X-Rite, Pantone Launch Payment Card Holder

X-Rite Incorporated and Pantone LLC announced a new fixture that helps printers and manufacturers measure and control color on credit, gift, ID, loyalty, hotel key, and membership cards. 

The new Payment Card Holder works with the eXact Family and Ci60 Series of portable handheld devices to securely position and aligns the card for an accurate spectral reading. 

“Brands use eye-catching colors, logos, metallic foils, and artwork to make their gift, loyalty, promotional, and credit cards stand out,” said Michael Beering, product manager, X-Rite and Pantone. “Any mistake in production can be costly and force the entire job to be scrapped. Working directly with our customers, we created the Payment Card Holder to help press operators properly align a card and take multiple spot measurements. This makes for a repeatable process across shifts and facilities. It also helps operators identify quality control issues early in the process.”

X-Rite’s Payment Card Holder allows press operators to secure a card and align a handheld spectrophotometer at precise points of measurement to evaluate color accuracy. 

The ruler features a millimeter-scale that enables operators to capture measurements at specified locations for a repeatable process across shifts and manufacturing facilities. 

As a result, printers and manufacturers can adhere to standard operating procedures for consistent measurements, even across operators, shifts, and production sites.

Printers can use the new fixture with the Ci64, Ci62, Ci60, or eXact Family of spectrophotometers to measure a wide variety of inks and foils commonly used in metallic or plastic cards.

After each measurement, users see actionable pass/fail data on the device screen and can import data into InkFormulation Software and quality control software such as ColorCert and Color iQC. 

“The ability to take accurate and consistent measurements on payment, gift, ID, or key cards and integrate that data into ink formulation and quality control software helps streamline the manufacturing process,” Beering said. “Printers can use the data to identify color drifts and make corrections to ensure they stay within color tolerances. This saves time, costs, and speeds production.”