Smart New Changes in Ink

The digital ink color-matching center, jointly established by X-Rite, a global professional brand in color trends, science, and technology, and Jinyinlian (Tianjin) New Material Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jinyinlian"), has become a benchmark for digital color-matching practices in the printing and packaging industry. As the first X-Rite certified ink color-matching center in China, it aims to provide the printing and packaging industry with efficient, accurate, and reusable ink color-matching solutions through a full-process digital color management system centered on the eXact 2 portable spectrophotometer and professional ink color-matching software, helping the industry chain achieve greener and smarter transformation.

As a high-tech company deeply rooted in the printing and packaging industry for 28 years, Jinyinlian provides services to nearly a thousand printing and packaging enterprises. In 2023, it established a new 30-acre factory in Xiqing District, Tianjin, expanding its innovations into eco-friendly plastic-replacement coated paper and flexographic plate-making on top of its existing printing and packaging materials. As early as 2003, Jinyinlian was the first to introduce the X-Rite computerized color matching system. This collaboration further deepens the technical synergy between both parties, integrating color development, formula management, and quality control into a standardized digital closed loop.

From design ideas to actual production, color matching capabilities determine whether colors can truly become brand assets. The X-Rite eXact 2 portable spectrophotometer can perform high-precision measurements of customer color samples, Pantone swatches, and historical samples in just one second, converting what the eye perceives subjectively into quantifiable spectral data and L*a*b* color values, which are instantly synced to the software system. With supporting ink color matching software, it automatically calculates and outputs multiple sets of optimal formulas with low color deviation and low cost based on the printing substrate, ink type, and target color value, while also allowing old ink stock to be reused, reducing waste from the source. The entire process forms a standardized workflow of "color measurement-formula-weighing-re-measurement-archiving," with all mature solutions permanently stored. Subsequent similar orders can be retrieved immediately, turning experience-dependent color matching into enterprise-manageable data assets.

"This system has completely changed the old method of relying on manual experience for color matching, significantly shortening the color matching cycle, reducing ink waste, and making all brand colors quantifiable, archivable, and reusable," said Yang Fan, an engineer at the Color Matching Center of Jinyinlian. "This not only improves our delivery efficiency but also helps downstream printing factories tightly control color differences and reduce customer complaints, becoming the core technical support for serving thousands of packaging clients."

The establishment of a digital ink color matching center is not just an upgrade to the production process; it also marks a profound shift in the printing and packaging industry from 'experience-based color matching' to 'data-driven color matching.' When subjective color-matching experience is transformed into quantifiable, reusable data assets, and every brand color can consistently run through the entire design and production process with precision, the industry truly gains the confidence to deliver its 'quality promise' to the market. By standardizing accumulated experience, driving quality through data, and responding to modern demands in an eco-friendly way, looking ahead, X-Rite will continue to deepen cooperation with China's printing and packaging industry chain, helping more companies on the path of high-quality development and making color a long-term asset for sustainable brand growth!"