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X-Rite Partners with Esko to Bring AI-Powered Color Matching to Digital Packaging at Esko World 2025

Thursday 05. June 2025 - Together, X-Rite eXact 2 and Esko Print Clone help printers accurately reproduce color from previously printed packages in digital production environments, accelerating production while ensuring brand color accuracy and reducing waste.

At Esko World 2025, X-Rite Incorporated, a global leader in color science and technology, announced that the eXact 2 handheld spectrophotometer is an essential component of the Esko Print Clone software innovation. This cloud-native, AI-powered solution simplifies and accelerates color matching in digital production environments.
The eXact 2 and Print Clone solution enables digital press printers to reproduce color from any previously printed packaging with speed and precision, reducing make-ready time and minimizing waste. Digital press operators simply upload PDFs into Print Clone and measure physical print samples using the eXact 2 for real-time print and press profiling. Print Clone’s AI-powered algorithms calculate the target color profile to ensure digital press output meets brand specifications.
“X-Rite and Esko have a long-standing partnership focused on delivering innovative, end-to-end color solutions for packaging customers,” said Cindy Cooperman, Vice President – Brand Global Strategic Accounts at X-Rite Pantone. “Print Clone is a great example of how we’re working together to bring AI-powered automation to the digital pressroom—helping brands and their print suppliers reduce manual steps, improve accuracy, and keep pace with the demands of modern packaging production.”
X-Rite at Esko World
This week at Esko World in St. Louis, Missouri, X-Rite is demonstrating how its advanced color management solutions enable consistent color across packaging types, print processes, and global supply chains.
Featured solutions include:
Color Assessment Service: A complimentary report showing how brand colors appear across five packaging substrates.
eXact 2: A next-generation handheld spectrophotometer that removes subjectivity and helps suppliers ensure brand color is in target run to run.
PantoneLIVE and Private Library Manager: A cloud-based solution to digitally communicate brand and custom color standards.
ColorCert ScoreCard Server: Cloud-based software for tracking and analyzing print quality.
Panel Discussion:
McDonald’s Packaging Color Best Practices
Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 1:30 – 2:00 PM CDT
Kim Haugh from tms/McDonald’s will share best practices about how X-Rite Pantone’s advanced color management solutions help tms/McDonald’s reduce rework, improve production efficiency, and maintain brand color consistency across packaging on a global scale.