needs to be shared throughout the supply chain. There are three common ways to do this.
Many design and production processes are now digital. The shift to digital workflows allows brands and their plastic suppliers (including masterbatch manufacturers, molders, and extruders) to operate more efficiently. Digital color enables companies to stay agile and better meet changing consumer and market demands.
As part of the digital transformation, moving to a digital color workflow can help simplify production. The first step in the transition to a digital color and appearance workflow is to communicate color standards digitally as described earlier. Once a standard is created, it can be shared and implemented in the global supply chain to achieve accurate color formulation and quality control. There are three common methods for sharing color data:
▪ Export measurement data to a color exchange format (CxF) file. CxF is a common file format and ISO standard used to exchange digital standards, measured values, and metadata.
▪ Export measurement data as eJob. Similar to CxF, eJob contains color data and all supporting information as well as information about screen layout, experiments, etc. Think of eJob as an Excel spreadsheet or Word document.
▪ Access digital standards from online repositories. PantoneLIVE is a cloud-based database that contains a large number of Pantone and custom brand standards. Since everyone with a license has access to the same color reference, brands and suppliers don't have to send digital files or worry about using outdated spectral data.
Digital color standards make it easy to start preparation immediately. When a new color needs to be created, the formulator can import cxf or eJob or access the spectral data of the approved color standard in PantoneLIVE, enter it into the formulation software, and determine the best candidate formulation. This is also particularly useful when formulating and producing repetitive colors, as it can completely eliminate the need for a physical sample approval process.
The formulation software uses spectral matching to automatically determine the best colorant combination based on the selected parameters. This provides masterbatch producers with additional control over formulation, productivity and profitability. Today's formulation software, such as X-Rite Color iMatch, even provides formulations that use colorants on hand, and provides options to include remaining materials to eliminate wasted materials in past work.
After the formulation is complete, the masterbatch manufacturer can make a sample plate, measure it with a spectrophotometer to ensure that it is within the color tolerance, and send the digital color data to the customer for approval, eliminating back and forth travel and transportation The cost of the sample. Once approved, matterbatcher can scale the batch to produce the quality required by the extruder or molding machine. Then, before sending the goods to the extruder or forming machine, digital standards can be used to verify the quality of the masterbatch.
The formulation software uses spectral matching to automatically determine the best colorant combination based on selected parameters, providing masterbatch producers with additional control over formulation productivity and profitability.
Brands need a reliable method to verify that their color production is consistent. Using color quality control software to implement digital color standards can easily monitor and control colors. The idea is to identify and fix the color problem before it becomes a problem that needs to be scrapped, reworked, or sent to the discount pile.
The quality control software can retrieve digital standards from the PantoneLIVE database or from imported CxF and ejob files. The software uses near real-time data to analyze the color requirements of each production run. The intuitive dashboard shows the results of a more strategic and holistic color measurement method designed to save time and money, reduce waste and rework, and speed time to market.
QC software creates audit trails and results reports over time, enabling brands to evaluate suppliers and ensure compliance. It also provides instant access to easily identifiable quality improvement opportunities, and reduces the need for expensive and time-consuming manufacturing visits and approvals required for physical samples and proofing processes.
If you use a multilayer blow molding or biaxial stretch film extrusion line, the use of customized digital standards, quality control software and online color measurement can be used as an early warning system. The system will remind the operator of color changes and automatically adjust the die gap, dye pump or feeder to restore the color to within tolerance. This helps plastic manufacturers maintain the harmony of color, brightness, transparency and haze so that the production line can keep moving.
About the author: Tim Mouw manages X-Rite's application engineering and technical support team in the Americas. He is responsible for managing a team of 20 technical support experts to help customers improve their quality control processes. In the past two decades, Tim has taught more than 300 color science courses. Contact: 800-248-9748; tmouw@xrite.com.
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