Understanding the Desired E-Factor
The desired E-Factor is the target level of color accuracy and consistency you want to achieve in your printing process. It's a numerical representation of your expectations, with lower numbers indicating greater accuracy. Essentially, it's the maximum acceptable error, as determined by the 95th percentile of your color measurements.
Here's a breakdown:
- What it is: A tolerance parameter to define salable color in your print production.
- Why it's important: It sets a clear, quantifiable goal for color quality, aids in process control, and helps determine the marketability of your printed products.
- How it's determined: essentially communicates that 95% of the colors are within that delta E of the reference. CRF of 95th percentile to establish a realistic target for color consistency.
Where to find and define it:
- Project Inspector: When creating or editing projects, you can set the desired E-Factor as a key parameter. This ensures that all stakeholders are aligned on the acceptable level of color variation for that project.
- Print Inspector: Within Print Inspector, you'll find the option to set a desired E-Factor for each track, representing specific printing conditions.
- Global Preferences: You can establish a default E-Factor in the Global Preferences, which will be automatically applied to new elements unless overridden.
Some important considerations include:
- Balancing expectations with reality: It's essential to balance your desired E-Factor with the capabilities of your printing equipment and processes. Conducting an initial audit to assess the accuracy and precision of your printing devices is a good starting point.
- Understanding good/bad values: Lower E-Factor values indicate better color accuracy. Most printers operate in the 6-8 range, while very good ones can achieve 2-3 for a portion of their production.
