TECHKON has added new capabilities to its popular ChromaQA color quality solution. ChromaQA is an enterprise color quality solution designed for packaging printers who wish to improve the color accuracy of their ink supply chain, shorten pressroom make-readies, ensure color consistency across each press run, and have visibility and reporting capabilities for quality managers and brand customers.
Comprehensive Ink QC Tools
While other color quality solutions in the marketplace only focus on press-side feedback, ChromaQA is uniquely positioned because it offers dedicated color QC software modules for both the Press and Ink departments. The dedicated Ink module provides the ability for printers to organize and store all of their color and ink standards in one centralized, cloud-based, database that is accessible to all production locations throughout the organization. In addition, powerful ink QC tools allow technicians to perform quality checks on incoming ink deliveries from outside vendors, in-plant ink suppliers, or when mixing new batches of ink themselves.
Besides checking only colorimetric parameters of new ink batches, this latest version of ChromaQA now calculates and reports on an ink’s color strength, contrast ratio, opacity, and metamerism index. Together, these metrics provide a comprehensive evaluation of new ink batches compared to their original color standards. In the end, printers can now have complete confidence in the color accuracy and printability of inks in their supply chain before they reach the pressroom.
PQX Export
In the pressroom, ChromaQA has added support for PQX (Print Quality eXchange / ISO 20616-2). PQX is a relatively new standardized file format for the exchange of measured color and print quality data. In the past, some brand customers have tried to dictate precisely which press-side color quality tools packaging printers must use. However, with PQX, printers can now decide for themselves which color quality solution best fits their individual needs while also having the ability to provide brand customers with measured results in an industry standard file format.
