Spot Color Emulation via Vector Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Accurately reproducing spot colors, such as brand-specific colors like Hewlett-Packard blue, across various print systems and mediums is challenging due to the need for dedicated printing fluids, which increases costs and is impractical for digital presses that often produce low volumes.
Innovation Solution
A method that defines a spot color emulation recipe as a vector within a color space, allowing the use of existing CMYK printing fluids to accurately represent spot colors by adjusting pixel vectors based on a difference function and weighted corrections, ensuring consistency and accuracy across print runs without requiring dedicated fluids.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If dedicated printing fluids are used for spot colors, then color consistency and accuracy are improved, but cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy of the spot color recipe as a vector in color space, which can be stored and reused without physical duplication of dedicated printing fluids. This virtual recipe allows the same color to be reproduced using standard CMYK fluids across different digital presses, eliminating the need for physical fluid copies while maintaining color consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the spot color definition from physical printing fluid specifications to mathematical vector parameters in color space. By representing colors as adjustable vectors with configurable weights for CMYK components, the system can dynamically adjust parameters to achieve consistent spot color reproduction without dedicated fluids, resolving the contradiction between color consistency and fluid management complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If dedicated printing fluids are used for spot colors, then color accuracy is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the standard CMYK printing fluids universal by introducing spot color emulation capability. The same four CMYK fluids can now serve both their traditional process color functions and spot color reproduction functions through the vector-based recipe system. This eliminates the need for separate dedicated spot color fluids, reducing fluid variety while maintaining color accuracy through precise vector-controlled mixing ratios.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating physical copies of dedicated spot color fluids, the patent creates a digital recipe copy that defines the precise CMYK mixing ratios. This virtual recipe can be replicated and transferred across different digital presses, ensuring color accuracy without the cost and complexity of maintaining physical inventories of multiple specialized fluids.
3Adaptability or versatility
If spot color emulation using CMYK fluids is used, then cost and versatility are improved, but color consistency may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates measurement device feedback to verify that the emulated spot color matches the target recipe vector. By measuring the actual output and comparing it to the desired color space vector, the system can detect deviations and adjust the CMYK mixing ratios accordingly, ensuring color consistency across different digital presses and mediums while maintaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the spot color emulation dynamic by allowing the vector parameters to be adjusted based on the specific digital press characteristics and medium properties. Rather than a fixed emulation approach, the system can adapt the CMYK weightings in the recipe vector to compensate for variations between presses, ensuring consistent color reproduction across diverse platforms while maintaining broad compatibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A method comprising determining a recipe vector of a recipe to a printing device, wherein the recipe is representative of a spot color in an input image, the recipe vector being based on one or more recipe color properties of the recipe, and determining a pixel vector of a pixel of an output of a printing device based on one or more pixel color properties of the pixel, wherein the pixel vector is representative of a spot color in an output of a printing device. The method also comprises comparing the recipe vector and pixel vector to determine a difference between the recipe and pixel and adjusting one or more pixel color properties of the pixel when the difference is below a predetermined threshold, to reduce the difference so as to substantially reproduce the spot color of the input image in the output of the printing device. The adjusted pixel color properties are then provided to the printing device.