A Short History of the SpectroDensitometer

Over the last 15 years, the trend has shifted from traditional CMYK densitometers to spectrophotometer based densitometers. This shift was mainly driven by more affordable, lower cost technology and the need to know more about the characteristic of the ink that is being printed. This has created a new class of products called Spectro-Densitometers. Spectro-Densitometers are catching the eyes of press operators everywhere. Historically, they’ve had to rely on their eyes to calibrate the press,…

Going Outside the Box with SpectroDens MiniExpresso

One of the great advantages of printing to standards is having a known target to aim for. ISO 12647 indicates precise L*a*b* values for offset CMYK solids when using ISO compliant inks with ISO compliant paper. But what do we do to establish proper ink density targets when no standard exists? Printing onto unusual substrates such as plastics or synthetics, printing to “G7 Extreme”, or printing using unusual techniques are all examples of important non-standard…