Process Control is an essential tool for maintaining consistent and accurate color reproduction. It involves printing pure inks at standardized tonal values: 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% coverage. This addition into the print document allow operators to visually and technically assess ink performance and detect variations in printing output.
These tonal steps help identify potential issues such as:
Ink starvation or oversaturation
Printhead inconsistencies
Media absorption problems
Changes in color output over time
When to Use Process Control
Daily Monitoring in neoStampa
We strongly recommend printing a Process Control chart once per day as part of your production routine in neoStampa. This allows you to:
Monitor daily performance
Detect early signs of ink or hardware issues
Keep historical references for quality control
From the Print Document Information section, select "Output inkset palette". This option will include the color palette in every printed document, providing a visual reference of the inks used.
Calibration Checks in Calibration Wizard
During any calibration workflow in the Calibration Wizard, it is strongly recommended to print a Process Control chart for every calibration process print. This ensures:
The calibration process is based on stable output
Each step is measurable and comparable
Reliable ICC profiles and linearizations are achieved
In every print dialog within the Calibration Wizard, you have the option to include the color palette in the print document. You can choose to align the palette either at the bottom or on the side of each print, depending on your layout preference.
Related articles:
Setup of Print document information
How to print and measure Ink Limit, Linearization and Profiling targets