Here is something that surprises almost every designer the first time they experience it.
The same CMYK values.
The same artwork file.
The same approved color.
Printed on three different processes — and it looks like three completely different colors.
Let me explain exactly why — and what to do about it.
On offset printing:
Offset is the most controlled and predictable process. The ink sits on top of coated paper with relatively low dot gain. Your CMYK values reproduce close to what you expected. ISO 12647 gives you a reliable standard to proof against.
On flexographic printing:
Flexo plates are flexible. They deform slightly under impression pressure. The ink spreads as it transfers from the raised plate surface to the substrate. Dot gain — the spreading of ink dots — can be 20% or more depending on the substrate and anilox roll. A 50% cyan in your file may print as 70% on a flexo press. Your carefully balanced color shifts darker and heavier than you ever intended.
On gravure printing:
Gravure transfers ink from engraved cells in a cylinder. The cell geometry — their size, depth, and shape — determines how much ink transfers to the substrate. On flexible film the ink behavior is completely different from paper. Colors that look rich and balanced on a proof look different on film under production conditions.
The solution is not the same for all three.
Each process needs its own ICC profile.
Each process needs its own dot gain compensation.
Each process needs color values built specifically for how that press behaves on that substrate.
A file built for offset and sent to a flexo printer without process-specific preparation will look wrong.
Not because anyone made a mistake.
Because nobody accounted for how different the process is.
After 40 years preparing files across all three processes — I never treat a CMYK value as absolute.
I treat it as a starting point — and then I adjust it for the specific process, the specific press, and the specific substrate.
That adjustment is what makes color consistent.
Has your team ever had a color that looked right on proof but completely wrong on press?
Article Courtesy of Muhammad Salman
Contact Info:
Phone
+92 322 4558466 (Work)
sheikh.m.s.qureshi@gmail.com
Be the first to comment