Sun Chemical and X-Rite have unveiled new additions to the PantoneLIVE digital colour ecosystem to enhance colour predictability and consistency for metal packaging within the beverage industry.

The newly introduced colour libraries seeks to enable precise representation of Pantone and brand colours on two-piece aluminium cans.

The initiative will improve the entire process from design to shelf, ensuring brand colours remain uniform across different substrates and finishes.

Accessible through the PantoneLIVE Production – Print and Packaging subscription, the latest libraries support aluminium beverage can production using opaque and transparent inks to achieve a matte effect.

As the industry sees a growing demand for matte varnishes in metal packaging, the update provides customers with comprehensive PantoneLIVE libraries for both gloss and matte finishes.

This enables brand owners, converters and can-makers to choose production-ready colours for various finishes on two-piece aluminium cans.

X-Rite product manager Jason Campbell stated: "As demand for metal packaging grows, it's important to manage colour expectations early in the design phase.

"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."

The expanded libraries now offer more than 4,000 colour options, extending PantoneLIVE's capabilities for metal packaging and decoration across a broad spectrum of applications. This includes two-piece cans, monobloc aerosols, aluminium collapsible tubes, cartridges and felt pen cases.

Brands, along with their supply chain collaborators, can now refine the colour development process, reduce uncertainty and the need for revisions, and guarantee dependable and consistent outcomes across various metal formats and finishes.

PantoneLIVE integrates with X-Rite's suite of software and hardware solutions: ColorCert, Color iQC, Autura Ink, MeasureColor, the Ci64 handheld spectrophotometer and NetProfiler.

This comprehensive colour management workflow aids brands, packaging printers and manufacturers to simplify colour communication, boosting design and print efficiency, and achieving measurable digital colour management.