Aztec Label, the Kidderminster-based trade manufacturer of high-quality self-adhesive label and tag products, has invested in a combination of GMG proofing technologies to ensure the most consistent and highest quality colour results for its customers.

The specialist label company has introduced GMG ColorProof and GMG ProofControl software to the business to proof demanding colour and material combinations and provide verification that proofs are accurate for CMYK and spot elements. In addition, GMG OpenColor, allows custom proofing profiles to be created with the utmost accuracy.

Colin Le Gresley, Managing Director of Aztec Label, said: “With GMG OpenColor and GMG ColorProof, we have created custom proof profiles for matching on press. We now just output a proof that can be easily matched, very quickly, on any of our four flexo presses ensuring we consistently deliver the outstanding accuracy and quality our customers have come to expect.”

GMG OpenColor accurately predicts on-press results using spectral data measurement throughout and significantly reduces the amount of press fingerprinting required. It does so by utilising CxF data direct from an ink database and measuring the colour wavelength of inks to build proofing profiles for inkjet printers, based precisely on the colour values of the actual inks used. Substrates are characterised separately, then associated with a particular ink – or ink combination – to obtain a prediction of how the image will print.

“By modelling the spectral behaviour of inks, a process colour can be replaced with a spot colour. GMG OpenColor recalculates the colour result using the extra channel without the need to run a full press fingerprint,” said Colin.

“Likewise, using data that gives the transparency of the inks means OpenColor can calculate how spot colours react when overprinted, as well as predict trapping and what happens if a varnish is added or the print sequence changes. This is saving us time and resources that otherwise would have been used trying to match the proof on the press and enables us to predict potential printing issues well in advance. In turn this is providing us with a greater level of consistency, and all with reduced approval time from clients.”

Another area of time saving has been achieved through using GMG ColorPlugin Packaging Pro to create RGB to multicolour separations, up to seven colours, directly in Photoshop.  “This investment has vastly reduced the complex retouching processes that are often an issue for flexo label printers like ourselves,” added Colin.

GMG Sales Manager, Alex Mack, said: “GMG colour management has provided Aztec Label with reliable and complete colour accuracy across their various flexo devices, allowing them to consistently match print industry standards.”