X-Rite Color Blog

Building Greater Confidence in Color Measurement In today's manufacturing environments, color decisions happen faster and across more locations than ever before. Production teams, quality managers, suppliers, and brand owners all rely on measurement data to determine whether a color meets specification. But what happens when confidence in that data begins to break down? Many organizations experience a familiar challenge. Color measurements taken in one location may differ slightly from measurem...

Why Connected Color Workflows Matter More Than Ever Manufacturing has never moved faster. Today's color supply chains often span multiple factories, suppliers, converters, and brand owners across different regions of the world. Teams are expected to make decisions quickly, maintain strict quality standards, and deliver products to market faster than ever before. Yet many color quality processes still rely on disconnected systems, spreadsheets, email attachments, manual data entry, and fragment...

Understanding the Two Foundations of Measurement Consistency When organizations invest in color measurement technology, they expect every measurement to support the same objective: consistent color decisions. But achieving measurement consistency across a modern manufacturing environment requires more than simply using accurate instruments. Companies often operate multiple facilities, collaborate with suppliers around the world, and rely on different types of devices throughout the color workfl...

Why Converters Should Upgrade to eXact 2 For packaging converters, accurate color is tied directly to brand trust and customer approval. Labels, folding cartons, corrugated, flexible packaging, and mixed-substrate jobs all bring different measurement challenges, and customers still expect the final package to match the approved standard. If your team is still using first-generation eXact instruments, the upcoming end of life offers a timely reason to evaluate whether your current packaging...

Why It’s Time to Upgrade to eXact 2 Commercial printers are under constant pressure to deliver accurate, repeatable color while keeping presses moving, controlling waste, and meeting tighter customer expectations. If your team still relies on first-generation eXact instruments, the upcoming end of life is a practical opportunity to assess whether your current measurement tools still support the speed, consistency, and reporting needs of today’s commercial print environment. Eff...

5 Material Challenges You Can Finally Measure Accurately with the CiF3200 For years, color teams across industries have faced the same frustrating truth: many modern materials are simply too small, too decorated, too textured, or too complex for traditional spectrophotometers to measure reliably. When your components don’t fully cover the aperture, or include multiple colors, intricate patterns, or uneven surfaces, your options shrink quickly. Many organizations fall back on visual assess...

Hitting offset lithographic color targets isn’t always fast or easy. The manual process of measuring color bars and making ink key adjustments takes time and opens the door to operator error. Meanwhile, the press is running (and wasting) paper and ink. To achieve accurate and repeatable color, printers need to convert their printing operation to an efficient manufacturing process and drive efficiencies in all phases of their operation. For many, a closed-loop automated solution is the...

Why Optically Brightened Whites Are So Difficult to Manage Optically brightened whites are everywhere in textiles, and they are also one of the most misunderstood areas of color measurement and quality control. Optical brightening agents (OBAs) are added to fabrics to increase perceived whiteness by absorbing ultraviolet (UV) light and re emitting it in the blue region of the visible spectrum. While this effect can make whites appear cleaner and brighter to the human eye, it also introduces sig...

Navigating Volatility and Embracing Innovation The textile industry stands at a crossroad, shaped by economic uncertainty, shifting consumer priorities, and rapid technological change. According to the McKinsey State of Fashion 2025 report, brands are rethinking operations to build resilience and efficiency amid tight margins and evolving global supply chains. Sustainability, digital transformation, and value-driven shopping are now central to industry strategy. Key Trends Shaping the Textile I...

In the textile industry, delivering consistent color and appearance is essential for brand reputation and customer satisfaction. As digital transformation accelerates, brands and suppliers rely on standardized file formats to communicate color and appearance data accurately across global supply chains. Three formats—CxF, AxF, and QTX—are at the heart of this process. What Are CxF, AxF, and QTX? CxF (Color Exchange Format): CxF, developed by X-Rite and standardized as ISO 17972, is ...

The Challenge of Printing Whites The PANTONE Color of the Year 2026, Cloud Dancer, is more than just a trend, it’s a technical challenge for packaging converters. While white may seem simple, its appearance is impacted by substrate color, ink formulation, and the presence of optical brightening agents (OBAs). For converters, the goal is to deliver consistent, accurate whites across every run, between every plant, and throughout every region. Why Whites Are Complex in Packaging Whites are ...

Advancing Surface Texture Measurement for Accurate 3D Visualization In today’s digital design landscape, color and surface texture are inseparable when it comes to accurately visualizing materials. Whether you’re working with textiles, plastics, coatings, or automotive finishes, the way a surface interacts with light—its texture, gloss, and reflectivity—can dramatically alter perceived color and appearance. Why Surface Texture Matters Historically, color has been the pri...

The Pantone Color of the Year 2026, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer, is described as an airy, billowy white that opens space for creativity, quiet reflection, and calm. A white that is both warm and cool, its serene presence symbolizes the need for clarity in a noisy world. And as soon as the choice was announced last week, an old debate resurfaced: Is white even a color? White is often thought of as the “absence” of color. But color science says otherwise. To understand this critical c...

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 ...

Discover the Unified My X-Rite Portal: One Platform for All Customers   At X-Rite, our mission has always been to make it simple, seamless, and efficient for you to manage your devices, software, and services. With the My X-Rite online portal, we’ve already taken major steps to give you one place to handle service requests, track orders, and access important product information.   Now, we’re excited to share the next big evolution: merging X-Rite Link and My X-Rite into a ...

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...

5 Steps to Digitize Your Press Room and Defend Your Margins Margins in print are under pressure. Rising substrate costs, labor shortages, and energy volatility are squeezing profitability. At the same time, compliance audits—ISO, G7, internal reviews—are becoming more frequent and more demanding. Digitizing your press room isn’t just about passing audits. It’s about building a lean, smart operation that protects your bottom line. Here are five steps to get there: Step 1...

Sustainability in Manufacturing Is No Longer Optional From brand mandates to government regulations, sustainability is now a core requirement in print and packaging. But for many print teams, the path to greener operations feels like a trade-off: reduce waste or maintain quality—not both. The good news? You don’t have to choose. The Hidden Waste in Traditional Workflows Manual color control and fragmented workflows create more waste than you think: Reprints due to color mi...

For print and packaging, color accuracy isn’t optional—it’s essential. Yet many teams still rely on manual color control methods that introduce variability, slow down production, and quietly erode margins. If your workflow feels more reactive than repeatable, it may be time to modernize. Here are the 10 signs to watch for: Your color targets live in email threads Operators waste time searching or guessing—costing setup time and risking errors. Operators rely...