Flexibles Module

The Flexibles module is designed to monitor the Flexo printing process. It holds a major number of features like Job setup, adding custom colors, process color sequence, data analysis & correction.

When you enter the module, the first thing you will see is the Client and Job list overview. When a Client is selected, all jobs for that client are shown. The buttons below each list only correspond to the list directly above. The left add button only adds a Client, the right one only adds a job.

After clicking on a job, the whole interface will slide to a view of the selected job and it’s measurements. You will notice that the buttons will slide along as well.

Each column can be filtered. Just click on the column header and you will see a filter-arrow appear. Click again to change the filter direction. With the ‘Search for ’ function, you can search any keyword. The pull-down pre selector allows you to search for jobs (default), Clients or Measurements.

The search result will show you all the Jobs, Clients or Measurements, that comply to the keyword you entered. This result is also divided per client, so it reads the same way as the standard client-job list.

Flexibles main screen

  1. Job info, showing the current job name and the selected measurement. Use the arrows to select another measurement.
  2. Ok Sheet button, shows whether or not an OK Sheet was set, pushing the button will set the OK Sheet for this job.
  3. Job mode button toggles production mode on/off. Measurements before production mode is set won't be used for statistics
  4. Wrench tool that shows a menu for Run sequence, report printing, export of measurements and exporting measurements as a reference.
  5. Score display that shows both the score of the selected measurement and the average score of all job measurements done during production mode.
  6. 5 screen tabs offering you an overview and 4 detailed screens for Tune, Solids, TVI and others.
  7. Measurement score trend displaying the measurement scores over time. The selected measurement can be recognised by a green dot.
  8. Overview button selects the screen as shown here
  9. Gamut button opens the Gamut screen
  10. Trends button opens the Trends screen
  11. Import button let's you import measurements
  12. Devices let you select and set your measuring devices
  13. Measure button opens up the measuring screen or, if an auto-scanning device is active, start a measurement.
  14. Jobs brings you back to the Jobs screen and from there to the home screen

Operator guidance

Our unique ChromaTrack algorithm is used to predict the optimum densities to ensure the best match delta-E. Right beside the Delta-E you can find a sign expressing the scoring of that particular patch and what can be done to improve.

whitecheckmark.jpg in tolerance
increase density
decrease density
not possible to reach the target without reformulating the ink
out of tolerance

Overview tab

The screen under the overview tab gives you a fast overview of the scoring of both the actual selected measurement as the previous one for quick comparison. In this case three color bars were used on the left, in the middle and on the right of the roll.

In the examples above you see a part of that screen that shows all color bars were out of tolerance for solid Cyan, the three red arrows pointing that the density of the Cyan solid is too high and should be brought down. A white check is shown with the patches that print within tolerance. One click on the Cyan solid patch bring us to the Cyan detail screen.

Cyan detail of the Gamut screen, showing the Cyan solid is too dark and magenta and the optimum density that will get the job within tolerance.

Here we have an example of overprints that are out of tolerance. As no suggestions can be made for overprints yellow warning marks are shown.

Here is an example of Solids with a cross sign. The cross means that the patch is out of tolerance and it's impossible to reach the target with these inks.

Tune, Solid, TVI and Others tabs

These tabs all show subsets of the Overview tab. The tabs for Solids, TVI and Others are self-explanatory. The tune tab simply shows only patches that are problematic, all patches that are within tolerance are hidden.

Gamut

This view shows you the most details of a measurement and lets you examine individual patches as well. In the options for ‘Gamut’ you can set the default gamut graph (outline of the measured gamut) to a spider graph, displaying the individual patch-measurement results. The actual measures values are represented by the blue lines and the reference is represented by the white lines. The bigger white circles in the graphs represent the tolerance.

Gamut graph Spider graph

Next to the bigger solids and midtones-graph, you can also find some other statistics. For Solids and TVI we have column-graphs with the measurement scores and tolerance lines (in this case based on Offset ISO 12647-2). In the picture above you see two TVI values (40 and 80). In case a color bar holds more patches for TVI, another TVI graph will appear in this view. In this case the color bar only has two patches.

The four smaller, full color graphs show you the measurement results for Paper, Highlights, Midtones and Shadows. The individual patches, provided on the bottom of the gamut window are clickable and will show you a much more detailed representation of this color for this measurement. Without reading the actual measured values, you can interpret the scoring compared to the reference by looking at the symbols beneath the measured values.

