JK Labels invests in X-Rite color management tools

Mumbai-based converter JK Labels has invested in an X-Rite eXact Advanced spectrophotometer and Judge QC light booth.

 

The handheld spectrophotometer will help the converter achieve a standardized color management system. JK plans to set up a closed loop system where its customers can see the final color output, calibrated to a set standard, on their monitors. The same color standard will be used by JK.

 

Himanshu Kapur, director at JK Labels, said: ‘The pre-press house will directly share a complete file with us. We can directly make a photopolymer plate. We have pantone shades/CMYK in our presses. And with the spectrophotometer, we can achieve exactly what the pre-press team and customer see on their monitors.’

 

He explained that the main benefit of the device is that customers do not need to be present physically at the shopfloor to achieve their desired results.

 

 

‘Standardized print in flexo is still considered complex and takes a lot of R&D. The benefit of instant online approvals will ensure immediate production without loss of time resulting in faster delivery. The client can save on travel time and cost. We can save on machine downtime and the environment in the process since it will lower the consumption of raw material.’

 

He adds that for the closed loop system to work, every link in the chain from customers to converters needs to follow a standard such as G7. ‘It will help us achieve a leaner production process. And since we will be following world standards, any graphic designer in the world can get exactly what they desire without being physically present.’

 

Explaining how the X-Rite eXact Advanced spectrophotometer system works, Kapur says there are multiple production steps to ensure nothing goes amiss.

 

‘For example, it reminds you to measure the paper before we can measure the color. They have great software which can reduce ink matching time drastically. It has an inbuilt Pantone library which gets updated so we can be assured that everything is up to date with the best of print houses,’ he concluded.

 

JK has also partnered with Reproflex3 for trials of its Vortex screening system recently launched in India.

 

Sethunath Padmanabhan, managing director, Asia Pacific, Reproflex3, says Vortex is designed to integrate with traditional print processes to maintain lpi (lines per inch), reduce dot gain, increase image quality and color density, offer faster changeovers and reduce color inventory.

 

The system reduces the dot contact area by up to 30 percent compared to traditional screening methods meaning it draws less ink from the anilox. Once deposited on the substrate, the ink reforms into a clean AM dot structure.