Going Beyond Density 

Available 24/7 – learn at your own pace!

Course length: 2 hours approximately

Languages: English, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese

Applicable to nearly every industry and business, this six module online course teaches color theory, the language of color, and how to overcome the universal problem of color communication. From the physics of color to lighting, spectrophotometers and color data, we will teach you how to view and understand color. Topics include:

• Interactive experiments that demonstrate how the human eye can be fooled
• Albert Munsell’s role in the development of color measurement and an overview of the systems that help us describing color
• The nature of light and the role it plays in vision and color judgment
• A history of color measurement instrumentation and how to choose the best instrument for your color needs
• Recognizing and overcoming appearance characteristics that change our perception of color

Trouble with videos? Click Here for complete system requirements.

Predictable, repeatable color starts with a consistent process. “Going Beyond Density” will teach you how to achieve optimal process control on your offset press, beyond the density of your solid inks, as well as tools and methodologies to help you move toward a more color controlled press environment.

This course includes optional hands-on exercises to allow you practice as you go and reinforce what you learn. The best instrument to use for these exercises is the X-Rite eXact Standard or Advanced, however the exercises are not required.

Topics include:

• Color theory and tolerancing
• LCh and CIELAB color models
• ISO Standards and regional print specifications
• Spectrophotometer settings and backers
• Tools, machinery specifications, and raw materials
• Solid ink density and color
• Tone Value Increase (TVI)
• Trapping and overprint
• Gray balance

Total video run time: 1 hour.
This course makes extensive use of streaming videos. Click Here for system requirements.

About the Author: Mark Gundlach

Mark Gundlach is an X-Rite Color Expert and the manager of Training and Curriculum Development. He has accumulated over 21 years of experience working in photography, design, and print environments. A graduate of Kent State University in journalism and photo illustration, he worked for seven years as a commercial photographer, and was one of the first to adopt and use digital photography in a commercial studio. Mark was an early advocate of a fully digital workflow process. Later he used his experience as a system integrator to install and train photo labs, studios, ad agencies, sign shops, and others on color management, prepress production, digital sign making, and digital workflow best practices. Mark is a certified Apple Color Management Pro and Color Management Trainer, and has helped hundreds of companies take control of their workflows over his 14 years of professional training.

Should you master this eLearning course and want to know more, consider attending our regional Fundamentals of Color & Appearance seminar.

This online course was created by our training development, writing and multimedia staff with the important contribution of our team of X-Rite Color Experts; those who also provide regional and classroom training. These instructors are drawn from a wide variety of industries where color is critical: printing, TV and video, design, pre-press, textiles, paints, plastics, etc.

You can’t rely on your eyes alone to achieve good, repeatable output. If you want to produce proofs and press output that match your specified colors, you need good color management and solid process control.

Some people focus on solid ink densities, but density only tells us one thing about color - how light or dark it is. To get to the source of press control problems, we need numerical color models to describe a color’s hue and saturation, and to compare and communicate color.

“Going Beyond Density” will give you the knowledge and tools to hit your colors quickly and consistently; creating satisfied customers and saving you time and money.

This online course offers you the benefit of self-paced training.  Each section is 3 to 10 minutes long and includes a short quiz to ensure you are learning the key points. 

“Going Beyond Density” includes the following topics:

• The role of color theory and tolerancing in offset printing.
• The LCh and CIELAB models and how Delta E can help you identify small differences in your color reproduction.
• Running your systems to meet ISO specifications and standards, use proofs that conform to the press specs, and view your prints under the correct lighting.
• Choosing the correct spectrophotometer settings and backers to achieve your ISO standard.
• Investing in the proper tools, reviewing the specifications for your machinery, and evaluating your raw materials to save time and money.
• Measuring and controlling solid ink density and color throughout a press run.
• Monitoring TVI and making adjustments through the solid ink density.
• Measuring trapping and overprint to understand how your ink, press, and paper are performing.
• Using gray balance to achieve your print standards and target values.