Colour Matching Wide Format Print

How we match colours across different printing processes

Colour matching your wide format print to Litho print, digital print, Pantone colours, CMYK values or even paint is no longer a problem.  Our investment in the AGFA workflow system gives us the ability to spot match your brand colours, paint or standard format printed items such as letterheads, brochures or business cards.  We can even match colours that have been inaccurately printed in the past, to give you continuity.

Because we use an AGFA workflow throughout our print sites, they “talk” to each other to ensure closest match printing whatever the press we’re printing on.

Spot colour matching between different presses

The spectrometer also takes into account how colour is represented on different substrates and materials.  Whilst this has been a problem in the past, particularly when converting brand colours to wide format substrates, the AGFA solution has enabled us to match colour seamlessly between different presses and materials such as Foamex or PVC.  Not only that, once your colours are approved,  the colour data is saved and named, then applied to every kind of substrate you might possibly want to print to, ready for the next time your brand colour is required.

Spot Colour Matching Case Studies

Case study 1 – Colour Matching Wide Format Print

This is a problem most highlighted when Pantone colours are used in litho printing, and then the converted CMYK values are applied to the wide format print process.  Difficulties matching colours when printing both litho and wide format prints are used for the same project.  This was exactly the problem we had with the two pieces we printed below.

Typical example of poor colour matching

The difference between Pantone splits and our colour match

The four page document folder was printed to Pantone 295c and then matt laminated.  PVC banners which were part of the same project, then had to be printed CMYK using the Pantone guidelines for the CMYK splits.  The differences between spot colours and the equivalent CMYK values were very obvious.

However after a small amount of time a spot colour match was achieved using the workflow spectrometer previously calibrated to all of our stocked substrates. The difference between the two colours is shown in the image on the right.

This allowed us to present accurately coloured PVC banners to our customer which were suitably matched to a product printed as a spot colour.  Discussing this early in the process enabled us to match these colour critical products with each other quickly and efficiently.

Case Study 2 – Colour Matching Paint

Exact match achieved from paint daub

When we were asked to match our printed signage to a daub of paint, we knew with confidence that we could match the colours.

We were asked to print signage on both Foamex and aluminium composite for a school.  With the majority of the woodwork at the school painted in the dark green colour, and no RAL number to hand, we went about matching to a daub of paint supplied by the school.  The results were excellent, with the press giving colour matches on two very different surfaces.

If you have print work which requires accurate colour matching, please get in touch to discuss in more detail. Call 01270 625207 or leave a message on the form below and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.