Windows 10 Support Has Ended: What You Need to Know Windows 10 End of Support: What It Means for Your Business Microsoft officially ended support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. This means no more security updates, patches, or technical support—leaving systems running Windows 10 increasingly vulnerable to security threats and compliance risks. If your business relies on legacy software or hardware, now is the critical moment to plan your upgrade path and ensure your operations remain ...

In today’s global supply chain, brand suppliers are under constant pressure to deliver products that meet strict color standards, regardless of where or how they are produced. The key to achieving this consistency lies in the performance of benchtop spectrophotometers—specifically, their inter-instrument agreement and repeatability. What Is Inter-Instrument Agreement? Inter-instrument agreement refers to how closely two spectrophotometers of the same make and model can replicate a c...

Top Manufacturing Trends in 2025 The manufacturing industry is undergoing a seismic shift in 2025, driven by rapid technological innovation, sustainability imperatives, and the need for greater agility. As manufacturers adapt to these changes, color accuracy and quality control remain critical to maintaining brand integrity, reducing waste, and meeting customer expectations. At X-Rite, we’re uniquely positioned to help manufacturers navigate these trends with confidence. According to indu...

What’s the Difference Between a Light Booth and a Lighting Box? When it comes to achieving consistent lighting for color evaluation, photography, or product display, two tools often come up: light booths and lighting boxes. While they may sound similar, they serve different purposes and are designed for distinct use cases. In this post, we’ll break down the key differences between the two and help you decide which one is right for your needs. What Is a Light Booth? A light booth&mdas...

Color Matching Machines for Retail Paint Solutions In the world of retail paint, precision in color matching is crucial. Having the right tools to ensure accurate color matching can make all the difference. Enter the color matching machine—a revolutionary tool that ensures your paint colors are consistent, vibrant, and true to your customer's vision. What is a Color Matching Machine? A color matching machine is a device designed to measure and match colors with high precision. These mach...

Five Important Components of a Quality Control Program Step 1: Quantify Color with a Spectrophotometer Human vision is subjective—terms like “a bit brighter” or “slightly darker” are open to interpretation. That’s why spectrophotometers are essential. These instruments measure color by analyzing how light transfers through or reflects off a surface, producing a spectral reflectance curve—essentially a color’s unique fingerprint. This data-driven ...

X-Rite Video Gallery- Your Ultimate Resource for Color Education Welcome to the X-Rite Video Gallery Whether you're a novice or an experienced professional, the X-Rite Video Gallery offers in-depth color education and practical training to enhance your color management skills. Our carefully curated collection of videos provides valuable insights and expert tips designed to help you master color accuracy and optimize your workflow. In this blog, we'll highlight five must-watch videos that sho...

When it comes to achieving precise and consistent color measurement, investing in a high-quality spectrophotometer is essential. Spectrophotometers are critical to color quality because they provide repeatable and reliable data that ensure products meet strict color standards. Whether you're in the business of manufacturing durable goods, apparel, cosmetics, or building materials, the right spectrophotometer can make all the difference by detecting even the slightest variations in color. These ...

  Embracing Eco-Friendly Solutions for a Brighter Tomorrow In today's rapidly evolving world, sustainability has become a critical focus for manufacturers across various industries. As consumers become more environmentally conscious, the demand for sustainable practices in manufacturing has surged. This shift towards sustainability not only benefits the planet but also enhances business operations, leading to long-term success and resilience. One area where sustainability is making signific...

The Future of Sustainable Color Evaluation: Embracing LED Lighting Technology   In today's rapidly evolving world, sustainability in manufacturing has become more than just a buzzword; it's a necessity. As industries strive to reduce their environmental footprint, the importance of sustainable practices in manufacturing cannot be overstated. This shift towards sustainability not only benefits the planet but also enhances business operations, leading to long-term success and resilience. The ...

The Need for Industry Standards for Visual Color Evaluation in Retail LED Lighting In the retail industry, lighting is a critical factor that influences how products are perceived by customers. However, the lack of standardized LED lighting poses significant challenges that can impact both retailers and consumers. Inconsistent Color Reproduction One of the primary issues with the absence of standardized LED lighting is inconsistent color reproduction. Different LED lights can produce varying co...

The Future of Color Consistency: LED Lighting Solutions for Industry Standards For years, fluorescent bulbs have been a mainstay in industries requiring accurate color assessment, but their downsides are becoming increasingly hard to ignore. These lights require warm-up time and may distort color accuracy, both of which lead to production delays and translate into higher sample costs.  More importantly, fluorescent bulbs contain hazardous materials like mercury, complicating their disposal...

Why Backward Compatibility in Spectrophotometers Is Key to Consistent Color If you’re here, chances are you rely on a benchtop spectrophotometer to keep your color quality on point. From textiles and plastics to paint, coatings, and more, these high-precision instruments are critical to maintain consistency in your processes. At X-Rite, we engineer our spectrophotometers to perform reliably for years, even in the toughest environments. But no instrument lasts forever, and eventually, an ...

X-Rite Pantone is excited to exhibit at Fakuma. Like many of you, digitization and sustainability are top of mind. We invite you to stop by our booth to see how an end-to-end lifecycle that focuses on color can help you: Fulfill your customers’ color demands Ensure color consistency with varying batches of recycled raw material Accelerate material color and appearance approval Minimize color surprises at delivery Actively decrease your global footprint The Key t...

Looking for a centralized location to manage your X-Rite products and services? Check out My X-Rite. Whether you need product information or support, service details, or access to learning resources, our free online portal is just a few clicks away. 24/7 Access: Easily access your personal dashboard from your computer or mobile device around the clock. Personalized Dashboard: See what matters most to you in one convenient location. Effortless Service & Support: Submit and track...

A recent amendment to the EU Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment will remove the current exemption for mercury to be used in a number of types of fluorescent lamps for special purposes by 24th of February 2025. These bulbs are defined under clause 2(b)(4)-I of the EU REACH directive. After the expiration date, the sale of new equipment including fluorescent technology under this exemption will not be allowed in Europe. Th...

Does your quality control program include visual evaluation? If not, it should. Using the SpectraLight QC as part of a color evaluation workflow. No matter your industry, judging color is more than just measuring samples with a color measurement device. Just because a spectrophotometer says your color is within tolerance, doesn’t necessarily mean it will look right to the human eye. To minimize customer rejects, your color control process needs to include visual evaluation in a light boo...

This time of year, the internet is full of Top 10 Countdowns. It’s a tradition we’ve embraced since 1940 when the Billboard published its first chart ranking the top selling recorded songs. Since then, others have jumped on the bandwagon to highlight the most popular trends of the previous year.   We’ve been publishing our top-read blogs since 2016, and we’re happy to see some educational topics like color perception, tolerancing, and spectrophotometers continue to r...

It’s important to ensure design intent is realized each time and everywhere a product appears. But with so many variables to impact print quality, how can brands utilize suppliers around the world and still achieve consistent color? Our X-Rite Pantone Packaging Color Experts have designed a series of consulting services and workshops to help you get the most from your print, packaging, plastic or textile value chain.   Offered both online and onsite, these interactive sessions i...

With a focus on sustainability, Walmart continues to be a leader in color specification and control. Earlier this year, Walmart notified their apparel and home goods suppliers of a new certification program to combat wasted time and resources and decrease the global impact of a traditional color approval process. Since then, Walmart's Home business unit has seen many updates and enhancements to the color evaluation process to reduce processing time, shipping, and material costs. This has result...