Optimizing Ink Usage

The exploding popularity of ICC color management has brought increased interest in RGB workflows for image capture, but there's no avoiding that CMYK and spot colors are required to print the job on press. Increasingly, premedia vendors are introducing options to enhance image reproduction and improve consistency by way of new tools for optimizing color reproduction. Some work further upstream to correct images prior to placement into projects. Others concentrate on optimizing PDFs as the last stop before press.
In these days of dramatically rising ink prices, a happy by-product of a number of these offerings is a marked reduction in ink consumption. Another advantage is greater stability in color during the run.
After eight years of experience performing automated image enhancement for the newspaper industry, Agfa continues to expand the application of its :IntelliTune software into commercial printing and publishing. Using an approach Agfa calls “Multi-Dimensional Processing,” :IntelliTune looks at the image's existing dynamic range and color characteristics before suggesting corrections. Processing can be performed via “lights out” full automation, or operators can view results before accepting changes using the Compare mode. :IntelliTune is compatible with a wide range of compression techniques and file formats, including images saved within PDF files.
Also from Agfa, the :Apogee workflow suite includes separate packages for prepress and color management. The :Apogee Color solution set also includes :ColorTune 5.0, a powerful application that can create device link profiles in addition to standard ICC profiles. Device links offer a faster method of color conversion that can include useful options for CMYK-to-CMYK conversion, such as maintaining black channel integrity or pure primaries. :ColorTune's device links can be used within :Apogee or with any compatible application or proofing system.
For even greater CMYK optimization, Agfa's :Apogee Prepress package offers the integrated InkSave software application to perform Grey Component Replacement (GCR) on both bitmap and vector content. By replacing equivalent amounts of cyan, magenta and yellow with tints of less expensive (and faster drying) black, Agfa claims that :Apogee InkSave can reduce ink costs from 8% to 30%. As with any form of GCR, on-press color stability is noticeably improved.
Kodak used this year's drupa to showcase its ColorFlow software, a new application that can be used as a stand-alone package or integrated within Prinergy Workflow System v. 5.0. ColorFlow is said to offer one-step creation and editing for calibration curves and ICC profiles, as well as Color Relationship Management—Kodak's technique for coordinating print conditions, curves and other color settings throughout the prepress workflow.
“Even if you control your color management and have correct ICC profiles, operators may still pick the wrong profile or choose incorrect settings,” explains Arjen van der Meulen, Kodak director of color. “This eliminates the need for users to know about profiles or curves. They only have to set up a relationship between devices, and our ColorFlow Software handles the rest.”
This approach also makes it easy for print providers to enable gray balance color control, while staying abreast of the latest revisions to standard print conditions. “ColorFlow is aware of the capabilities of all the output devices within the workflow,” says van der Meulen. “Users only need to upload the latest revisions to GRACoL, SWOP or FOGRA and all the plate curves and device link profiles will be automatically updated.”
Smart device links drive the color separation and proofing processes, including color-accurate monitor displays on the Kodak Matchprint Virtual Proofing system. ColorFlow Software is also compatible with Kodak Spotless, which allows spot colors to be reproduced with process colors rather than match inks. With a choice of four, five, six or seven-color process builds, Spotless Technology expands the color gamut.
Four-color Spotless uses CMYK process builds to simulate spot colors that are within the CMYK gamut. Five, six and seven-color Spotless technology uses an extended process color set to reach spot colors outside the CMYK gamut. It allows printers to select their own customized ink sets.
Printers who desire automation but haven't acquired a unified workflow solution can consider the Crossroads community of application partners. Driven by the new Enfocus Switch automation platform, users can assemble their own best-of-breed workflows for everything from color conversion to XPS document generation. Of course, a Switch workflow can include Enfocus Pitstop Professional. v.08 of this PDF-editing powerhouse debuted at drupa. It includes the ability to select from any installed color-management module (including the Adobe CMM, now available as a free download), allowing Pitstop users to take advantage of device link profiles when performing color space transformations.
Alwan Color Expertise is a Crossroads partner, enabling its CMYK Optimizer to run within a Switch workflow. Creating device links dynamically for every new combination of input profile and print condition, CMYK Optimizer preserves the maximum gamut of RGB or CMYK images, while providing dynamic calculation of Total Area Coverage (TAC) and user-determined settings for UCR/GCR.
Callas is another member of the Crossroads community, where pdfToolbox can be used to automatically convert and optimize color within PDF files. Spot colors, RGB, CMYK and several formats of gray can all be adjusted and separated for any defined print condition, with the ability to specify different processes for images and vector art. DeviceLink profile compatibility is optional.
