X-Rite and Pantone at Color Conference 2018

X-Rite Incorporated, a global leader in color science and technology, and its subsidiary Pantone LLC, today announced a significant presence at the Color Conference 2018, hosted by Printing Industries of America, January 13 – 16, 2018 in San Diego. During the event, X-Rite thought leaders, including Adrian Fernandez, General Manager at Pantone, will share valuable insights on such topics as how to ensure specified colors can actually be achieved in production, the impact of the latest industry standards on printing outcomes, and going beyond color to managing appearance.

The Color Conference also marks the first time X-Rite’s award-winning Total Appearance Capture (TAC) ecosystem will be presented at a print and packaging event. The TAC ecosystem brings a new level of accuracy and efficiency to the capture, communication and presentation of physical materials in the virtual world. With TAC, product designers can incorporate physically correct, virtual materials into leading design and rendering tools to create photorealistic 3D images for product designs, packaging and marketing materials to accelerate the design, creation and merchandising process.

“X-Rite is pleased to once again be a Platinum sponsor of the Color Conference,” said Fernandez. “Over the past few years, the Printing Industries of America has done an excellent job of broadening the audience for this event, including an increased attendance by brands and designers. We are looking forward to sharing thoughts and information with attendees that will help streamline the color workflow, making color communication more predictable and reliable.”

X-Rite color experts will be conducting several sessions during the Color Conference, including:

In this session, Meeker will discuss how designers, agencies and brand owners can digitize all of the appearance characteristics of a physical sample, not just color but also texture, gloss, special effects and reflection properties. This is especially important for the increasingly complex materials available to designers today – from effect paints used on automotive exteriors to synthetics and meshes used in sportswear. Imagine a scanner that can capture both color and appearance data, and then render that into a physically correct virtual material that can be viewed in a virtual light booth. See what’s on the horizon of print production workflow in this very informative session.

There’s a tug-of-war that often occurs between design (innovation) and production (execution), creating a cycle of miscommunication, rework, and conflict. Creatives want to have more choices for how they bring their designs and colors to life. In production, printers are focused on quality, efficiency, delivery, and cost. The back-and-forth negotiation that occurs between these two groups as a product is finalized can result in significant waste and lost productivity. In this session, attendees will learn ways this potential conflict can be resolved, making it faster, easier, and more cost effective for the design intent to be faithfully executed in production.

Color is often the most critical design element for influencing purchasing decisions with consumers. In this talk, Pantone’s Nick Bazarian will discuss and demo a series of tools and applications that give designers and pre-media a new level of insight into the “achievability” of a given color in the earliest stages of the design process. These new tools facilitate easier communication and more realistic expectations between designers and printers/converters, reducing rework, time and cost for everyone.

In his role as CGATS Chairman and Chairman of TAG, the primary standards body governing the graphic arts industry, Ray is intimately involved in bringing standards to market, and keeping them updated. In this session, he will cover color standards recently accredited in 2017, including a discussion of where these standards are being implemented and when. He will also discuss the importance of staying current with standards development, where certification is important and how to get certified by various organizations, and answer questions from the audience on this somewhat complex topic.

Ray Cheydleur will be participating in a lively panel discussion with other industry experts discussing the importance and impact of current and emerging standards.

X-Rite will also have the latest hardware and software on display in the conference exhibit hall, with color experts on hand to conduct demonstrations and answer attendee questions.

Founded in 1958, X-Rite Incorporated is a global leader in the science and technology of color and appearance. With its wholly owned subsidiary Pantone, X-Rite employs more than 800 people in 11 countries. The company’s corporate headquarters are located in Grand Rapids, Mich., with regional headquarters in Europe and Asia and service centers across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. X-Rite Pantone offers a full range of solutions used by manufacturers, retailers, printers, photographers and graphic design houses to achieve precise management and communication of color and appearance throughout their processes. X-Rite Pantone products and services are recognized standards in the printing, packaging, photography, graphic design, video, automotive, paints, plastics, textiles and medical industries.

Pantone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated, has been the world’s color authority for nearly 60 years, providing design professionals with products and services for the colorful exploration and expression of creativity. Always a source for color inspiration, Pantone also offers paint and designer-inspired products and services for consumers. More information is available at www.pantone.com.