Expanded Gamut Shoot-Out: Real Systems, Real Results

Expanded GamutShoot-Out: RealSystems, Real ResultsAbhay SharmaRyerson University, TorontoClick to edit Master subtitle styleAdvisorsRoger Breton, Marc Levine, John Seymour, Bill Pope

Comprehensive Report – 450 downloadstinyurl.com/ExpandedGamut

Agenda – Expanded Gamut§ Why do we need Expanded Gamut?§ What is Expanded Gamut? (CMYK-OGV)§ Use cases – Spot Colors vs Images§ Printing Spot Colors with Kodak Spotless (KSS)§ Increased Accuracy§ Using only 3 inks§ Print all spot colors, without spot color inks§ How do I implement EG?§ Issues with Adobe and Pantone§ Flexo testing in 2020PANTONE 109 C

Vendors and ParticipantsSoftware Solutions1. Alwan – Toolbox, ColorHub2. CGS ORIS – X GAMUT3. ColorLogic – ColorAnt, CoPrA, ZePrA4. GMG Color – OpenColor, ColorServer5. Heidelberg – Prinect ColorToolbox6. Kodak – Kodak Spotless Software, PrinergyPDF Editor§ Hybrid Software - PACKZ (pronounced “packs”)RIP/DFE§ efi Fiery XF (Command WorkStation) – Epson P9000§ SmartStream Production Pro – HP Indigo 7900Color Management Solutions§ X-Rite i1ProfilerExpanded Gamut Tools§ PANTONE Color Manager, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Adobe Photoshop

Why do we need Expanded Gamut?- because imaging systems are imperfectPrinting inks and dyesCMYK color gamut is smallColornegativefilm

What are the Use Cases for Expanded Gamut? 1. Spot ColorsPANTONE 301 CPANTONE 109 CExpanded gamut is most urgentlyneeded in spot color reproduction forlabels and package printing.2. Images

Orange, Green, Violet - expands the colorspaceYGOC YCM YC MMVColors are out of gamutMore colors are in-gamut of aCMYK-OGV print process

HP Indigo 7900 – Alpharetta, Atlanta7 stations in the HP Indigo 7900

Epson SureColor P9000(C-M-Y-K) and (O-G-V)The Epson SureColor P9000with CMYK OGV

CMYK – OGV ink setEpson SureColor P9000HP Indigo 7900Microscopy reveals the OGV inkswhich increases the color gamut2 mm

ABCIn EG we use CMYK-OGV to make all the other colorsPage:Color Space:Chart Name:1/1CMYKOGVQualityControl 7CLRDevice Name:Creation Date:IO11:51:48 30-4-2019

CMYK-OGV is bigger than GRACoL and SWOP? The Epson P9000 is bigger than GRACoL 2013 The HP Indigo is bigger than GRACoL 2013 Most PANTONE spot colors are realizable

Overview We took 1846 values of thePANTONE Solid Coated libraryPrinted using Alwan, CGS ORIS, ColorLogic,GMG Color, Heidelberg, KodakPut them into a 3-page pdf(using CGS ORIS X GAMUT)Epson SureColor P9000 (CMYK-OGV)HP Indigo 7900 (CMYK-OGV)

Printing PANTONE Solid Coated in CMYKOGVEpson SureColor P9000 CEPANTONE4-page chart i1iO formatPANTONE Solid Coated-V3.cxfCIEDE2000 for 1846 PANTONE Solid Coated libraryCMYKOGVNote: i1Pro2 is same as above

Real Results with Kodak SpotlessEpson SureColor P9000Photoshop CC 2018Spot colorPANTONE 7555 CCIEDE20000.54With permission and thanks to William Li, Stephen Zmetana, Kodak

Charts can vary between vendorsKodak SpotlessKSS 2.014 pagesAlwanHydra 7C 875p ProfilingChart Xrite iO1 page!GMG OpenColor 2.2.12.5 pagesThere is no IT8.7/4standard yet.

Converting spot channels to CMYK-OGVIf we have a file like this we can convert it into inking values.

Percentage of spot colors 2.0 CIEDE2000Epson SureColor P9000HP Indigo 79001009492918990859390878080PANTONE Solid CoatedLibrary7877Epson P9000 – 89-94%HP Indigo – 77-87%7770 Percentage60 5040 30 20100AlwanCGS ORISColorLogicGMG ColorHeidelbergKodakDevices have anexpanded gamut – inks,paper, printingCharts are able tocapture the gamutSoftware is able to makea valid recipeStable printing process

ORIS X Gamut127 C is ayellow, madefrom Y and O. If drift – samecolor!

Analysis of Inking Values Redundancy – GCR/UCR for 7-colors! Alwan, CGS ORIS, ColorLogic used Orange Kodak and GMG Color used CMYK Heidelberg used 5 colorants All mixes made the same color Stability on conventional press Digital printing there are click charges

Printing with a spot color ink – you can’t be serious! The designer selects a spot color. Ink is ordered and formulated for the customer job. The ink quantity needs to be estimated and match the run length. We wait until we have received the ink to print the job. The customer cannot increase the print run – not enough ink. The ink is put into its own printing unit. After the job, the unit is washed up, ink change for next spot color. Left over ink is stored, in case customer needs this color again! Need same swatch book as designer. You can’t be serious?

