So when German software developer GMG approached Manchester-based PPP Digital Imaging about trialling a beta version of its spectral-based OpenColor software in late 2012, PPP’s management jumped at the chance.
One of the reasons the repro firm was so keen to get into bed with the software developer was that it had already had a positive experience with using its products.
“Since 2009, we have used GMG’s FlexoProof proofing solution to meet all our colour profiling and proofing needs,” explains Philip Gibbons, studio manager at PPP. “GMG came to us with the OpenColor system when it was in beta stage and sold it to us on the basis of reducing the overall costs involved in the amount of fingerprinting we have to do.”
Although PPP had looked at different solutions before making its initial investment in GMG’s proofing systems three years earlier (the company also installed GMG’s ProofControl product in 2009), it entered into the beta arrangement with the software company based on “the trust and relationship that we had built up with GMG over the years we had been dealing with them,” says Gibbons.
Colour control
What drew PPP to the new software was its ability to create multi-channel profiles that accurately simulate print output – both CMYK and spot colours. The software package is connected to a centralised database for the secure management of spot colours, which ensures that all connected GMG ColorProof systems use the same critical colour data. As a result, users can create and manage their own spot colour database for the precise reproduction of specific printing conditions.
Initial installation of OpenColor took place in November 2012, with PPP starting to fully use the software in the early part of 2013. “To start with, we introduced the OpenColor control strip alongside the ECI2002 colour chart we use on all press fingerprints. This allowed us to validate the results we were getting from the new control strip,” says Gibbons. “With time, our confidence grew and we were able to introduce the OpenColor control strip on its own on live jobs.”
According to Gibbons, installation ran smoothly with the software ready to use within a few hours. As well as the new OpenColor software, PPP had to buy a PC to run it on, and an X-Rite SpectroEye spectrometer for performing the colour readings. The company also updated its Epson 7880 proofer to the Epson 7900 proofer, which produces a larger colour gamut.
Thanks to the training offered by GMG it also only took a few hours for the company to build a fully functioning profile in OpenColor, a process that Gibbons describes as “very simple”. Since installation the system has worked like a dream.
“The OpenColor software is doing everything we wanted it to do and more,” says Gibbons. “It gives us the ability to build a very accurate CMYK colour profile much quicker than ever before and has helped us achieve a reduction in material costs and wastage. It also gives us future flexibility in assisting us with our ‘fixed palette’ option that we are developing at PPP.
“Our fixed palette option is where we are able to simulate spot colour inks out of CMYK inks only,” he continues. “We do this by using our PPP Fusion imaging and plate technology to expand the colour gamut of CMYK to levels never achieved before. We can offer our customers cost and efficiency savings by reducing the number of plates required. Using our in-the-round sleeve technology combined with our Fusion offering, we can offer our clients something very special. At PPP we believe this is a new era in flexography.”
As you would expect with any beta version there were some initial teething problems. “We were receiving unsatisfactory CMYK results – compared to the FlexoProof – from the captured colour data,” recalls Gibbons.
Thankfully GMG were quick to step up to the plate. “By working together our research and development team were able to create a solution that allows simple CMYK test charts that take up such a small area on the press they could be added to live print jobs. The resulting profiles are very good and we are extremely grateful for their input,” explains Toby Burnett, managing director of GMG UK.
GMG’s response to this issue underlines the level of service that PPP has come to expect from the software provider. “As always with GMG, they have been incredibly responsive with any issues we have had, and have always provided us with the solutions,” says Gibbons. “The way they responded to the problem we were having with the initial CMYK results is an example of this.”
In addition to the top notch level of service GMG offers, Gibbons has been blown away by the speed with which OpenColor enables the company to build incredibly accurate profiles. The software also has the added benefit of allowing PPP to better monitor the consistency of press output.
When pushed to pinpoint any negatives about OpenColor the only minor piece of criticism that Gibbons offers is that the software is still in its very early stages of development. “It’s already a very strong package, but with time and development I can only imagine it will have even more features and strengths,” he says.
“We would like it to be able to give us spot colour predictions from a CMYK colour space,” says Gibbons. “The ability to better assess the CMYK colour space compared to other gamuts is another area we would like – this is already available in FlexoProof. Our next step is to use OpenColor to build five-, six- and seven-colour profiles.”
Ongoing development
The good news for users like PPP is that GMG is already looking at ways in which it can improve the product, says Burnett.
“OpenColor uses our very latest colour engine, which uses spectral data to create the profile. It’s very new at the moment, but this advanced colour engine means it is completely feasible in some circumstances to make profiles without even going to press. It is already being adopted by some of our clients in the packaging and brand management sectors and we are in contact with those users in order to understand what features they would like to see added.”
Minor quibbles aside, installing OpenColor has brought a number of different benefits to the day-to-day running of the company, says Gibbons.
“It’s allowed us to fingerprint and profile a press more efficiently. It has also given us flexibility with how and when we can profile a press. Press time is very valuable and hard to come by. By putting our OpenColor test strip on a live job that is already scheduled for print, we can do a press characterisation at the same time. This is extremely valuable.”
Benefits such as these, Gibbons underlines, don’t come cheaply. OpenColor costs £18,000, ProofControl costs from £1,495, ColorProof costs from £2,450 and FlexoProof starts at around £8,100, according to GMG (prices will vary depending on the size of the printer and the level of software required). But if you can stretch to this type of outlay, Gibbons believes it will become an invaluable tool for any business that installs it.
“OpenColor is now an integral part of how we work with colour at PPP and we would be limited without it. We would not hesitate in recommending it to anybody who wants to profile a CMYK or spot-based system,” he concludes.
SPECIFICATIONS
System requirements Intel Core i5-650 or similar, 3.2GHz, 2x 4MB Level 2 cache, 4GB RAM, 250GB hard disk drive
Hardware components Minimum screen resolution 1,024x786dpi, 32-bit colour depth
Operating system Windows 7 (32-bit/64-bit version) with latest Service Pack; Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit version) with latest Service Pack
Software components Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher
Price OpenColor costs from £18,000, ProofControl costs from £1,495, ColorProof costs from £2,450 and FlexoProof starts at around £8,100. Prices vary depending on the size of the printer and the level of software required
Contact GMG UK 01603 789111 www.gmgcolor.co.uk
COMPANY PROFILE
Based in Manchester and established over 50 years ago, PPP Digital Imaging is a family-run company specialising in reprographics and platemaking for flexo print and packaging. The business has around 50 employees and has a forward-thinking approach that has seen it set a number of UK firsts during its history – it was the first company in the UK to install a polymer manufacturing plant, it was an early pioneer in continuous print with the first laser engraving plant and, in 1998, it was the first UK company to install a Creo Thermoflex imager.
Why it was bought...
PPP was already a satisfied user of GMG’s FlexoProof proofing product, so when it was approached by the German software developer to trial a beta version of OpenColor, with the promise of reducing the repro company’s fingerprinting costs, it leapt at the opportunity, says studio manager Philip Gibbons.
How it has performed...
It did exactly what GMG promised it would, according to Gibbons. The costs involved with fingerprinting and profiling a press have been significantly reduced and OpenColor has become an integral part of how the company works with colour. As a result, Gibbons wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the software.
