CA2227730A1 - Process for printing objects and a floor covering obtainable with said process - Google Patents

Process for printing objects and a floor covering obtainable with said process Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2227730A1
CA2227730A1 CA002227730A CA2227730A CA2227730A1 CA 2227730 A1 CA2227730 A1 CA 2227730A1 CA 002227730 A CA002227730 A CA 002227730A CA 2227730 A CA2227730 A CA 2227730A CA 2227730 A1 CA2227730 A1 CA 2227730A1
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
color
separation
printing
printed
neutral
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA002227730A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Erhard Lorch
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
DLW AG
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of CA2227730A1 publication Critical patent/CA2227730A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41MPRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
    • B41M1/00Inking and printing with a printer's forme
    • B41M1/14Multicolour printing
    • B41M1/18Printing one ink over another
    • GPHYSICS
    • G03PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03FPHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
    • G03F3/00Colour separation; Correction of tonal value

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Printing Methods (AREA)
  • Floor Finish (AREA)
  • Input Circuits Of Receivers And Coupling Of Receivers And Audio Equipment (AREA)
  • Pens And Brushes (AREA)
  • Golf Clubs (AREA)
  • Color Image Communication Systems (AREA)
  • Facsimile Image Signal Circuits (AREA)
  • Record Information Processing For Printing (AREA)
  • Paints Or Removers (AREA)

Abstract

A process is proposed for printing an object using chromatic components from a three- or four-colour set of a printing pattern. The neutral parts of the chromatic components of the three-colour set are reduced to produce a neutral component and correspondingly modified chromatic components. The object is printed using the modified chromatic components and a special colour based on the neutral component.

Description

1 Description Process for printing an article and floor covering obtainable thereby The present invention relates to a process for printing an article, in particular a floor covering, on the basis of color separations of a three-color or four-color set from a printing original.

The printing of the floor coverings has hitherto been carried 11out by means of the gravure printing process in the special color space. Special colors are generally understood to be mixtures of primary colors, secondary colors, black and white, that is to say for example, beige, brown, violet etc.
Since it is often desirable for the design to correspond to the appearance of specific natural products (marble, granite, etc.), as a rule the desired natural material is firstly reproduced (for example by means of reproduction photography). On the basis of this printing original, color separations in the form of continuous-tone "opals" are then 21set up in the special color space - generally in consultation with the gravure printing engraver. A color separation is to be understood in the present context both as continuous-tone ~opals" and data sets in use iIl electronic image processing.

The setting up of the color separations in the special color 1 space requires a great deal of experience. In addition, during proof matching, all three or four color separations have to be altered, since a desired alteration to the result is as a rule not achievable by altering only one color separation. In addition, a large number of items of data have to be stored in order to make later reprints possible.

Added to this is the further problem that, precisely in the field of floor coverings, it is often desirable to obtain from one design a plurality of different colorations in the 11 sense of a series of colors, which ideally can further be combined with one another. Of course, these requirements potentially lead to the problems cited at the beginning in the setting-up of the color separation. This is because each color separation in the special color space is selected in accordance with the optical color impressions and is worked on until there is the closest possible approximation to the draft design. In this case, the special colors must be exchangeable in relation to the respective color separations (setting up a series of colors), and a register difference 21 induced by the operation and the material must be possible (for example if a 400 cm wide product web wanders longitu-dinally and laterally in an uncontrolled manner because of material distortion, thickness differences, etc.). As a result ol- the fact that the special colors are separated 1 empirically, the result in the superimposed print is often unpredictable superimpositions in the surface, which lead to images in the surface.

A further production problem which arises is that, in the case of each colour setting, as a rule all the individual colors of the respective printing units have to be changed.
In this case, given a product width of 400 cm, for each inking unit at least fifty kilograms of residual ink are produced, which have to be emptied and stored for further 11 processing.

Against this background, the problem on which the invention is based is that of specifying a simpler process for printing articles.

This problem is solved by means of a process for printing an article in accordance with claim 1.

Using the process according to the invention, the entire 21 process, from working on the repro recordings to setting up the series of colors, is substantially simplified. For the reduction of the neutral components of the color separations of the three-color set, producing a neutral separation, recourse ~an be made to known processes. For example, it is 1 known from offset printing to reduce the colored inks in terms of the three-color depths (secondary color reduction) in order to achieve a saving in ink and hence more rapid running of the machine. In the case of the invention, preference is given to the so-called polychromatic color reduction (PCR), in which the neutral components in the color separations are replaced by a black separation. In other words, a]l the gray values from light to dark are built up not by means of complementary color addition but exclusively using the black printing ink.

This process, known per se, is now preferably used in the invention in order to print the article to be printed using a special color. Within the context of the present invention, special colors are in this case in general understood as all colors and color mixtures excluding the three colors of the three-color set from the printing original. In this case, firstly a three-color or four-color set is set up from the repro picture (printing original), which preferably has the color separations of the primary colors, magenta, cyan and 21 yellow. This has the advantage, in particular, that the color management is considerably simplified on the basis of standardized color spaces (e.g. CIELAB), in particular when using digital technology.

