Extended colour gamut printing solves one of the most persistent cost problems in flexographic production. Spot colour jobs mean washing the press, changing inks, resetting between every run. Time lost. Ink wasted. Margins squeezed.
ECG eliminates most of that by extending the standard CMYK set with Orange, Green and Violet. The result hits over 90% of Pantone spot colours from a fixed palette, without touching the ink train between jobs.
What Is Extended Colour Gamut Printing?
Instead of mixing yellow and magenta to approximate orange, you use a dedicated orange ink.
The result is cleaner, more accurate and more consistent across runs. The same set of inks and anilox rolls handles multiple jobs. Make-ready time drops. Waste from leftover spot inks falls significantly. For high-volume press rooms running varied work, the efficiency case is straightforward.
Why Anilox Quality Control Is Non-Negotiable
This is where extended colour gamut printing demands more than conventional process work. A fixed palette means no adjustments on press. If your anilox cell volume is wrong, your brand colours are wrong. There is no compensating for a degraded roll mid-run.
You need to know the condition of every roll before it goes on press. The AniCAM HD™ Plus provides detailed 3D scans confirming cell volume, depth and condition. Problems are caught before they reach the substrate, not after.
Four Areas to Get Right
Extended colour gamut printing rewards consistency. Keep close watch on these four.
Colour management. Builds must stay consistent across every substrate you run. Ink consistency. Monitor viscosity and density throughout the run, not just at the start. Plate registration. Plates must align perfectly. Any gap shows. Substrate control. Match surface tension to the ink system or colour stability suffers.
None of these are difficult to manage. All of them punish complacency.
Making the Switch to Extended Colour Gamut Printing
Moving from spot colour to extended colour gamut printing does not require a full press overhaul. Most flexographic presses running five or more colour stations can accommodate CMYKOGV without significant modification.
The bigger investment is in profiling and colour management setup upfront. Get that right and the press runs more predictably, not less. The common mistake is rushing the transition before roll condition has been verified across the full inventory. If your anilox rolls are worn or inconsistent going in, ECG will expose that immediately.
How AniCAM HD™ Plus Keeps You in Control
Precision is not optional in extended colour gamut printing. The AniCAM HD™ Plus measures each anilox roll to confirm it delivers the exact ink film thickness required.
Fewer reprints. Superior colour matching from the first sheet to the last. Issues found early, before they become expensive.
Tracking Performance Over Time with TMS
The AniCAM HD™ Plus works best alongside the Troika Management System (TMS). TMS stores inspection data for your entire roll inventory, tracks wear over time and helps you plan maintenance before failures happen. For operations running multiple sites, it manages stock and history across all of them in one place.
The Business Case
Extended colour gamut printing cuts costs, reduces downtime and raises colour consistency. But only when you have reliable data on your rolls. The AniCAM HD™ Plus and TMS give you that data. The press room runs tighter. Quality stays high. Reprints fall.
Request a demo and see the difference accurate roll inspection makes.
