Details:
Summary:
Expanded gamut ink sets generally comprise up to three chromatic process color inks in addition to a standard cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) set of inks. The main advantage of using a 5-, 6-, or 7-color ink set is the ability to significantly expand the number of available colors that can be reproduced over a basic CMYK ink set. For packaging applications this provides an option to accurately match important brand colors on press without the need to formulate specific spot color inks for each print job. In addition, it is also possible to minimize the total amount of ink used by substituting a single drop of one of the additional colors, e.g., blue, for two drops or layers of a standard CMYK ink set, e.g., cyan plus magenta. The choice of the specific color(s) of the added ink(s), as well as the order of laydown of the expanded gamut ink set, can have a measurable impact on the resulting color gamut. The choice of a pre- and post- treatments can also make significant contributions to the overall print quality and color gamut. This paper will describe the methodology and measurements that were used to select the specific nanoparticle pigment dispersions and ink colors that comprise the Kodak 7-color expanded gamut ink set which was recently showcased at drupa 2016 printing at 150 mpm on white BOPP label stock.