MyPressXpert (MPX) is the latest incarnation of Targetcolour technical director Mark Priest's expertise as a press minder incorporated into a software package. The online process control and print quality troubleshooting tool builds on a decade of experience Priest has had with his Press Signature package and 30 years' worth of experience on press, yet brought up-to-date to address the issues faced by printers today.
The software is designed to work with sheetfed and web presses, both heatset and coldset. It supports a range of colour measuring devices ranging from handheld spectrophotometers through to scanning systems for sheetfed presses
- from both press vendors, such as Heidelberg's Image Control and Inpress Control, and third-party products such as X-Rite's IntelliTrax, as well as those of other suppliers like Techkon. It also works with GMI's ColorQuick closed-loop system for web presses.
Targetcolour has put ISO 12647 and print appearance specifications at the heart of the package. It has also made it an online service that is paid for by a monthly subscription. "The biggest problem we find with our clients is that you learn a few things about ISO 12647 and it's enough when things are working, but when a problem occurs, people find it hard to identify the source of the errors and to fix them," says Priest. "When it goes wrong, it tends to be a mechanical or chemical problem on press or a miscommunication of colour in the supply chain."
Expert advice
MyPressXpert provides tools to track the printed results and, from this, allows the user to identify emerging problems and rectify them. But the real ace of offering the software as an online, centrally hosted service is that, if a problem occurs, they can call on the help of Targetcolour's experts for remote diagnostics. "We can identify 95% of problems without having to go on site," says Priest. "Using WebEx we can take over the client's computer and show them how to perform a task."
He cites the common example of firms trying to print to the Fogra 39L characterisation data, but using a stock that doesn't match the specification. Using remote access, Targetcolour consultants can guide the user through the process and show them how to get a match to the proof.
MyPressXpert is modular. Modules include Best Density, Density Curve, Gamut Plot, Dot Gain Curves, Mechanical Diagnosis System and Certification. Best Density shows the minder how far they are from optimum ink weights. "Unlike the pass or fail systems we aim to ensure a match to the proof," says Priest. "It will get you to the best visual match, even if you can't hit the specification with the actual stock used."
He continues: "Another use of the Best Density tool is to match across different presses, either at a single site or at remote locations. Very often, closed-loop systems are great but only work to target densities, so you need different targets for different stocks to get a match to the specification. MPX with one scan can give you the target densities."
Density Curve enables you to measure density at any point on the curve. Gamut Plot provides a visual representation on screen of the average reproduction of a job and to compare it to others. Dot Gain Curves allow you to view historical data so that you can isolate the moment when a problem first appeared. Curves can be combined to produce a ‘best curve' and it is possible to filter the data by a number of criteria, including delta E of the solids, tone value increase and by delta H (hue). "This is to remove makeready sheets and other waste to produce the best data," says Priest.
The Mechanical Diagnosis System uses data from the control strip to identify likely causes of printing problems. "On a 12-colour sheetfed press, for example, we can identify which gripper is causing a problem," says Priest.
Other problems that can be identified include web tension issues, plate wear, loose blankets and chemistry problems such as emulsification. Priest claims that the system is sensitive enough to detect problems before they become catastrophic and also before they cause a visually noticeable problem. "I call it predictive maintenance rather than preventative," he says. "It spots problems early meaning you're able to stop things going pop during the run."
As well as troubleshooting, MPX can be used for certificating production quality to ISO 12647 tolerances - both part two for print and part seven for proofs. "We can quantify what percentage of sheets, after the pass sheet, were good," says Priest.
Pricing is on a per-press basis. A sheetfed press with a scanning spectro system costs £200 per month while for a web heatset press costs from £400 per month, using handheld spectrophotometers. The monthly cost for integrating with on-press controls is on application. For coldset web, the cost is £100 per tower. Priest adds that the return on investment is instant. The benefits are a 10-20% improvement in makeready speed, a reduction of white waste, plus it makes it easier to implement other colour management-based cost reduction techniques such as ink reduction for further savings.
