X-Rite Incorporated and its subsidiary Pantone LLC have announced the 2018 Fundamentals of Color and Appearance Training Seminar in 13 locations throughout North America. The two-day seminar helps attendees understand color theory and appearance science in order to implement color quality standards in their organizations.

Topics covered in the trainings include visual evaluation of color, communicating color specifications, color tolerances and instrumentation.

Today, many brands and manufacturers are using metallic, sparkle, foil or other special effect finishes and varnishes to differentiate products and meet consumer demands. These effect finishes go beyond color to appearance and require a new approach to color specification and management in order to reduce errors in production and improve quality control.

“We have expanded our popular color theory training to include appearance science, providing attendees with an understanding of how texture, gloss, transparency and special effect finishes can impact a material’s appearance and lead to errors in production,” says Murphy Keeley, general manager Americas, X-Rite. “X-Rite is very excited to be the only company offering this level of detailed training to brand owners to specifiers to quality control professionals. It is essential that anyone working with color understand both color and material appearance characteristics in order to improve specification, communication and quality control requirements for today’s complex materials.”

The Fundamentals of Color and Appearance Training Series incorporates decades of color management experience and best practices, which will be presented by X-Rite color experts. This interactive seminar is suited for color specifiers, quality control professionals, lab technicians and anyone who evaluates or approves color. Attendees can register for either the full two-day seminar or one of the individual sessions:

• Day One: Fundamentals of Color and Appearance (FOCA) training provides foundational elements of color theory and appearance science, the leading techniques for effective color management, as well as new ways to evaluate appearance characteristics. Attendees will learn how to measure, read and evaluate color data in order to improve the speed and reliability of color communication across their workflow.
• Day Two: Fundamentals of Instrumentation and Quality Control (FIQC) is a hands-on workshop where attendees use X-Rite spectrophotometers, light booths and software to create color standards, develop appropriate color tolerances, measure samples against target colors and analyze the results.

The seminar series commences on February 21 in Nashville, TN. Other locations include San Francisco, CA; Cincinnati, OH; Natick, MA; Minneapolis, MN; Toronto, ON; Edison, NJ; Atlanta, GA; Grand Rapids, MI; Anaheim, CA; Houston, TX; Naperville, IL; and Greenville, SC.

The combined Seminar cost is $1,295. The individual cost for the Fundamentals of Color and Appearance Seminar is $595; and Fundamentals of Instrumentation and Quality Control Seminar is $895. A 15% discount is available for individual seminar classes using the coupon code “FUN2018”.