Mark Andy unveils Color Smart Program

Mark Andy has introduced the Mark Andy Print Products Color Smart Program, a pressroom initiative created to help label and printed packaging converters achieve more consistent color across jobs, presses, shifts, and operators.

​​​​​Available immediately, with its formal public debut planned for LOUPE Americas 2026, the Color Smart Program turns Mark Andy Print Products’ technical expertise into a defined, repeatable process. Through on-site evaluation, press fingerprinting, calibration, product recommendations, and documented standard operating procedures, the program helps converters establish the right combination of materials, settings, and operating practices for their production environment.

“Color consistency is rarely determined by one component,” says Dave Telken, senior vice president, Mark Andy Print Products. “It depends on how the plates, mounting tape, anilox rolls, doctor blades, ink, and press settings work together. Color Smart brings those variables into one coordinated process so converters have a clearly defined production standard that they can repeat from one job to the next.”

Doing more with fewer resources

As experienced press operators and technical personnel continue to leave the workforce, many companies are being asked to produce more work with fewer internal resources. At the same time, printed packaging buyers expect tighter color tolerances, faster turnarounds, and consistent results across repeat orders, multiple presses, and, in some cases, multiple facilities.

Mark Andy designed Color Smart to help converters close that gap by creating a documented production standard that reduces dependence on tribal knowledge. Plus, the Color Smart makes repeatable results easier to achieve.

The process

The program follows a five-step process:

Listen: MAPP specialists begin by understanding the converter’s production goals, color challenges, and current operating environment.

Evaluate: The team reviews relevant areas of the prepress, plate room, and pressroom workflow, including current materials, equipment, color management practices, and opportunities to reduce variability and waste.

Recommend: Based on the findings, the team identifies the combination of plates, mounting tape, anilox rolls, doctor blades, ink, and other critical pressroom components best suited to the converter’s applications and equipment.

Calibrate: The press is fingerprinted and calibrated under controlled production conditions to establish a performance baseline and confirm the curves, settings, and operating parameters required to achieve the desired result.

Document: MAPP develops a standardized color specification and operating procedure that the converter can use to reproduce the job consistently over time.

“Fingerprinting is the point where the entire process comes together,” Telken says. “We establish how the press is performing, optimize the variables that influence color, and document what works. The goal is to give the company’s team a practical process that makes the job easier to repeat.”

Color Smart can be applied to Mark Andy equipment, as well as presses from other manufacturers. This makes it relevant for converters operating mixed fleets or managing production across multiple facilities. The program can also help production managers identify training opportunities and give less-experienced operators a clearer framework for achieving established color targets.

Color Smart is offered through the Mark Andy Print Products technical and supply partnership model. MAPP specialists work directly with participating converters to recommend, implement, and support the pressroom products incorporated into the documented production process.