Ink reduction for food packaging printers: how low can you go? Sometimes you have to challenge common knowledge to innovate. ‘Old truths’ are often only old. To help one of its members, a food packaging printer that was very often confronted with PDF files with a very high ‘total area coverage’ TAC), VIGC did some practical tests with lower TAC levels. Eventually finding that much lower levels are acceptable, or even visually not distinguishable from a high TAC. The lower amount of ink can make a real difference for the food packaging printer: ink drying is faster, lowering the risk of set off. But the lower TAC needs to done the right way. Both in the composition of the CMYK (i.e. the construction of the profile) as well as the place in the workflow to apply the ink reduction.

1. © Cross-Media Innovation Center – RIT
CMIC Summit 2013
Ink reduction for food packaging
Eddy Hagen
General manager
VIGC

2. Industry Challenge
• Producing food packaging is a challenge,
certainly carton printed with lithography:
– Ink setoff can create migration
– Oxidative inks dry very slowly (multiple days)
– UV inks contain photo initiators, all of them were
black listed in the EU a few years ago
– Many designers LOVE a 400% black…
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3. Audience Survey
• Do you see a difference between the 4
samples that are distributed?
– 1: I don’t see a difference
– 2: I do see a difference, but all samples are
acceptable (i.e. I would not reject the job)
– 3: I do see a difference, one of them is unacceptable
(i.e. I would reject that one or claim a discount)
– 4: I do see a difference, multiple samples are
unacceptable
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4. VIGC
• Flemish Innovation Center for Graphic
Communication (Belgium)
• Practical solutions to real live problems
– Inspired by questions from our members
– Search for the root of the problem
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5. VIGC
• Some examples: deviations between
spectrophotometers
– Everybody thinks his/her device tells the truth
• Discussion between screen printer and his customer
– VIGC study in printing companies (2008)
• Deviations up to 3.77 delta E*ab
• Differences between different brands
• Maintenance is an issue
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6. VIGC
• Some examples: overprinting in PDF
– 2011: many questions from printers: discussions with
designers about the content of a print ready PDF
• Usually: Adobe Acrobat vs Mac OS X Preview
– PDF Viewer test + PDF Viewer Check
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7. VIGC
• Some examples: transparency blend space
– 2012: VIGC Output Essentials
• Workflow tool for designers (free!)
• Step by step
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8. The origins of our ‘Max TAC’ project
• Meeting with a food packaging printer
– Complaining about the designs he receives: way too
much ink (350% or even higher)
– Ink dries very slowly: only after a few days 100% dry
• A real risk for contamination / migration!
– Coating is not a solution: only top layer is dry
• Die cutting: knives cut through the wet ink
• Folding: edge might touch inside when folded
– UV ink: all photo initiators blacklisted at that time
– The root of the problem: designers are not aware of
issues with high TAC
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9. How black is black?
• Immediate result of meeting: tutorial file
– Show the different possibilities of ‘Rich Black’
– Show the influence of varnish
• Some designers want a matte varnish (specific tactile experience!)
but then complain that the black looks dull…
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10. How low can you go?
• Nobody could answer me…
– Conventional wisdom: 350%, 300% is already ‘low’
• Launch X-Rite i1 Publish: initial tests
– Small vs large profiles
– Dozen profiles, increments of 20%, from 320% to
180%
– Conversion of multiple images, not only pictures with
deep black
• Visual evaluation on monitor
• Visual evaluation inkjet proof
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11. First print test
• 6 images, up to 9 different renderings
– VIGC: 200, 220, 240, 260, 280, 300, 320%
– ECI ISOcoated v2: 330, 300%
– Adobe CoatedFogra 39 (330%)
– Basiccolor ISOcoated v2 (330%)
• Evaluation by a few seasoned printers (active
in high quality and in food packaging)
– They could barely see a difference… and were
amazed by that…
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12. More quality testing
• VIGC50 XCS (eXtreme Color Suite)
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13. More quality testing
• Print/Easyfairs 2011
– Trade Show
– 18 participants
• Nobody would have rejected any one of the prints!
• Technical director mid sized printing company: “If you would sent
this job to 4 different printers, the prints would look much more
different”
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14. More quality testing
• Measurements vs visual perception
– We are addicted to numbers, loups and calculations
most people don’t understand (e.g. delta E)
– What matters: do you see a difference?
– Matte coated samples – image C (the one with the
highest deviations)
• 320%: L = 11.91
• 300%: L = 12.47 (0.56 difference with 320%)
• 260%: L = 13.97 (2.06 difference with 320%)
• 220%: L = 15.06 (3.15 difference with 320%)
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15. More quality testing
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• Measurements vs visual perception
– What matters: do you see a difference?
• Most (all) people have a hard time seeing a difference when
presented this way: with a small white border

16. More quality testing
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17. VIGC Max TAC profiles + kit
• ICC profiles available for free
– 220%, 260%, 300%, 320%
– Fogra39L (coated), Fogra47L (uncoated)
• VIGC Max TAC Evaluation kit available for
purchase
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18. But… old habits die hard
• “Ink reducation doesn’t work!”
– The main issue: highlights (small dots) in CMY
• Film based workflows vs Computer-to-Plate
• Question: what about flexo?
– 4-color printing on 2- or 1-color presses, with visual
control by press operator vs 4-color presses with
measurement systems
– “100% K may cause picking”
• Quality of paper has improved, due to higher press speeds
– So: historical reasons!
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19. But… where to convert?
• What is the best place/worklow for ink
reduction?
• Use the right profile from the beginning!
– And only convert 1 time!
– If designers delivers CMYK PDF: they should use a
low TAC profile!
– But they don’t care… or they don’t know…
• Educate!
• Use the right incentives!
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20. But… where to convert?
• Ink reduction software / ‘color servers’ come
with a risk…
– PDFs with transparency: first convert, then flatten or
the other way around?
– Topic recent GWG meeting
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21. But… where to convert?
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22. But… where to convert?
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23. But… where to convert?
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• The designer must do his job right!
– And the printer must respect what the designer did…
– But probably the designer needs to be educated…
• And the printer does have a responsability there!

24. Conclusion
• Challenge conventional wisdom!
– There are still opportunities for innovation in
conventional printing
• 260% TAC is not distuingishable from 320%,
220% is in most cases acceptable
• Measurements vs visual perception
– And how do we do that visual perception…
– Be realistic!
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25. Conclusion
• Holistic approach!
– The designer should use the right profile, but he has
no immediate benefit
– Trying to fix stuff isn’t the right choice: do it right the
first time!
• Similar to fixing errors in PDF files: yes, you can do that, but why
are people creating PDF files with errors in the first place?
– Education!
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26. Future Research Questions
• Ink reduction for spot colors
• Ink reduction for flexo
• Measuring vs seeing: what are realistic
tolerances?
– In a P2 environment (500 lux), not P1 (2000 lux)
– ‘Average user’, not a trained specialist
– How to compare colors, proof vs print?
• See the VIGC Max TAC samples with/without the white border
• Similar to Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue test: physical vs online
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27. Audience Survey Results
– 1: I don’t see a difference
– 2: I do see a difference, but all samples are acceptable (i.e. I would not
reject the job)
– 3: I do see a difference, one of them is unacceptable (i.e. I would reject
that one or claim a discount)
– 4: I do see a difference, multiple samples are unacceptable
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Thank You!
Q & A
Eddy Hagen
General manager
VIGC
eddy.hagen@vigc.org