GMG, a developer and supplier of high-end color management software solutions, is focusing on GMG OpenColor 2.2, a new version of the FTA Technical Innovation award recipient, GMG ColorProof 5.10 and GMG FlexoProof, and color-accurate prototypes created by an Epson SureColor S80 Series printer.

“Label printers face increasingly shorter product cycles, ever more complex color and substrate combinations, and growing cost pressures. To compete successfully, proofing solutions have to be reliable and powerful,” comments Paulo Monteiro, VP sales, GMG Americas. “GMG has been helping label printers for decades. GMG ColorProof has been utilized worldwide for accurate proofing, and GMG FlexoProof demonstrates that quality and standardization are not limited to offset printing. As the world’s only solution to accurate simulation of the overprinting effects of spot colors, GMG OpenColor separation profiles allow designers and prepress companies to simulate different color combinations and production variables without having to go on press to check the results.”

With the increasing use of multi-color printing and different combinations of inks, substrates, screening, and other variables, label printing involves a lot of color fingerprints and profile tweaking. GMG OpenColor is a proofing technology that precisely predicts the color appearance of printed inks, particularly “overprints,” without requiring extensive fingerprinting.

GMG OpenColor enables the measurement of full-tone patches from a print control strip, or even solid patches and tint patches on a running printed sheet and to create a profile from the captured spectral data. GMG OpenColor also includes a detection tool for optical brighteners.

GMG OpenColor 2.2, shown for the first time at Labelexpo, incorporates automatic, spectral data-based optimization of measurement data. When a user measures test charts or color patches, the data is combined with other parameters from the printing process to create a dynamic profile. This data needs to be optimized because erroneous test charts, poor substrate textures, dust – and even the measuring device itself – can all cause an excessive degree of distortion. Thanks to the automatic optimization of the measurement data, users can create a color-accurate profile in only a few steps – right within GMG OpenColor – while achieving excellent quality.

In addition, GMG ColorProof and GMG ColorProof have been enhanced to support GMG OpenColor capabilities. To make proofing simpler (and better), GMG OpenColor calculates high-precision profiles and automatically transfers them to GMG ColorProof/GMG FlexoProof for print. The input PDF triggers the automatic creation of the specific profile needed for ECG, without any operator intervention.

New features include an automatic image placement to optimize job layouts and minimize paper use. This pays off especially when it comes to manually configuring jobs that contain multiple labels. To configure workflows more efficiently, spot color sets can be copied from one workflow or printer to another. It’s also possible to assign spot color sets to all connected printers, which enables users to keep their setup easily synchronized to their spot color database. This provides time savings, especially for power users who use multiple printers and load balancing.

An accurate preview of screening is particularly important for flexo. GMG OpenColor allows the creation of dot proof (screened) proofing profiles for use in GMG DotProof and GMG FlexoProof – helpful for determining the overprint properties with the benefit of halftone proofing.

On the booth, GMG is showing printed samples taken from GMG ColorProof and GMG FlexoProof and the Epson SureColor S80600 series printer, capable of producing color-accurate prototypes on a wide variety of substrates. Rather than providing clients a rough prototype, they can see exactly, with accurate color, what the final product will look like, matched to the press. GMG can offer the complete package: digital printer, software, the substrate, inks, and installation along with a choice of 26 different materials including shrink film.