Good afternoon blog fans! It’s been a little while since my last blog post and as I look ahead into 2023, I’ve got many great topics in mind to discuss with you regarding Techkon products and technologies that are “must-haves” for any printing environment. So, I am going to jump right in today with a close-up look at Techkon’s InkCheck technology. This is a feature that is built right into our SpectroDens handheld instrument and…
Periodic color monitoring and control of aim characteristics (color, density, TVI, G7, etc.) of an offset, flexo,or digital press is extremely important for ensuring accurate and consistent color reproduction throughout the press run. These operations can either be accomplished manually, semi-automatically or automatically via color measurement hardware and color control software. Manual color control is a primitive method of quality control that uses a “trial and error” process—and it’s costing printers worldwide millions of dollars…
Should I Use a Densitometer or Spectrophotometer in My Pressroom – this a question we hear all the time from printers across all segments of the industry. While the densitometer has been around for many years and has been widely adopted, there is no doubt that the momentum has now shifted towards using spectrophotometers in the pressroom. Today’s pressroom spectrophotometers (sometimes called “spectro-densitometers”), offer all of the capabilities of a densitometer and also have the…
Improve Pressroom Efficiencies – Part 3 Two weeks ago, we kicked off our 3-part blog series looking at “Good”, “Better”, and “Best” upgrade options for packaging printers to reduce their make-readies, improve their color matching process, and attain more consistent color throughout their pressruns. In part 1, we examined the benefits of switching from densitometers to handheld spectrophotometers in flexographic pressrooms. In part 2, we looked at the benefits of adding press-side color quality software solutions…
Improve Pressroom Efficiencies – Part 2 Last week, we kicked off our 3-part blog series looking at “Good”, “Better”, and “Best” upgrade options for packaging printers to reduce their make-readies, improve their color matching process, and attain more consistent color throughout their pressruns. In part 1, we examined the benefits of switching from densitometers to handheld spectrophotometers in flexographic pressrooms. As discussed, this is a relatively easy upgrade because these instruments still measure the familiar process…
Improve Pressroom Efficiencies – Part I While handheld densitometers have already been adopted in many flexographic pressrooms, it’s important to remember that these devices do not actually measure color and are therefore incapable of reporting the accuracy of brand or spot colors on press. The best that desitometers can do is to measure and report the densities (ink film thickness) of solid color patches and the tone value increase (TVI) of halftone dot areas. While these…
“It’s Easier Than You Think!” Is your closed-loop color control system showing it’s age or require expensive repairs? Any chance it was made by that “X” company? Upgrading to a new Techkon SpectroDrive can improve your productivity enough to cover the cost. Find out why KBA, Heidelberg, Manroland, Komori, RMGT, Sakurai, Goss, Akiyama and more are retrofitting their presses with Techkon press-side color measurement solutions. After reading about the advantages for sheet-fed offset presses, use…
It goes by many names. Some call it “pressroom color QC”, “pressroom color QA”, or even “pressroom color quality control”. However, regardless of the name, packaging printers are recognizing the value and are investing in color quality solutions for their pressrooms with the ultimate goal of getting up to color faster, lowering their make-ready costs, and achieving more consistent color across long press runs. Most typically, these solutions feature new software (such as Techkon’s ChromaQA)…
Greetings and welcome back to our blog! While pressroom color QC solutions are designed to help press operators get up to color faster during make-ready and improve color consistency throughout production, I want to spend a few minutes today and talk about how printers can further increase their operating efficiencies by implementing a dedicated inkroom color QC solution. Specifically, we are going to discuss the “Chroma Standards” software module that is included with Techkon’s ChromaQA…
It’s February 2021 and the year is already off to a very busy start over here at Techkon USA. As you probably remember, just a few short weeks ago, we issued a press release announcing our partnership with Konica Minolta to launch, promote, and distribute MYIRO-1 solutions in North America. This was indeed exciting news for us and we are thrilled to partner with Konica Minolta on this innovative product. In case you missed our…
When our Director of Marketing asked me for a blog this week titled “3 Reasons Why Packaging Printers Love SpectroDens”, I shot her a curious look (via my webcam) and replied “you must joking”. How can I possibly whittle down all of the pros of the SpectroDens to a list of only 3 things? However, after some quick reflection on this idea, I have decided to give it my best shot. Although, at this point,…
Part III – Web Viewing: Over the past 2 weeks, we have examined how SpectroVision is an invaluable pressroom QA tool with its automated color measurement and bar code grading capabilities. Together, these features allow SpectroVision to play an extremely important role on press by helping operators get up to color faster, stay there throughout the press run, and prevent problems that ultimately cause wasted time, wasted materials, and reduced profit margins. This week, in…
Part II – Bar Code Grading: Last week, we kicked off this 3 part blog series by looking at the changing landscape for package printers and how brand owners are moving towards more SKU’s, shorter run lengths, and tighter color tolerances. Together, these dynamics mean more frequent and longer make-readies for packaging printers which further reduce already thin profit margins. As we discussed last week, Techkon’s SpectroVision has been designed specifically to reduce make-ready times…
Part I: Ever wonder if there is new technology out there that was designed specifically to help you increase your flexo pressroom efficiencies and save you money? If you answered “YES”, then sit right down and let me explain how Techkon SpectroVision may be precisely the solution you have been searching for. We know that brand customers are moving toward more SKU’s, shorter run lengths, and tighter color tolerances. Together, these factors add up to…
Throughout the first half of 2020, we investigated to find the primary reasons why print manufacturers have made the switch to Techkon. With 30+ years of history in Europe, Techkon came to the US in 2007. Since that time, Techkon has been rapidly winning over print manufacturers who now utilize Techkon hardware and software every day to achieve exceptional color in their pressroom. After using other brands for years, there are many reasons why a…
The short answer to this question is “no”. However, while there is no real expiration date on your measurement device, there are a few important factors to consider regarding the efficacy of older pressroom color measurement instruments. Just consider how the print market has changed and matured over the last 10 years or even the last 5 years. Do you really think your old densitometer or aging pressroom spectrophotometer still has the right mix of…
Welcome back everybody to Part 2 in our blog series title “A Two-Pronged Approach for Increased Profitability”. Last week we took a look at how printing to the numbers can help to transform your print manufacturing process into a more repeatable and predictable process. This week, we’ll look at the benefits associated with inline color measurement systems and how they can further help printers reduce make-ready times and ensure conformance with the print standard. Don’t…
Have you noticed the push for higher quality flexo printing? What about the more devasting trend where brand customers are moving toward an increased number of SKU’s, shorter print run lengths, and tighter color tolerances? This kind of shifting landscape creates some pretty tough conditions for printers who must then incur many more make-readies to accommodate the shorter press runs. In addition, make-ready times are getting even longer so that printers can achieve the new…
Are you currently only using a handheld densitometer in your offset pressroom to perform print quality control? Have you considered investing in a closed-loop color control system but backed off because you thought the price was out of reach? Well, what if I told you that Techkon offers a solution with a price tag in the mid $30,000 range? That’s right! A full blown, closed-loop, system with the same software feature set as our automated…
So you are a packaging printer and interested in a color quality software solution to help you reduce your make-readies, increase profitability, and produce more accurate & consistent color for your brand customers. Well, Techkon has a range of hardware and software solutions to help you achieve this goal. But today, I would like to spend a few minutes comparing and contrasting our two Chroma branded software solutions; ChromaLT and ChromaQA. At a high level,…
