Mimaki Innovates Color Matching with Easy-to-Use Software Solutions

Mimaki adds value to the print production process with innovative software solutions that drive accurate, brilliant color, attracting attention in an ever-more-colorful world. Three new software solutions highlight this innovative approach: the Artista Textile Color Collection, Mimaki Profile Master 3 (MPM3) for advanced printer profiling, and RasterLink6 Version 5.0. All are designed to help printers deliver accurate, repeatable color across multiple devices and locations.

Digital Textile Printing: Coming of age

In the textile industry, the shift from analogue to digital production is underway as textile and apparel manufacturers aim at achieving faster time-to-market, reducing inventories and increasing flexibility to address rapidly evolving trends. Yet color matching remains a significant issue due to the lack of a standardised color chart that enables color consistency from design through production. Mimaki is filling that gap with the Artista Textile Color Collection, making it faster and easier for textile and apparel manufacturers to achieve the desired color without wasteful trial and error.

"This collection will be expanded over time," says Mike Horsten, General Manager Marketing EMEA for Mimaki, "but in its initial form, it includes 520 colors for sublimation transfer printing, including eye-catching fluorescents, which are ideal for sports apparel and interior fabrics. The process is integrated into the workflow beginning with design and enables the production of consistent color, even across multiple locations."

The process starts with a designer specifying colors based on new swatches made available for Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. An image file based on the selected color palette is then printed on a Mimaki printer using either the RasterLink6 or TxLink3 RIP software. In addition to color-accurate images, the resulting standard includes detailed information about profiles and settings that can be used to reduce the time required for color matching. Thus enabling colors to be represented accurately across printers and locations. The initial collection is designed for use with the Mimaki TS300P-1800 textile printer with dye sublimation inks.

Fast color matching across media types and printers

Media affects color appearance, making it difficult to match color across different media types and using different printers. Mimaki is simplifying this process with the new Mimaki Profile Master 3 (MPM3) color management software. It enables users to reproduce equivalent colors when printing on different types of media with the same printer or when printing with different printer models and inks, vastly increasing the flexibility of a production platform, even when it consists of printers from multiple vendors. It's easy to use, requiring no special color knowledge and speeds the integration of new printers into the mix, ensuring excellent color matching across the entire platform. This makes it easier to split up larger jobs across multiple printers or produce projects that include pieces printed on a variety of printers, reducing cycle time and increasing quality and consistency. Print color is consistently maintained over time by measuring color with a colorimeter during the printer calibration process.

RasterLink6 now includes the PANTONE Color Collection

Mimaki's market-leading printer RIP software, RasterLink6, now includes the PANTONE Color Collection, widely used around the globe for color matching. This is in addition to the Adobe® Illustrator-compatible DIC color collection and Mimaki's original color collections including metallic. PANTONE colors in print files are automatically detected and converted to equivalents for faster color matching on RasterLink6-driven printers. This saves time, reduces waste, and is easy to use with no professional expertise required.

RasterLink6 Version 5.0 also delivers the ability to set a measured color as a replacement color, saving steps in the process. Frequently used colors can be stored in a customised color collection for fast retrieval. In addition, this latest version enables the creation of cut marks for FOTOBA cutters. Marks can simply be placed on the RasterLink6 operation window without the need to use any other design software.

"We are excited about these developments," Horsten concludes. "As always, our objective is to bring market solutions that not only make production easier for our customers but improve profitability as well. These three new software solutions do just that."