GMG colorServer performs color space transformations in conjunction with the black plate generation tools of its inkOptimizer. CMYK images prepared for the wrong print conditions are automatically remapped by colorServer using 4D Device-Link technology. While this process retains maximum color fidelity via GMG's gamut mapping algorithms, inkOptimizer allows CMYK images to be re-separated with optimal GCR for reduced ink cost and greater print consistency. For premedia departments that prefer to create CMYK images using existing tools, inkOptimizer can integrate into any workflow via hot folders.
“By putting less ink on the paper, you're able to increase the printing speed. Drying times are decreased, the entire finishing process is better,” notes Nicolas Kirste, GMG product manager. “We don't focus exclusively on ink savings; for us it's really about image optimization. At the end of the day the customer doesn't care if you've used 50 liters of ink or 45 liters of ink—it's the quality of the printed product that counts.”
GMG's colorMaster in a Box made its debut at drupa 2008 as a workflow concept. Not an actual product, the explanatory DVD provides guidance on how to configure and synchronize color management workflow for AdobeRGB. Profiles, tutorials, swatchbooks and colorServer settings are provided for a variety of print conditions. “IKEA in Sweden is using colorMaster in a Box,” says Kirste, “and they've reduced their retouching and color correction costs by approximately 60%.”
Optimizing CMYK separations for maximum gamut and minimum ink usage is only one of the challenges facing premedia professionals. Spot colors can be notoriously difficult to match across substrates and multiple printing systems, leading to hours of wasted time and pounds of wasted ink as formulations are adjusted again and again. Sun Chemical has developed SmartColour (see sidebar, p.32) to address this problem.
Dutch software vendor CMI also provides a solution to the spot color dilemma, but focused on digital print engines. This Xerox partner offers a range of color management and color specification tools, including PerfectPalette. CMI instructs users to output the PerfectPalette target then upload measurement data to spotcolours.com for automatic creation of customized color libraries. Individual color swatches can be further adjusted as desired. This system is compatible with user-defined color libraries, as well as standard color specification systems such as the Pantone Matching System and Pantone Goe.
Metallic spot colors are the forte of Ciba's MetalFX, a system that combines metallic base inks (such as silver or gold) with transparent process color overprints to create a broad color gamut. New for drupa was a powerful design tool called myColorViz creative that enables CMYK images to be transformed into multi-channel separations through an easy-to-use wizard interface. This plug-in for Adobe Photoshop CS3 lets users apply alpha channels or use presets to create the spot color channel, then view a color-accurate screen representation, while adjusting MetalFX swatches and ink blending modes.
“It's a visualization software that allows you to see the 5-color process effects on-screen, while you're designing,” says Richard Ainge, MetalFX CTO. “You can integrate the silver plate, then watch changes occur to the design, while you color-correct to the MetalFX palette.” The myColorViz creative tool also provides a 3D viewing mode with movable light source, simulation of embossing, varnishes and diecutting, and a split screen mode for comparing selections. Finalized designs are exported as both five-channel TIFF files for platemaking, as well as LAB TIFFs for color-accurate proofing. FFEI and EskoGraphics also have such specialty technique previewers.
Creating a hard-copy proof of these designs is about to get easier, thanks to metallic ink manufacturer Eckart. Unveiled at drupa, Jetfluid inkjet ink can be used to accurately simulate MetalFX colors on nearly any piezo inkjet printer. Shown in a solvent-based formulation, Eckart promises that Jetfluid will soon be available in both UV and water-based variations.
Ciba and its MetalFX unit have teamed up with ink manufacturer Flint Group and other partners to launch a new color management portal: matchmycolor.com. This Website hosts a plethora of resources to assist designers, brand owners and premedia production departments.
Users of the site can determine if their desired color swatch can be reproduced through a specific combination of substrate and printing process, based on the site's Universal Colorant Database. After determining the correct combination of ingredients, users can also order the production of a physical color sample.
For optimizing images as they enter the workflow, Fujifilm's C-fit application builds upon the extensive knowledge of image enhancement and color management techniques accumulated within Fuji's photoprocessing division. C-fit is actually a suite of tools that can streamline image preparation through intelligent automation capabilities, including Face Detection, Skin Smoothing, Light Source Recognition and more.
By storing image content as an RGB digital master, C-fit enables on-the-fly optimization and conversion tailored to a specific offset or digital press. If desired, prepress technicians can use its Mac-based PreSetup Tool to view the original image alongside three auto-generated variations.
With hundreds of images to prepare for a single high school yearbook, Herff Jones has been using C-fit for more than two years. “The majority of our customers submit images that haven't been enhanced in any way,” says Doug McWilliams, manufacturing systems coordinator at Herff Jones' Yearbook Div. “We receive a wide range of images, and C-fit plays a key role in our effort to optimize each one.”
Herff Jones still maintains a human touch in its workflow. “We quality-check the images after C-fit is done,” says McWilliams. “We might want to push it a little further, or just to be sure that nothing unexpected might have happened.”

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