"Most sheetfed presses that have been MPX'd should be in colour on the second pull," says Priest. "We have seen machines with Heidelberg Inpress Control go into colour in 20-50 sheets. It's similar, but not quite so quick on machines with Image Control - it gives you the same performance as a new press. As presses age, even with a closed-loop system, you don't get to colour as fast as when new. With MPX you get back to the original performance."
Additional extras
There are additional tools within MPX that Targetcolour uses to provide its colour consultancy services. The firm itself uses a version of the software that can read its 256-patch colour target to produce "curves that are super smooth - as smooth as Fogra profiles, but exactly manage your own paper and inks". Priest says using these tools help the user in its provision of ink optimisation, soft proofing and colour management throughout the workflow, meaning that as soon as the press hits target density the print is a visual match to the proof and the specification.
For instances where it can be difficult to add control strips and colour bars, such as coldset printing, Targetcolour's software can work with minimal information to determine what's going on. "Working with three greys and three blacks, we can calculate what the primaries would have been," says Priest. He adds that the ability to use the minimum amount of test patches enables MPX to assess all towers and all keys on a coldset press, "in some cases equivalent to 60-odd individual presses" to produce a global average for the machine and to characterise the condition of the components.
With MPX, Targetcolour has developed a tool that goes a long way to tackling the complexity of colour printing that provides the support of a person when the limits of what can be achieved through software are reached.
SPECIFICATIONS
Description web-based colour calibration, print quality management and printing, process diagnostic tool
Price
£100 per month per tower for coldset web presses,
£200 per month per sheetfed press,
£400 per month per heatset web press
Contact Targetcolour 0800 999 0990 www.mypressxpert.com
THE ALTERNATIVES
ALWAN COLOR EXPERTISE/X-RITE PRINT STANDARDIZER
Print Standardizer is an automated system for ISO 12647 compliance for sheetfed presses. It uses X-Rite's IntelliTrax sheet scanning system for on-press measurement and control of colour to match ISO 12647 print conditions. The components that make up the system are Alwan Print Standardizer software, Pantone Goe library, X-Rite IntelliTrax scanning spectrophotometer, training and installation.
Price £33,000, including the X-Rite IntelliTrax software only £12,800 (needs an X-Rite IntelliTrax)
Contact Alwan Color Expertise UK 07545 592013 www.alwancolor.com/X-Rite UK 01625 871100 www.xrite.com
BODONI PRESSSIGN 2.5
PressSign offers process control and press control with the ability to control ink keys across a press. The target colour space can be an imported ICC profile. An optional extended plastic ruler turns the X-Rite i1 into an extremely cost-effective press-side scanning spectrophotometer.
Price PressSign £1,495, PressSign Pro £2,495
Contact Bodoni Systems 01923 220530 www.presssign.com
HEIDELBERG PRINECT COLOUR TOOLBOX 3.5
Performing various colour control functions including ICC profiling, DeviceLink profiles, calibration, colour trend analysis and ISO 12647 compliance, Toolbox 3.5 takes data from third-party spectrophotometers, as well as Heidelberg's Image Control and Axis Control. It can be used with Calibration Manager to feed tone corrections to the RIP.
Price £4,000
Contact Heidelberg UK 020 8490 3500 www.heidelberg.com
MELLOW COLOUR PRINTSPEC
PrintSpec was one of the first tools for measuring print performance, in particular, against ISO 12647. The focus of PrintSpec and sister products RetroSpec (for trend analysis), and InkSpec (for spot colours), is quality control and press performance diagnosis, rather than automatic control. Mellow Colour argues its approach ensures underlying press issues are identified and fixed early rather than being masked until they become bigger issues.
Price PrintSpec £1,950, RetroSpec £900, InkSpec £900
Contact Mellow Colour 01386 421534 www.mellowcolour.com
QUADTECH COLOUR CONTROL SYSTEM
This closed-loop colour control system for web presses uses SpectralCam sensors for reading LAB values and provides automatic correction to hit target densities. Conformance to ISO 12647 can be illustrated and plate curve corrections calculated.
Price from £120,000
Contact Purdy Graphic Systems 01442 865112 www.quadtechworld.com