Reduce washup and press changes in package printingExpanded Gamut printing allows for a new fixed palette of CMYK-OGV inks that becomethe “process colors”. The fixed CMYK-OGV stays in the press, we only change plates, andthe designer can select from any spot color they want .

Selling EG to your press operator “I can’t control 4 inks, how can I control 7!”In EG no color needs all 7inks at the same time.In EG maximum 3 inks are used.And, the 2 or 3 inks are closer tothe required color, so pressdrift has minimal visual effect.

CMYK-OGV printing is easier to control Single spotcolor inkCMYKoverprintA single spot color ink may vary only in density, causing minimal shift.A CMYK overprint can vary, causing huge hue and saturation shifts.CMYK-OGV uses only nearest 2-3 colorants causing minimal hue shift.CMYK-OGVoverprint

Accuracy of PANTONE EXTENDED GAMUT GuideI measured PANTONE 2371 C in an EXTENDED GAMUTGuide with a SpectroDens4, and the L*a*b* value measuredfrom the swatch book agrees with Photoshop to 0.73CIEDE2000!!!! and every swatch in the whole book is made from 3 inks only

CMYK SpotCMYK - OGVCMYK

CMYK – OGV7 “process” colorsNo ink changesComco Cadetnarrow-web flexopressCMYK OGV

Benefits of Expanded Gamut Printing for Spot Colors§ More spot colors in gamut§ Less spot color inks/inventory§ Less wash up time§ Ganging up jobs§ Better control on press§ Ink savings§ Higher accuracyWe are sitting on a revolution in printing

Important Statement“An expanded gamut system can avoid the overhead ofprinting with spot color inks, and replace them with a fixedset of expanded gamut inks while still achieving thecustomer's requested color."Barbara Braun-Metz, CEO, ColorLogic GmbH

What do I need to implement EG?Inkjet ProofersCommercial Edition EG inksEpson SureColor P9000Label PrintingPackage PrintingORIS X GAMUTSoftwareKodak SpotlessPANTONE EXTENDEDGAMUT GuideSpectroDens4Spectro ConnectSpectroDens4Spectro Connect 2.7

Ryerson UniversityStudy 2019 and2020Fogra MulticolorForum 2018 andJanuary, 2020

Idealliance Control StripsIdealliance 2-row Control Strip 2009 - CMYKA100 60ISO 12647-7 Digital Control Strip 20091007030100 60100703%30100 601007030100 4040 10040 10040 70 4070 40 4040 70 4040 70 4070 40 4031025507590100Fogra Media Wedges123B100 100 60 100 10070 7030 30100 100 60 100 10070 7030 30100 100 60 100 10070 7030 30100 40100 4040 10010 40 4020 70 7070 70 4070 40 4000003.1 2.2 2.2 10.2 7.4 7.4 25 19 1950 40 40A75 66 66 100 100 100 80 70 70 100BCDEFGHIJKLMNOQRSTUVWXYZLiz.: 1FO04032019User: Ryerson UniversityCopyright: Fogra 2018Fogra MediaWedge Multicolor 5C V1Idealliance 3-row Control Strip 2013 – CMYKP123ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOQRSTUVWXYZLiz.: 1FO04032019User: Ryerson UniversityCopyright: Fogra 2018Fogra MediaWedge Multicolor 6C V1Idealliance ECG Digital Control Strip 2019 – CMYK OGVP1234ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUWXYZLiz.: 1FO04032019User: Ryerson UniversityCopyright: Fogra 2018Fogra MediaWedge Multicolor 7C V1V1234ABCDEFGHIJKFogra MediaWedge Multicolor 8C V1LMNOPQRSTCopyright: Fogra 2018UVWXYZLiz.: 1FO04032019User: Ryerson University

User Experience

Acrobat Pro cannot show all spot channels!!!! Acrobat Pro can only show 30 spot color names. The cursor for other spotchannels shows CMYK.

Other vendorPACKZ came tothe rescue

PANTONE Color Manager ( 99)Vendor Licenced LibrariesPantone Problems 1846 vs 1867. Different L*a*b*values. Color Manager has abug and neverfinishes updating!

CourtesyErikSchmitt,GMGAmericas

Thank you to the companies in our study§ ALWAN§ CGS ORIS *§ ColorLogic§ GMG Color§ Heidelberg§ Kodak* Provided tool for use in study

AcknowledgementsAdvisors - Roger Breton, Marc Levine, John Seymour, Bill PopeHP Indigo - Paul McCarthy, Doug Blake, Cecilia Santos, Tim SteflEpson – Roy BohnenX-Rite – Ray Cheydleur, Jay Kelbley, Jason CampbellPrinting Industries of America – Joe Marin, Jim Workman**All our participants, vendors and partners**

Thank youtinyurl.com/ExpandedGamutAbhay Sharma

Alwan CGS ORIS ColorLogic GMG Color Heidelberg Kodak Percentage Percentage of spot colors 2.0 CIEDE2000 Epson SureColor P9000 HP Indigo 7900 PANTONE Solid Coated Library Epson P9000 – 89-94% HP Indigo – 77-87% Devices have an expanded gamut – inks, paper, printing Charts