SUN Chemical and X-Rite Incorporated have announced new metal packaging colour libraries in the PantoneLIVE digital colour ecosystem.
Designed for the drinks sector, the libraries are designed to enable accurate visualisation and communication of Pantone and brand colours on two-piece aluminium cans with metal deco inks in a matte finish. This improves colour predictability and consistency, helping brands and suppliers to maintain colours across substrates and finishes.
Available through the PantoneLIVE Production – Print and Packaging subscription, the new libraries support aluminium beverage can production using both opaque and transparent inks for a matte effect.
With over 4,000 colour options, the expanded libraries extend PantoneLIVE’s support for metal packaging and metal decoration across a range of applications, including two-piece cans, mono-bloc aerosols, aluminium collapsible tubes, cartridges, and felt pen cases.
“By tapping into PantoneLIVE’s extensive library of validated Pantone colours specifically developed for metal deco inks, brands and their aluminium packaging suppliers can avoid time-consuming and costly custom colour development,” said Eduardo Alegria, global champion metal deco inks, Sun Chemical. “This minimises delays, reworks, and ink laydown trials during new design production runs, resulting in a more consistent, efficient, and sustainable packaging workflow.”
PantoneLIVE integrates with X-Rite’s portfolio of software and hardware solutions, including ColorCert, Color iQC, Autura Ink, MeasureColor, the Ci64 handheld spectrophotometer, and NetProfiler.
“As demand for metal packaging grows, it’s important to manage colour expectations early in the design phase,” added Jason Campbell, product manager, X-Rite. “These new PantoneLIVE libraries combined with X-Rite measurement solutions give beverage companies and their suppliers the ability to preview and achieve consistent colour across the full production chain, so the final product looks exactly as intended.”