1 Since it is possible to operate with the same primary colors, with the exception of the one special color to be printed on the basi, of the neutral separation, it is generally possible, by means of suitable proofing processes (for example by means of a high-resolution ink-jet printer), to set up dat;a sets ready for engraving a cylinder, even without greater knowledge of the technical boundary conditions of gravure printing. It has further been shown that, by varying only the one special color, any desired series of colors can be set UE) on the basis of the same design, and match one 11 another.

For later reprints, storage of the appropriate printing data, which requires a relatively small outlay on storage, is possible.

The neutral separation preferably results from the sum of the differences between the original and the altered color separations of the three-color set. This is implemented, for example, using polychromatic color reduction (PCR, see 21 above).

Furthermore, it has been shown that the best results are achieved if, in order to produce the neutral separation, the original color separations are altered in such a way that the 1 maximum possible area coverage reduction is established.

The article to be printed is preferably printed not only on the basis of the neutral separation and the altered color separations, but in addition on the basis of a skeleton black separation, which is produced by the neutral separation being attenuated. The skeleton black produces the "drawing" and thus generates the impression of a greater "depth".

The skele-ton black separation is preferably attenuated by 50 11 to 90% with respect to the neutral separation, with the result th,~t the article to be printed is printed with 50% to 10% of t:he deepest black. Particularly preferred is an attenuation by 70 to 85% of the neutral separation, with the result th,~t the article to be printed is printed with 30 to 15 percent of the deepest black.

Furthermore, it has been shown that the overall impression can be irnproved still further if the skeleton black sepa-ration is made sharper. Sharpening is to be understood in 21 this context as the masking out of the gray values that are present. Ideally, the skeleton black separation is made sharper to the maximum, with the result that this separation exhibits only black and while components.

1 Finally, it has been shown that, in order to adapt the primary colors (of the three colors of the three-color set) to the actual printing conditions, the saturation of the altered color separations is adapted for the respective printing operation. In this way, ideal fixing of the middle tone in relation to depth and light can be achieved.

For the reduction of register problems (color shifts), the altered color separations are advantageously made less sharp.

11 The invention is described below using an exemplary embodi-ment with reference to the single figure.

In order to set up data sets ready for engraving a cylinder for the printing of plastic floorcoverings using gravure printing, the procedure according to one embodiment of the invention is as follows.

The starting point is a digital four-color set C1M1Y1K from a printing original, which is defined within the context of 21 a standard color space (e.g. CIELAB). This digital four-color set, comprising one separation in each case for cyan, magenta, yellow and black, can be obtained in the most diverse ways. On the one hand, the four-color set can be obtained by means of digital recording of an artificial draft 1 or a natural original (for example a marble slab). The widest possible range of manipulations, such as positioning, retouching, setting up repeats, etc. can be performed on this digital recording by means of electronic image processing.
The data manipulated in this way are then converted into the CIELAB color space, obtaining the color separations C1M1Y1K.
Alternatively, a design can also be generated directly on the computer, without reproduction, and finally converted into the CIELA.B color space. Examples of a fourcolor set C1M1Y1K
obtained in this way in the CIELAB color space are 11 illustrated on the left-hand si.de of the figure.

Next, an algorithm for the polychromatic color reduction (PCR) is applied to the color separations C1M1Y1 of the four-colo:r set, in which algorithm the neutral parts of the individua.l color separations (if appropriate, also only one color separation, in the event that the other color separa-tions do not contain any neutral components) are "extracted"
and comb.ined into a neutral separation K2. The neutral separation K2 thus represents the sum of the differences 21 between the original color separations C1M1Y1 and the altered color separations C~M~Y-.

The neutral separation K2 is then attenuated, producing a skeleton black separation K1. Finally, the color separations CA 02227730 l997-l2-23 1 C M Y are made much less sharp, and the neutral separation K2 and the skeleton black separation Kl are made sharper.

The separation C M,Y.KlK2 obtained in this way are illustrated on the right-hand side of the figure.

The proof adaptation is then performed by means of a suitable proofing machine, for example an ink-jet printer (IRIS).
Proofing is performed for the separations C-,M~Y,, and Kl using the colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black; for the 11 separation K2, a special color which leads to the best possible reduction of the design originally aimed at is ascertained empirically.

Thus, by means of the variation of only one special color, a desirecl design can easily be ascertained. The data sets obtained in this way can be stored in defined formats (e.g.
TIFF) and subsequently used as the basis for the widest range of printing processes, such as gravure printing, offset printing but also for direct printing (digital printing).

In order to set up series of colors, that is to say a series of designs on the basis of the same basic design, but having different colorations ("colorits"), the procedure is pre-cisely the same as during the proof adaptation in order to 1 ascertain the ideal reproduction. The special color that is suitable for the respective coloration is ascertained empirically. The setting-up of a series of colors with various colorations, which "match one another", is extremely simple by virtue of altering only one parameter (the special color). The storage of the necessary data for any reprint is also possible with a low outlay on storage (cf. above).

