Color Matching and Metamerism Removal in Wood Grain Printing

The wood grain printing is a procedure which is used to gain a real wood type of appearance on product surfaces. This procedure has recently gained demand over the use of real wood, thus reducing deforestation. When the wood is only required for the purpose of a natural appearance, this printing technology can fulfil the requirements. But as this method promises to deliver a finish just like a real wood with different color variations, it is important to see if the quality delivered is same under distinct light conditions or not. Therefore, conducting Color Matching technique and detecting Metamerism is done using a Color Matching Cabinet.

In the industry of prototyping which is in this case printing identical images of real wood, problems such as inaccurate color production leading to fake looking print and metamerism in the released coating are commonly seen. To fight such quality issues one must see the printed objects under artificially produced lights in the lab.

The chamber, which is an ASIA model is specially designed to conduct precision based visual assessment and color evaluation methods. Being an Asian model, the viewing booth delivers all required light sources applicable in the Asian environments. It is equipped with the D65 Artificial daylight. Under this one can see if the wood grain printed material will look the same in the daylight or not. Along with this, Triphosphor Fluorescent Light (TL 84), Ultra Violet Blacklight (UV black), Tungsten Filament Light (TFL), and Cool White Light (CWL).

The Color Matching Booth is equipped with a time totalizer which ensures the duration the specimen is kept under distinct light sources can be calculated separately. It is very important to note that the specimen must be kept under the light sources for a stipulated time period. Many industries demand a particular duration for Monitoring effects of Metamerism in Wood Grain Printing. Other than this, 45-degree angle of viewing booth is installed in the box so that, the sample must be placed at a specified angle. The viewing angle plays an important role in the color matching method. If the sample is not kept at the standard angle it may interfere with the accurate specimen observation.

The material used to construct the chamber is either wood or steel, you can choose any one as per your requirement. The material used ensures that no outer light element enters inside and disturbs the test monitoring procedure. The time totalizer delivers an accuracy of ± 0.2% over the entire range. The tube light installed is of 2 feet of size.