Fiery has updated its ColorGuard cloud software to leverage the fact that some of the latest production presses now feature inline color measurement instruments, enabling fully automated color management.
As a result, there’s no need for manual color checks, warm-up jobs, or unnecessary recalibrations, as the latest update can automatically verify, correct, and maintain colour output – although in some cases, these inline units are offered as optional extras.
Dr Mark Bohan, director of Colour Solutions at Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, commented, “Konica Minolta’s IQ-601 and IQ-501 inline color measurement instruments, when paired with Fiery ColorGuard’s automatic color control functionality, offer a highly automated solution for providers seeking a streamlined, hands-off approach to high-quality production.”
ColorGuard is part of the Fiery IQ suite of applications and services designed for cut sheet production presses as well as Fiery Impress. It’s a cloud-based software that checks whether the devices have been properly calibrated. As such, ColorGuard can help users get the most out of the color features built into the latest presses fully automatically, but will also work with external color measurement tools.
ColorGuard allows users to set up scheduled verification to automatically confirm color accuracy and tracks quality trends over time. This is matched by scheduled spot colour verification checks that spot colors stay within tolerance, though this works in concert with another module, Fiery Spot Pro, that may incur a separate charge.
ColorGuard can automatically trigger recalibrations when needed. It allows users to define the number of warm-up pages needed to ensure color stability. In addition, a Universal verification feature automatically verifies and recalibrates all media that share the same calibration. It uses a system of traffic light indicators to show operators the overall color health of each printer in the Fiery Command WorkStation. It can also make it easier for users to generate color compliance reports.
Kiyoshi Oka, executive vice-president and general manager of the Marketing Strategy Unit for Canon US, commented: “Canon’s ImagePress inline spectrophotometer (ILS) with the ImagePress Server powered by Fiery was engineered exactly for this kind of precise and automatic colour control. We are delighted with the latest implementation of Fiery ColorGuard with the ILS in our Canon ImagePress V family. Especially how it takes full advantage of our Automatic Gradation Adjustment capabilities as part of this streamlined colour control workflow for our supported ImagePress V family models.”
John Henze, vice-president of Sales & Marketing for Fiery, added, “With this release of Fiery ColorGuard, we have taken another major leap forward by virtually eliminating operator intervention for color control. Print businesses no longer need to keep a dedicated colour expert on staff, freeing employees to focus on productivity and customer satisfaction while staying confident that their color output is always accurate.”
ColorGuard is only available as part of a dedicated Fiery solution for a given printer, from the printer OEM. Nonetheless, you can find further details from fiery.com.
First published on https://www.nessancleary.co.uk/. Republished with permission
