X-Rite EasyTrax

This press side tool tracks colour with high consistency and the results on the press after are amazingly accurate, says Himanshu Chopra of Artz & Printz.

10 May 2013 | By PrintWeek India

Describe the company?
We are a company primarily focusing on quality print at an affordable price, along with consistent predictable colour. We sell colours to our customers and quite strong about it. We have learned our tricks after lots of experimentation on press. 

What does the machine do?
EasyTrax helps us attain our goal along with scientific quantification of what we do, which is reproducing colours with high consistency. 
 
Why did you choose this particular machine?
X-Rite has been a market leader in colour, so EasyTrax was the tool for us, we opted for spectral version of the device.
 
Did you look at any other similar machines?
Other brands were not an option. We knew what we wanted and which company could deliver it.
 
Why did you make this purchase?
We wanted to compete with bigger print organisations on the basis of our work so we had to be very tight on our tolerances for print, which was only possible with a press side tool for quality control like EasyTrax. 
 
What features do you particular like?
The speed, repeatability and accuracy of the device is amazing. With the spot reading capability, we can measure across the sheet to check consistency all over the printed sheet and across the run length.
 
Is there anything that you wish it had that it doesn’t? 
It shows TVI (dot gain) as curves instead of bars.
 
How fast is it?
Very fast. We know what’s happening on press in under seven seconds for 25-inch sheet width.
 
How reliable is it?
We bought the X-Rite for its reliability. 
 
What’s the quality like?
Impressive. We believe it’s the best product in the market. 
 
How easy is it to use?
It wasn’t hard for our operator to learn how the device operates and what he needs to monitor during print production.
 
How much time or money has it saved? 
It has helped us reduce our makeready time by half, our number of makereadies have gone up and since we don’t tinker on the ink zones on press after makeready our consistency during print run has gone up dramatically. We have saved considerable amount of time, paper and ink.
 
Has it won you any new work?
I believe self-improvement of an organisation is an ongoing process. And it ultimately benefits the organisation. Our EasyTrax investment was never targeted towards getting more work. Its main objective was to improve our colour capability which it surely has.  
 
Would you say that it offers value for money?
Yes, without a doubt. 
 
Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
None at all, the installation was plug-and-play.
 
What about the pre- and after-sale service?
AGS and the AGS team has been servicing this industry for long now. I never doubted that sales and service would ever be a problem.
 
Who do you think the machine is right for?
For anyone who has a press, big or small. The difference in quality is huge.
 
Under what circumstances would you buy another?
As and when we invest in additional presses we would buy additional units of EasyTrax from AGS. 

Conclusion
User’s verdict
Speed 5/5
Quality 5/5
Reliability 5/5
Value for money 5/5