Reference Manager (MeasureColor 21.2)

General information

In MeasureColor, all color references are managed from the Reference Manager module. The Reference Manager combines all reference functionality from the Management module and the former Color Library Manager into one convenient module.

Each time you need to create, edit, delete or simply review your color references, you only need to open the Reference Manager found on the Home screen of MeasureColor.

Note: if you don’t see the Module listed on the Home screen, check your module access rights in your UserProfile (Management Module: User groups).

While the Reference manager handles most Color references there are still condition to be set from the System management module. Here is a quick overview of all variables needed to setup a job and where to edit them:

Job elements

variable description Reference manager System management or menu
Machines Press properties – General → Machines
Measurement conditions Device measurement setup – Conditions→Measurement conditions
Tolerance sets Detailed scoring setup – Conditions→Tolerance sets
Color books Color books with target patches YES
Printing conditions Typical print process YES
Substrates Substrates YES
Color bar Creating and editing Color bars – Color bar editor (main menu)

From 21.1 and later the Reference manager shows the Printing condition, the Color books and the linked substrates on one screen for a better overview.

  • Click a Printing condition* to see which Color books* and substrates* are linked (see screenshot below)
  • Click 'Universal' to see the Color books that are not linked to a specific Printing condition
  • If the MCX logo appears it means a Reference has been imported using the MCX module and cannot be edited, they can however be removed.

*Printing condition

A printing condition describes a typical print process like ‘Offset Coated stock’ or 'Flexo Clear film’. During the job setup procedures, a printing condition is selected which helps the operator to set up his job with ease. The reference manager enables you to group together the Color books / process targets and the substrates that belong to the Printing condition.

*Color book

A color book stores one or more reference patches. These could be your default process color patches (solid, dotgain, overprint, balance, etc.) or spot color patches. Each color book can be linked to a specific Printing condition. During the job setup procedures, users select a Printing condition for their job which then limits the amount of color books shown on screen. You can also choose not to link a color book to a specific printing condition. In that case the color book will be available for any printing condition during job setup.

Color books can be filled with reference patches by either importing supported file formats (CxF3, Mif, ICC), manual creation (name, CIE-Lab, Density values) and of course by measurement.

If you need to exchange Color books between two or more MeasureColor setups it's best to use CSV export/import.

*Substrate


A MeasureColor substrate is a specification (material name, CIE-Lab reference) for a specific substrate like paper or film. Substrates belong to a printing condition. A printing condition (‘Coated – ISO 12647-2’, ‘Flexo clear film’, etc.) might have multiple substrates linked to it (e.g. ‘Generic gloss’, ‘Hello Silk’, ‘Clear OPP’, etc.).

When you set substrates for your printing condition, you are asked to select a substrate white patch as a reference from one of the color books so you need to create those color books and patches first.

Substrates are always linked to both a Printing condition and a Color book!

Patch details

To make the reference manager easier to use we limit the number of parameters that can be edited according to the patch type. For full control select the Patch type 'other':

Solids

  • This set of controls opens when the Patch type is set to 'Solid'
  • With 'type' select one of the CMYK process type or 'spot'
  • For process inks the name will be set automatically, please name any spot colors
  • note: While the 'auto' setting might work well for CMYK process colors, it is advised to select an appropriate density channel for any spot used with density critical operations such as closed loop press monitoring

Tone value

  • This set of controls opens when the Patch type is set to 'Dotgain'
  • Select a parent solid and enter a Tint percentage
  • All other parameters such as separation, density channel, spot/process will be set automatically

100% Overprints

  • This set of controls opens when the patch type is set to 'Overprint'
  • Please select at least two parents for overprint patches
  • The separation will be set automatically and a name will be suggested

Gray balance

  • This set of controls open when the patch is set to 'BalanceMidtone', 'BalanceHighlight' or 'BalanceShadow'
  • select a Gray balance type (Brunner(BR), G7, ECI GrayControl(GC),MediaWedge(MW),Pressview(PV),Techkon(TK), Ugra(UG)). Note that not all gray balance standards support all gray balance patch types.
  • This will set the separation and other parameters automatically

Import Process targets

Possible filetypes:

  • ICC profile (icc)
  • CGATS(text)
  • MeasureColor(CSV)

Procedure:

  • From the Color books pane, click the [Import] button
  • Select 'File' for import method. Use the [Browse…] button to select your Process color file
  • Name the Color book and click [Next]
  • Depending on how much data is available in the file the import wizard might ask for added information on Measurement conditions
  • In the 'Select print condition' dialog either create a new Printing condition on-the-fly or add the new Color book to an existing Printing condition
  • Fill in the name for the linked substrate

Import Spot color books

Possible filetypes:

  • CxF files (cxf)
  • MIF files(mif)
  • MeasureColor(CSV)

Procedure:

  • From the Color books pane, click the [Import] button
  • Select 'File' for import method. Use the [Browse…] button to select your Process color file
  • Name the Color book and click [Next]
  • Depending on how much data is available in the file the import wizard might ask for added information on Measurement conditions
  • In the 'Select print condition' dialog either make the Color book universally available or add the new Color book to an existing Printing condition