Individual patch analysis

The color patches for Solid, Overprint, Substrate and Balance are all clickable, from the Gamut view but also from the various Overview tab screens. This view shows you the measured delta-E and the pass/ fail indicator based on the jobs reference. Clicking on on of the patches brings you to a more detailed view of -in this case- the Cyan (C) Solid patch.

Based on the measured color bar you either see a single spot detail or a detail view where all individual samples are shown. Click on a single patch to show more details or double click to show it’s results for that particular patch.

Note:
The Lightness indicator shows Black on top which is more logical to press operators. The scientific correct way would show Black on the bottom and White on top. To switch to the scientific method, you can change the behavior of the Lightness bar indicator from the LocalConfig Editor application.

In the CIE-ab diagram, the bottom right corner, a ‘zoom’ symbol is shown. By clicking this symbol, you will zoom out to a gamut overview. You can also use your mouse-wheel to change the scale of the diagram.

Patch details Patch details zoomed out

Color detail visualization:

  • a) Hue angle: points back to neutral CIE-ab)
  • b) The Lightness indicator shows the delta-L for the patch. the wite center line indicates the L-reference value.
  • c) Dot cluster (blue): all measured patches (or single patch)
  • d) Dot cluster (semi transparent): ChromaTrack best match
  • e) White dot: selected measured patch (sample)
  • f) White line: ChromaTrack prediction of ink film thickness change
  • g) ChromaTrack best match information
  • h) Thin circle: delta-E (CIE-ab) tolerance when delta-L = 0
  • i) Thick circle: delta-E (CIE-ab) tolerance at actual delta-L

About ChromaTrack best match prediction

MeasureColor has a unique feature that helps you achieve the best color match with ease. ChromaTrack will analyse the measured color patch and it’s spectral behavior on the substrate. It will then display the expected behavior of the ink when changing ink film thickness (changing the ink density). This way, you will know exactly how to correct a certain color, making sure you hit the best color match every time!

Delta-E is a 3-dimensional ellipsoid, composed of CIE-L, CIe-a and CIE-b color differences. Displaying a 3D ellipsoid in 2-dimensions can be tricky, as sometimes a measured color patch might be in tolerance if you only look top-down (CIE-ab), but actually fails because of the delta-L (Lightness). That is why MeasureColor shows you the 2 white lines indicicating the maximum difference allowed. The outer, thinner line represents the size of the ellipsoid when delta-L = 0, the inner (thicker) white line represents the CIE-ab tolerance based on the measured delta-L. The illustration below clarifies this visualization.

The above visualization shows two spots (pass and fail). Even though the fail-spot falls within the 2D circle, the spot is a fail, because it is outside of the ellipsoid. This can be confusing when examining measurements, so always take the L-value in consideration first. In this case both C and M are in the upper half of the ellipsoid, meaning that they are both more bright than the reference.

Chromatrack display ∆-E ellipsoid & 2D

This part of the Flexibles module is most suitable for overviewing/evaluating measurement results. Working with different dropdown menus, you can setup this screen in various preferred combinations, based on the color bar-definition (content) of this job.

The two red lines in the dot gain graph show you the max Δ-E, again, based on the current job settings. The little white dots in the colored, spiked lines are the measurements.

The white dots are clickable. Once clicked on a white dot, you will see the vertical black line snap to the same position. Use ‘View’ to look at the details of the selected white dot (measurement). Click on the ‘Show colors’ patches at the bottom of the window to deselect or select. All run-colors are shown by default.

Opacity

From version 16.3 and later MeasureColor supports opacity measurements for users with a Packaging or Flexibles license. It will calculate the white ink performance by measuring the white backing ink over a white and a black reference.

Requirements

The opacity view only appears if a few requirements are met:

  • Use of a Packaging or Flexibles license
  • The Tolerance set used with the job should have settings for opacity (you can add it to existing Tolerance sets as well)
  • If you updated from a version before MeasureColor 16.3 you should update your license in the System management module.

After this an extra view button will appear in the bottom row of your Process Control or Flexibles module.

Measuring the opacity

Clicking the button will get you into the Opacity view which lets you measure your print once over a white and then over a black reference to calculate the opacity. The opacity samples will be listed with a time and date stamp.

You can delete individual opacity measurements using the minus sign. Please note that the 'white ink performance' graph only shows the values when the measurement is in Production mode.