It should further be mentioned that, during the proof adaptation in order to ascertain the ideal reproduction, and 11 also to ascertain the "colorits", the color separations C2M2Y2 that have been altered on the basis of the neutral component reduction can be altered in terms of their saturation, in order to be able to undertake adaptations to the actual printing conditions.

The data sets ascertained in this way (the respectively digitally stored color separations C-M2Y~KlK2 and the respec-tively defined special color) are data sets "ready for engraving", that is to say that it is possible to use these 21 data sets directly for the engraving of gravure printing cylinders for the printing of plastic floor covering webs.
It goes without saying that it is also possible to use these data sets for other printing processes, in particular for the direct p:rinting (digital printing) which will gain in

Claims (11)

1 significance in the future.

Claims
1. A process for printing an article in accordance with color separations (C1M1Y1) of a three-color or four-color set from a printing original, having the steps:
- reducing the neutral components of the color separations (C1M1Y1) of the color set, whilst producing a neutral separation (K2) and correspondingly altered color separations (C2M2Y2), - printing the article to be printed on the basis of the altered color separations (C2M2Y2), and - printing the article to be printed, using a special color different from black, on the basis of the neutral separation (K2).
2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the neutral separation (K2) represents the sum of the differences between the original (C1M1Y1) and the altered (C2M2Y2) color separations of the three-color set.
3. The process as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein, in order to produce the neutral separation (K2), the original color separations (C1M1Y1) are altered in such a way that the maximum possible area coverage reduction is established.
4. The process as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the neutral separation (K2) is attenuated, producing a skeleton black separation (K1), and the article to be printed is printed using black on the basis of the skeleton black separation (K1).
5. The process as claimed in claim 4, wherein the skeleton black separation (K1) is attenuated by 50% - 90%
with respect to the neutral separation (K2), with the result that the article to be printed is printed with 50% - 10% of the deepest black.
6. The process as claimed in claim 5, wherein the skeleton black separation (K1) is attenuated by 70% - 85%
with respect to the neutral separation (K2), with the result that the article to be printed is printed with 30% to 15% of the deepest black.
7. The process as claimed in one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the skeleton black separation (K1) is made sharper.
8. The process as claimed in one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the color set has the color separations of the primary colors magenta (M), cyan (C) and yellow (y).
9. The process as claimed in one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the saturation of the altered color separations (C M Y ) is adapted during the printing operation.
10. The process as claimed in one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the altered color separations (C2M2Y2) are made less sharp.
11. A floor covering, obtainable in accordance with a process as claimed in one of claims 1 to 10.
CA002227730A 1995-06-26 1996-06-26 Process for printing objects and a floor covering obtainable with said process Abandoned CA2227730A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE19523188A DE19523188C2 (en) 1995-06-26 1995-06-26 Process for printing an object and printed object, in particular floor covering
DE19523188.0 1995-06-26

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2227730A1 true CA2227730A1 (en) 1997-01-16

Family

ID=7765275

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002227730A Abandoned CA2227730A1 (en) 1995-06-26 1996-06-26 Process for printing objects and a floor covering obtainable with said process

Country Status (11)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0835184B1 (en)
JP (1) JP2000500078A (en)
AT (1) ATE185325T1 (en)
AU (1) AU705402B2 (en)
CA (1) CA2227730A1 (en)
DE (2) DE19523188C2 (en)
DK (1) DK0835184T3 (en)
ES (1) ES2140104T3 (en)
HU (1) HUP9802870A3 (en)
PL (1) PL324037A1 (en)
WO (1) WO1997001445A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19736605A1 (en) * 1997-08-22 1999-02-25 Dlw Ag Modified color printing method

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4682216A (en) * 1983-03-08 1987-07-21 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Color image picture forming process and apparatus which improves the quality of the black portions of the picture
DE4317984A1 (en) * 1993-01-29 1994-08-04 Dlw Ag Printing method and printing device
DE4417449C2 (en) * 1994-05-19 1996-09-05 Eder Repros Offset Repro Gmbh Process for creating a colored print image

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU6187696A (en) 1997-01-30
JP2000500078A (en) 2000-01-11
AU705402B2 (en) 1999-05-20
DE19523188C2 (en) 1998-04-02
DE59603290D1 (en) 1999-11-11
WO1997001445A1 (en) 1997-01-16
HUP9802870A3 (en) 1999-04-28
DE19523188A1 (en) 1997-01-02
EP0835184A1 (en) 1998-04-15
ES2140104T3 (en) 2000-02-16
HUP9802870A2 (en) 1999-03-29
PL324037A1 (en) 1998-05-11
EP0835184B1 (en) 1999-10-06
DK0835184T3 (en) 1999-12-27
ATE185325T1 (en) 1999-10-15

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
EEER Examination request
FZDE Discontinued