How to do color management based on C9 quality control evaluation? The latest practice of Hebei Xinhua Yiyin!
Hebei Xinhua First Printing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hebei Xinhua First Printing"), as a C9 certified enterprise, has achieved consistency in the use of color blocks for multiple batches and varieties of textbook cover printing through the implementation of C9 quality control evaluation standardization in its 2024 textbook printing project. This case has the following typical characteristics.
(1) Technical integration: Intelligent integration of pre press automatic alignment software, Fangzheng Changliu publishing system, ink pre setting system, ERP system, etc.
(2) Process innovation: Build a closed-loop management of color data for the entire process of "client pre press printing".
(3) Industry influence: Firstly, dedicated to serving the standardized production of textbooks by People's Education Press, and secondly, involved in the formulation of printing industry standards.
Based on this, the exploration of color management practices based on C9 quality control evaluation by Hebei Xinhua Yiyin has great reference value, and this article will provide detailed sharing.
hardware upgrade
(1) Pre press: Purchase Yizhuo professional monitors to perfectly present printing colors, match colors with clients and printing machines, and implement screen soft proofing; Thermal CTP plate making and assembly system, accurately restoring printing dots.
(2) Printing: Introducing Heidelberg CX-104 four-color offset printing press, installing ink pre setting system to achieve precise ink discharge.
Process reengineering and standardization control
(1) Color management chain: Based on ICC characteristic files, the screen soft proofing is linked with the PresSSIGN scoring system of the printing machine to achieve dynamic color correction; The ink pre setting system reduces the ink mixing time from 25 minutes to 10 minutes; Based on the MES system to record color data of sampling samples, achieve gray balance deviation warning and automatic compensation.
(2) Standardization of production environment: Observe the environment according to ISO 3664:2000 standard, standardize the production observation conditions, replace the lamp tubes of each machine in the plate making and printing workshop, and make the color temperature of the observation environment reach D50 standard. A stable printing environment is beneficial for improving printing quality, while the temperature and humidity in the printing workshop directly affect printing quality. If the temperature and humidity in the printing workshop continue to change, it may cause paper deformation, leading to problems such as ink imbalance, slow ink drying, and inaccurate overprinting.
(3) Standardization of production materials: Standardize the main consumables used in production, strictly control the stability of materials such as paper, printing plates, ink, dampening solution, and developer solution.
(4) Standardization of homework process: Develop work instructions for each stage of production to achieve standardization of the production process.
(5) Innovative training format: Conduct online "Color Cloud Classroom" color basic theory training to enhance the color control technology level of frontline employees; Establish a professional color management team, regularly standardize and calibrate the status of production equipment, and achieve long-term effective practice and application of the full process color management control system.
Application of measurement and control strips
C9 quality control evaluation is completed by evaluating the information related to the measurement and control strip. Printing companies are required to add measurement and control strips on printed products, which can generally be placed at the bite or trailing edge of the layout.
The C9 measurement and control strip consists of multiple measurement and control units, including color data evaluation section, star logo, small dot restoration evaluation section, ink uniformity evaluation section, overlay evaluation section, gray balance visual evaluation section, enterprise information, etc.
01/Color Data Evaluation Section
This section is the most important part of the measurement and control strip, consisting of 3 sections. The evaluation result is obtained by measuring and scoring with PresSSIGN software. The lowest score is taken as the quality stability score, and a score below 80 points is considered unqualified.
02/Overlay evaluation section, star logo, small dot restoration evaluation section, gray balance visual evaluation section, etc
These measurement and control blocks are placed in one measurement and control segment. Among them, star markers are used to visually determine whether there is network deformation and ghosting. The evaluation section for small network restoration mainly focuses on whether 2% and 98% of the network can be restored normally. Due to the inclusion of grey balance evaluation in the color data evaluation section, the visual grey balance evaluation section has little effect in this measurement and control section.
03/Ink color uniformity evaluation section
In the C9 quality control evaluation, it is required that the maximum axial deviation of the solid density of each color ink should be less than 0.1. Therefore, two four-color solid block evaluation sections are still set up in the quality stability evaluation. Adding solid color blocks from the 3 color data evaluation segments, each color has 5 areas in the axial direction for axial ink color uniformity evaluation.
Industry Insights and Challenges
Color management, as one of the core technologies in the printing industry, has brought a series of new challenges while promoting industry development.
01/Inspiration
(1) Standardization drives industry upgrading: the popularization of unified color standards (such as ISO 12647, ICC profiles) reduces color deviation across devices and media, and improves the consistency and predictability of print quality. Through color management technology, printing companies can establish digital processes, reduce traditional trial printing processes, and lower costs and time waste.
(2) Technology empowers personalization and customization: High precision color management technology (such as wide color gamut printing) supports the implementation of complex designs, meeting customers' needs for personalized, high value-added printed products. Combining digital tools such as cloud color calibration and remote sampling, promote the popularization of short form printing and on-demand printing.
(3) Cross media collaboration opportunities: Color management technology helps achieve color consistency between printed materials and digital media (such as screen displays, AR/VR), expanding the application value of printed materials in multimedia fusion scenarios.
02/Challenge
(1) Technical complexity and cost pressure: High end color management equipment and software (such as spectrophotometers and color management software) have high investment costs, which may be difficult for small and medium-sized printing enterprises to afford. The technology updates and iterates quickly, requiring continuous training and technical support.
(2) Cross media consistency challenge: The color differences between printed and digital media (screens, projections, etc.) are difficult to completely eliminate and require more complex cross platform color conversion technologies. The color gamut coverage of the new material is insufficient, and a targeted color management plan needs to be developed.
(3) Shortage of professional talents: Color management requires composite talents with interdisciplinary knowledge in printing technology, optics, software operation, etc., and the industry is facing a talent gap. Traditional printing practitioners need to adapt to digital tools and face great transformation pressure.
(4) Customer cognitive and communication barriers: Customers have insufficient understanding of color management, often resulting in disputes due to subjective color preferences and objective technical limitations.
The practice of Hebei Xinhua First Printing has shown that C9 quality control evaluation effectively solves the color management problem in the traditional printing industry through the dual wheel mode of "data-driven+intelligent control". This case provides a systematic solution for the industry from hardware upgrade to talent cultivation, confirming the core value of C9 quality control evaluation in promoting high-quality development of the printing industry. In the future, with the development of quantum dot color development technology and neural color science, C9 quality control evaluation is expected to further expand to emerging fields such as packaging and flexible electronics, helping China's printing industry achieve a leap from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing". At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen research on international standard compatibility (such as ISO 12647), and contribute to the globalization of China's color management system.