With the EasyTrax, X-Rite is hoping to bring press-side sheet scanning to the masses, replacing the spot reading handheld densitometer and spectrophotometer with something more sophisticated and powerful, but just as easy to use.
The product consists of a scanning table that mounts on the press console and an adjustable scanning arm, to which a spectrophotometer is attached, along with the necessary software to run everything. The EasyTrax is available in B3, B2 and B1 versions. For larger format machines the EasyTrax's big brother, the IntelliTrax is available.
Press-side scanning colour control systems are nothing new. Tools like Heidelberg Axis and Image Control, KBA Densitronic and Manroland Colour Pilot have been around for a decade, and are pretty much a standard feature on long perfecting presses. Likewise retrofittable units from third parties have been available before too, such as the IntelliTrax. What's different with EasyTrax is that it's a more affordable system, starting from under £10,000. Its bigger brother is typically twice that amount, while a manufacturer's own system could be more like £50,000 to £100,000. At that sort of price you may need to decide between having colour control or an extra colour, and up until now most printers would opt for the increased flexiblilty of an additional unit over the benefits of automated colour control.
However, with the rising demand for increased colour consistency and ever greater pressroom efficiency, more printers are investing in these tools.
"We've been hearing that people wanted a lower-cost solution," says X-Rite senior product manager for pressroom solutions Laura Pursley. "Currently in this sector of the market people are still using handheld instruments for checks."
Handheld option
While a handheld spectrophotometer is great for making the occasional reading, if you want to make sure that you're hitting the right value for every colour in every ink key, using a handheld device is an impractical and RSI-inducing exercise. But with the increased interest in adopting the ISO 12647-2 for improved consistency, you need something to speed up and automate the process of making multiple measurements, which is where press-side scanning systems come in.
While X-Rite feels the IntelliTrax has been a successful product, it acknowledges that the market has primarily been with bigger and more sophisticated printers, with most installations going onto B1 presses and those running a lot of special colours, rather than the core commercial print market of B2 printers running four- to six-colour machines.
"Our target customers may not be managing colour regularly today, but are being asked to by their clients or want to improve their efficiency and to do so by extending the life of their existing five- to 10-year-old presses," says Pursley.
In the current economic climate, where getting funding for capital expenditure can be tough, that's an important point. With its sub-£10,000 starting price the EasyTrax is far easier to justify. It can also show a lightning-fast return on investment, especially when you consider that it can offer the same quality improvement as investing in a new press. X-Rite has an ROI calculator on its website that enables you to plug your own figures (including number of makreadies per day, working days per month, average makeready time and number of sheets, hourly rate and paper costs) to enable you to work out the likely payback period.
The biggest difference between using a third-party product such as the EasyTrax and the manufacturer's own system is that a manufacturer's system will invariably be properly closed-loop with the data being used automatically to adjust the keys. With the EasyTrax the minder gets a clear display of what needs to be done to bring the sheet into tolerance, but still needs to tweak the keys themselves. X-Rite argues that it is possible to integrate the unit into most manufacturers' consoles, but it's worth investigating the expense and the benefit of taking that approach as, especially with older presses, it might require expensive hardware and software upgrades to the press controls to enable compatibility.
With the EasyTrax mounted on the console along with the recommended, but not supplied, touch screen display it's not an onerous task for the minder to translate the suggested adjustments from the EasyTrax to the desk.
The software used is the same as for the IntelliTrax, which Pursley says allowed the firm to concentrate its efforts on getting the hardware right.
The hardware is similar to a very rugged drawing board. The solid black-backed base (to ensure compatibility with ISO 12647-2) is fitted with an adjustable arm in the Y axis that enables the scanning head to be positioned anywhere on the sheet. This allows flexibility in positioning the colour bar on the fore or back edge, or anywhere else on the sheet, and also to enable spot reading to be taken without removing the spectrophotometer from its carriage.
