|
|
7 Explosive Strategies to Maximize Your Google AdWords Campaigns
If you ever used Google AdWords to advertise your product or service online, you’d have experienced the sheer power of this online advertising medium.
In fact, more and more online marketers, both large organizations and ‘one-man’ companies...
InvestorIdeas.com Announces Addition of Chinese Language Financial Research, Original Articles and Content In Response to Asian Market Growth
InvestorIdeas.com Announces Addition of Chinese Language Financial Research, Original Articles and Content In Response to Asian Market Growth
Responding to the growth and increasing global influence of Asian markets and economy,...
Online PayDay Loans: How to Gain an Advantage over Lenders
When you need money today, and not just a week from today, online payday loans can be a salvation. But for many people, these loans, also called payday advances or sometimes just cash advances, have become a nightmare. Here's the good and the bad...
Ten Reasons to Implement Choice Theory in Your Organization
What is Choice Theory (CT)? CT is a theory of the explanation of human behavior. CT has applicability to both a person’s personal and professional life. It teaches us about our five basic needs, how to meet those needs in a responsible way, and how...
Write Press Releases That Dazzle
When a reporter is wowed, intrigued, surprised or captivated by your press release, you can be pretty sure you’ll get some media coverage. And for most businesses, positive media coverage is worth its weight in gold. The bad news: Although...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How to Ensure Effective Color in Today’s Manufacturing Processes (And why it’s more Important Than Ever Today)
Scientists will describe color as the quality of an object with respect to light. But, as any one of us knows, our human response to color is very emotional. When skillfully used by designers, color creates the kind of harmonious balance and appeal that helps sell everything from personal care products to automobiles to wallcovering. Precisely because of this blend of science and emotion, color remains difficult to manage across the entire manufacturing supply chain cycle. Much can happen to impact the color from the time a designer creates it until it is inspected on a factory floor. Multiple processes are required for successful color development throughout its long and complicated cycle. This paper covers technological advances in the most significant areas of color development – color matching and color quality control – as well as how the latest color communication system integrates these tools into an overall virtual color environment that benefits the entire supply chain quite literally from mind to market.
The way it was: a short history of managing color across industries and locations Describing color has always been a subjective and expensive process for all parties involved in the production of color. Suppliers, particularly those separated by time zones and language barriers, experience the most difficulty. In the 1980s, manufacturers alleviated some of these difficulties by measuring the physical standards with a spectrophotometer in one location and then distributing the "color" of that standard to other locations with the data from the spectrophotometer –i.e., in the form of spectral reflectance curves. A physical sample was still needed for visual reference, but the approval of batches was “by the numbers.” Yet challenges in communicating color remained. Regardless of how many numbers are assigned to a color, we don’t see in numbers. A verbal description doesn’t precisely help us visualize what another person means by “fire-engine red,” as color is both a physical and psychological response to light. When a paint pigment such as titanium oxide, for example, strongly scatters light, it yields a white effect. When another pigment absorbs certain wavelengths of light, it produces a colored effect. In addition to this physical phenomenon, each viewer brings a different response to the same stimulus. These differences can be due to age, fatigue, color vision defects, gender, or experience. Consider how human factors impact the color matching process in this typical scenario: the designer struggles to communicate precisely the color he or she has envisioned, using physical samples and describing how the proof should vary from the sample – i.e., warmer, brighter, bluer. The colorant supplier tries to match each sample, but still doesn’t satisfy the design spec because the sample is only a starting point. Not only is the designer limited to feedback about the sample in the most subjective terms (e.g., by talking about it), but the sample the supplier was given to match may not be the same substrate or pigment coloration as the final product. And the medium matters. Whether it’s opaque or transparent, matte or gloss finish, flat or round, plastic or paper, affects perception of the finished color as surely as does the other considerations.
Embracing the entire color cycle Simply put, the color cycle is as complex as it is encompassing. To a designer, color speaks to aesthetics and identity. To a manufacturer, color is precise and tangible. Designers want flexibility and creativity while production needs an exact target and direction to deliver first-run quality. The latest advances in color technology utilize the power of today’s best web-based solutions to address such diverse approaches to color and to capture its complexities in ways never before possible – completely, accurately, electronically. The new electronic medium that leading color developers have embraced provides a comprehensive and inclusive framework that affords everyone throughout the supply chain the opportunity to benefit from shortened time to market, costs reductions, and the overall improvement in color quality. How? In general, the new, web-based color communication system delivers correct color approval throughout a supply chain not by duplicating efforts, but rather by streamlining and enhancing color processes already in place. The specifics of how the latest electronic color communication system optimally works is illustrated by the following: 1.An OEM or component manufacturer selects a color standard and measures it on a spectrophotometer (color measuring instrument). 2.The color standard then appears as a digital image on the computer monitor, which has been calibrated for color accuracy. 3.The standard is then electronically sent to the supplier, where trial color samples are produced and measured on a spectrophotometer. 4.The supplier then electronically sends back its digital sample of the best possible color match to the manufacturer where it is compared to the standard on the calibrated monitor. If the match is not accepted, more color matching is requested and is done by the supplier and digital samples are sent until the manufacturer approves the color match. 5.The manufacturer then receives the final lab sample, usually in less than half the time of a “traditional” color matching trial and error process.
