Why Color Gamut Matters So Much

Of all the many parameters to consider when evaluating an industrial direct-to-shape digital decorator, color gamut is one of the major ones. Because packaging design is a brand’s most significant consumer-facing platform, an extended color gamut needs to be a fundamental requirement. It’s certainly not something to compromise on.

Why does the ability to print a wide range of colors so important for packaging decoration?

While it’s possible to reach a reasonable number of colors and shades using only the regular four process colors – CMYK – in many cases it is not enough to comply with the most demanding brands’ requirements to reach hundreds specific colors and hues.

A wider area of colors contributes to color richness and vibrancy. But that’s not all. A wide color gamut also enables you to reach a higher number of Pantone colors – a key criteria in printing and high-end container decoration. In fact, it’s a top requirement for working with the major brands and, in the analog domain, is achievable only by using spot colors.

Is it enough to increase the number of process colors on your decoration system to reach a broader range of Pantone colors? Probably not. That’s because ink, substrate and print technology all play vital roles in the ability to print an extended color gamut.

Velox’s proprietary digital inks and system architecture, designed for direct-to-shape inkjet printing, offer a wide color gamut and extremely accurate color matching using 11 process colors (C, M, Y, K, W, O, G, V, LC, LM, LK) and 3 embellishments (digital gloss, digital matte and tactile embossing). Having so many process colors on your decorator gives a huge boost to your operational agility as it’s finally possible to print all the hues in a specific area of the gamut without needing to stop production and switch to a different process color. What’s more, the Velox system can print with all 14 colors with no effect on print speed.

And, perhaps most importantly, covering over 95% of the Pantone Plus color book at all times virtually eliminates the use of spot colors in order to reach a specific Pantone. Finally, packaging designers can utilize a high number of specific colors and Pantones, with unprecedented accuracy and with no limitations on the number of colors.