Pantone Digital Library

[andyfest]

One of our larger clients wants our presses to start using the Pantone 2014 Digital Library as a reference tool for spot colours, rather than the printed Pantone Guide that they use now. Anybody else out there using presses hooked to the digital library? If so, how does it get set up? Is prepress involved in any way? Thanks for any info - can't find much on the googler.

[wonderings]

We use the books, that sounds like a huge headache. Monitors must need to be constantly calibrated to be sure it is spot on. What am I missing here, what is the advantage to going to a digital library?

[delooch]

We use the books, that sounds like a huge headache. Monitors must need to be constantly calibrated to be sure it is spot on. What am I missing here, what is the advantage to going to a digital library?

Im thinking what you said. Perhaps the advantage is for cost savings for Panotne, to get away from the printed swatch books, i imagine those are a PITA and costly to produce.  As the industry/adobe is moving away from print & focusing more across multi-media, im not surprised.

[Joe]

So the Pantone 2014 Digital Library is actually loaded into a press?

[andyfest]

From what I'm hearing from our QC dept, it's a package that you buy from Pantone for about USD$20K. It comes with a densitometer loaded with the Pantone 2014 Digital Library. You can ask for a specific spot colour and then compare to a spot colour on the printed sheet. It does a comparison of Lab values and shows the difference. Not sure if that will help our press crews. In any case, it seems to be an issue for QC & the press room, so I'm staying far, far away....

[Joe]

OK then it sounds like this might be the product:

PANTONE Digital Color Libraries for X-RiteColor Master

They do have some details there.

[DigiCorn]

Not that it comes up that often, but if you have a bridge and the color you're looking for isn't in it, you can get the CMYK build from Pantone's website. It seems to me that that's a new thing, because I thought I had looked before and couldn't find it.

[DigitalCrapShoveler]

I find, doesn't matter what kind of handy-dandy software, bells and whistles and froo-froo are on a press. If the press isn't cleaned, maintained and you have a meth-head running it, you will NEVER achieve true linearization, therefore nullifying any software miracle.

Is your press clean? Does the Pressman take pride in his machine? Does he actually know what he's doing? Does he come to Prepress on every job blaming you for HIS problems?

If yes to any of these questions... save the 20K.

This may not be your situation, but every shop I have worked with, it is.

[andyfest]

Agreed DCS. Heidelberg techs that do come in for large fixes almost always point out the fact that the presses are not well maintained by our press crews. Daily maintenance logs are faked to give the impression that maintenance is being done. There have even been cases of deliberate sabotage to enable time off. No pride in our press room - just a bunch of entitled assholes. That's why we are slowly sinking towards oblivion.

[Farabomb]

What's sad is we have the opposite here. Presroom has nothing but pride in their work and their machine. It's management that couldn't give a shit.

[Tracy]

No, No, No and No :laugh:

[Joe]

No, No, No and No :laugh:

Sooooo....you're undecided?

[DigitalCrapShoveler]

No, No, No and No :laugh:

Haha, that's pretty funny.

[Tracy]

Pressman was out for medical once and we were hiring a temp, one pressman came in
and turned right around because of the condition of the press.

Our pressman is a slob, you should see his console, seriously crap all over it
not sure how he finds anything

[Possum]

Prolly just orders a new one. Once he's gone permanently, you'll probably find four or five of all kinds of tools and such. Oh, so that's where that went, who knew?