Perhaps the most powerful, inclusive aspect of the new electronic environment is the fact that color now can be communicated digitally and assessed visually. Receivers of a virtual color sample get more than a set of numbers – rather, the receiver sees precisely the color on screen that corresponds to the colorimetric data. Similarly, visual tolerances can be evaluated and set realistically. Everyone, for example, can see how far a particular spectrophotometer reading – such as 1CMC unit - is from a particular color standard.
How smart is your software? As mentioned, the electronic color channel does not completely change the traditional method of color control as much as it streamlines and enhances it. Toward that end, the new system utilizes familiar tools such as the most advanced color-measuring instruments (spectrophotometers) as well as the latest color management software. Yet, in keeping with its overall goal of color process
enhancement, the most effective color communication system takes advantage of the latest innovations among these color control devices and incorporates them within its wholly innovative virtual color environment. Color matching is a prime example. The goal, of course, always is to be on-target, on-color without the need for correction. Yet hours of production time can be spent bringing batches on shade without the appropriate tools to accommodate the real-world variables that make up colorant conditions. Different gloss levels between batch and standard, for instance, can all too easily translate into expensive rejections, particularly in darker colors. And these variables are compounded with the rising popularity in special-effect pigments that more and more manufacturers are choosing to capture discerning, high-end buyers. Mica-based pigments, which create pearlescent and iridescent finishes, add depth and richness to the appearance of a surface by manipulating the behavior of light reflected from the surface. Iridescents actually change hues and shift shades in order to create their unique coloration. In other words, the very characteristics of these high-end coatings that make them in demand are the exact same aspects that make it so difficult to produce in a first-run match. The good news is that the color-matching technology incorporated into today’s color communication system can now accommodate even high-end coatings such as metallic-based and pearlescents. To be sure the system you are evaluating delivers these benefits, look for color matching software that can deliver: Significantly reduced color-matching times. Some, such as Datacolor’s Pearl color matching software, exhibit first-shot matching rates of up to 90 percent and lab trial reductions of 50 percent. Reduced raw material costs. Check out specific functionality rather than general claims; for example, how well does the software provide the ability to store recycles as formulas and colorants. Is it automatic? How can operators characterize recycles? By a single measurement or is it a more complicated process? Quick and complete color specification and communication with customers and suppliers. Examine how the color matching software works with other systems such as color quality control as well color-measuring instruments. Is it seamless? Can you link all key parties effectively in a comprehensive network of color management? Minimized waste and downtime. Pay particular attention to how the software allows operators to bring the most difficult to match colors, such as metallics, on shade in production. Are “adds” to batches automatically calculated? What about the corrected formula for new batches? Make sure operators can perform invaluable functions such as previewing the effects of “adds” of any colorant to a batch prior to production. Increased productivity. No matter how sophisticated, any color matching system is limited in effectiveness if it’s hard to learn and cumbersome to use. Look for software that takes advantage of the best of today’s computers and features built-in user friendliness. The software also should be backed by comprehensive training and support.
Color measurement that’s well in hand Integrating an efficient color-measuring instrument into the system will significantly improve the effectiveness of overall coloring process as well as ensure color consistency in a finished product. Yet in this area of color control, as well, challenges have remained. One continuing challenge in portable color measuring devices has been a cumbersome user interface. “Traditional” interfaces often use switches that must be toggled in a precise order to customize sample names and screen selections. Also, while just about every portable color measurement instrument on the market offers a wide variety of software tools, many are never used simply because it is too difficult to navigate through the program to access them. The newest offering in the portable spectrophotometers introduces a radical departure and eliminates many of these challenges by utilizing PDA-driven technology for easy operation. This highly unique approach to color measurement is a prime example of the latest technology to be incorporated into the new electronic color communication system. Why? PDA (Personal Data Assistant) technology delivers the best of both worlds for superior color quality. It allows leading color developers such as Datacolor to integrate software customized for just about any color management applications right into a light, easy to handle color measurement instrument. Plus, it retains all of the navigation features that are standard on a PDA and which make it such a desirable device in general. No more cumbersome toggle switches or default selections. Using a stylus, the user simply taps the screen to input custom sample names or to change evaluation screens. This speeds the color evaluation process while it reduces errors in sample identification and evaluation selection. Adapting the PDA to a color management application also takes advantage of the memory/storage capacity available with a PDA. In the past, the software offerings that have accompanied portable instruments were confined to basic quality control functions—simple color difference, pass/fail, and color indices--because of memory limitations. Data upload/download to and from a PC has been a mandatory feature of all handheld units. However, QC and color formulation systems based on PC platforms generate enormous databases of both samples and formulas. Memory limitations have prevented the full utilization of these databases in a handheld application. The integration of the PDA into the new instrument is an answer to that limitation. For instance, the memory capacity of Datacolor’s PDA-driven device, the Mercury 3000, makes it possible to accommodate a maximum of 30,000 samples, and to develop more complex programs that can search, retrieve, and manipulate the information that they contain.