The motorised carriage itself glides along the X axis on a robust guide. Alignment to the colour bar is done manually by the minder, who drags the carriage up the sheet until the scanning head lines up with the control strip. The position of the measuring head is easy to see, and centralising the head is made easy by the inclusion of a red laser guide. The laser, which is fired across the sheet in the scanning direction, also allows you to compensate for any skew in the control strip via a couple of adjustable guides at the bottom of the scanning board. So once set for a job, it's a cinch to make repeat readings. Should all of that not be enough to ensure a correct reading, the software uses error-correction to discount any spurious readings and to make sure they don't throw the ink key adjustments out of whack. The board also includes a covered white plaque for automatic spectrophotometer calibration. The EasyTrax measures 5x5mm patches, although X-Rite is working to enable it to measure smaller patches. It travels at a respectable 150mm per second, a fraction slower than its bigger brother's 160mm/s. As standard it is offered in an unpolarised version, although it can be supplied polarised if required. The polarised version can dynamically switch between polarised and unpolarised readings.
Optional features
Although EasyTrax uses the same software as the IntelliTrax, some features are optional rather than standard, such as ISO 12647-2 support, which costs an additional £500. The software is built on a SQL database, allowing readings to be saved for historical analysis. In addition to density and Lab readings it also provides print contrast measurements. For spot colour control it benefits from built-in Pantone libraries.
By making multiple readings easy and affordable EasyTrax offers a way for a larger swathe of the market to embrace colour standards and the benefits of reduced costs and greater consistency that they bring. If you need more advanced features or support for anything more than CMYK plus two spot colours then bigger brother the IntelliTrax is a more intelligent option, but for many printers, for whom a new press or an upgrade by the press supplier aren't currently financially viable EasyTrax is as it says an easy track to more consistent and cost-effective colour.
SPECIFICATIONS
Press sizes supported B3, B2 and B1
Patch size 5x5mm
Scanning speed 150mm/S
Pricing From £7,150 for density only on B3 up to £10,000 for B1 spectral. ISO module £500
Contact X-Rite 01625 871 100 www.xrite.com
THE ALTERNATIVES
Bodoni PressSign Pro 3
PressSign Pro started out as a software tool to help printers implement ISO 12647-2, but added features make it more powerful. A milled piece of plastic that an X-Rite i1 slots into, turns it into an alternative to higher-priced scanning systems - provided you don't mind a bit of arm work.
Price £3,000
Contact Bodoni Systems 01923 220530 www.bodoni.co.uk
Heidelberg Axis Control
The Axis Control v2, one of Heidelberg's three spectrophoto-meters, can be used to create closed-loop colour to operate to ISO 12647 standards. Axis Control will work with any format Speedmaster and is retrofittable, subject to the age and condition of a press. It operates on straight or perfected work and is Heidelberg's lowest cost spectrophotometer.
Price From £35,000
Contact Heidelberg UK 0844 892 2010 www.uk.heidelberg.com
KBA Densitronic
Densitronic is available in a Basic density only system or the Pro version, which includes spectral readings. Both can be retrofitted to KBA's later Rapidas from the B2 75 to VLF 205.
Price Basic: £15,000-£20,000, Pro: £85,000-£100,000
Contact KBA UK 01923 819922 www.kba-print.co.uk
Manroland Colour Pilot
Colour Pilot is available with densitometer, or densitometer and spectrophotometer combination. The system is retrofittable across Manroland's sheetfed range, but prices vary depending on the hardware and software upgrades needed to make the press compatible.
Price £50,000-£100,000
Contact Manroland 020 8648 7090 www.manroland.co.uk
Ryobi PDS-E Spectro Auto
Ryobi's PDS-E Spectro Auto can provide closed-loop colour control for all its machines from the B3 520GX upwards. UK agent Apex Digital Graphics says it is retrofittable, as well as being available as a factory-fitted option.
Price from £22,900
Contact Apex Digital Graphics 01442 235236 www.apexdigital.co.uk
Techkon SpectroDrive
The SpectroDrive is the nearest alternative to the EasyTrax. Retrofittable to presses from B3 to B1+ it supports up to six units and density readings with the ExPresso Basic software option or Lab colours, delta E and ISO 12647 with up to 16 units with ExPresso Pro software. The SpectroDrive can also provide spot readings anywhere on the sheet.
Price SpectroDrive €9,950 (£8,750), Expresso 3 Basic/Software €4,950, Expresso 3 Pro Software €9,950
Contact Image2Output 01707 282710 www.image2output.com