About the Author
Shawn Mulligan is Marketing Manager of Datacolor, Inc, an industry leader in color management and color control for the textile, paint, printing, plastics, coatings and digital color industries. Datacolor is located in Lawrenceville, NJ. More information on the company can be found at http://www.datacolor.com.
|
|
|
|
|
Language Tools |
Translation of text and web pages between English and several European languages. |
www.google.com |
  |
Language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Gestures are a part of human language too. Some invented human languages have ... In human languages, the symbols are sometimes known as lexemes and the ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
English language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Estimates about second language speakers of English vary greatly between 150 million ... Distribution of first-language native English speakers by country ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
Free Translation and Professional Translation Services from SDL ... |
SDL International is the world's number 1 provider of free and professional language translation services for websites and documents. |
www.freetranslation.com |
  |
AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation |
Select from and to languages, Chinese-simp to English, Chinese-trad to English, English to Chinese-simp, English to Chinese-trad, English to Dutch ... |
babelfish.altavista.com |
  |
yourDictionary.com • Comprehensive and Authoritative Language Portal |
Comprehensive index of on-line dictionaries in more than 200 different languages. Includes an index of on-line grammars, word of the day by email, ... |
www.yourdictionary.com |
  |
iLoveLanguages - Your Guide to Languages on the Web |
The Human-Languages Page is a comprehensive catalog of language-related Internet resources. The over 1900 links in the HLP database have been hand-reviewed ... |
www.ilovelanguages.com |
  |
AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation |
AltaVista Babel Fish provides the online text and web page language translation! ... Select from and to languages, Chinese-simp to English, Chinese-trad to ... |
world.altavista.com |
  |
BBC - Languages - Homepage |
Learn French, Spanish, German, Italian and other languages with the BBC. Start up with our courses or brush up with our audio magazines. |
www.bbc.co.uk |
  |
Online Dictionaries and Translators |
online dictionaries that assist in the conversion from one language to ... If the dictionary only translates from one language to another you will see this ... |
www.word2word.com |
  |
The Klingon Language Institute |
Nonprofit organization offers language tutorials, related merchandise, mailing list and membership information. |
www.kli.org |
  |
MARC Code List for Languages |
MARC Code List for Languages prepared by the Library of Congress Network Development and MARC Standards Office. |
www.loc.gov |
  |
Python Programming Language -- Official Website |
Home page for Python, an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented, extensible programming language. It provides an extraordinary combination of clarity and ... |
www.python.org |
  |
SYSTRAN Language Translation Technology |
Machine translation products. Free online translation available (the engine used by Altavista's Web translator) - English to French, German, Italian, ... |
www.systransoft.com |
  |
Project MUSE - Language |
Language, the official journal for the Linguistic Society of America, ... Edited by Brian Joseph , Language serves a readership of over 7000 and has been ... |
muse.jhu.edu |
  |
Learn a Language :: English, Spanish, German, Italian, French ... |
English language courses online: e-learning, learn English online, ... English language learning events,news, conferences, workshops and seminars ... |
www.edufind.com |
  |
Parlo - Welcome to Parlo - learn to speak a new language. |
Parlo helps you learn English, French, Spanish and other languages with free online courses, music, a magazine, flash cards, chat rooms, message boards and ... |
www.parlo.com |
  |
PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor |
PHP is a server-side HTML embedded scripting language. It provides web developers with a full suite of tools for building dynamic websites: native APIs to ... |
www.php.net |
  |
Ethnologue, Languages of the World |
Home page of ethnologue.com, a searchable database of language resources. |
www.ethnologue.com |
  |
Language Log |
Weblog run by University of Pennsylvania phonetician Mark Liberman, with multiple guest linguists. |
itre.cis.upenn.edu |
  |
|