Color Management

A Unique Approach

EmbTrak Enterprise uses an order-centric approach to decoration color management, whether embroidery, screen printing, or another process.

For other developers, everything starts and ends with the embroidery stitch file. If they permit the user to save color combinations, the colors themselves can only be saved in relation to a specific file. Some may save colors in the file itself, while others may save it in an external database table. This is adequate if the design colors never vary, as in the case of some licensed logos. However, many designs are colored differently based on the background of the garment to which they are applied.

However, this can cause problems if, for example, the proper colorway must be matched with a specific product/color combination, or if two different customers each want the same design on the same product/color garment to be colored differently.

The file-centric approach works well in theory, but in the real world of decorated products, where the order drives sales, production and profits, the EmbTrak order-centric approach works best. EmbTrak begins with the order and ties art and color management to that order.  (See related Art Management article).

Order Colors

EmbTrak Enterprise enables the user (customer service rep, colorist, artist, etc.) to view the design in the order screen and select threads for each design against an image of the fabric. Each color combination is saved by line item, not only in the order record, but also in a special color history record. Later, when the same customer reorders a product/color that was previously decorated with the design, the most recent color combination for each product can be instantly retrieved and applied with a single click.

This eliminates the need to physically file a paper record of the order or the color history, and then physically retrieve each of those records later. The time savings are enormous–instead of the 10-30 minutes that might be required to manually color an order, the EmbTrak integrated coloring screen reduces the time for initial coloring to just a few minutes, with reorders taking as little as 10 seconds.

Color Cards and Colorways

EmbTrak Enterprise also allows the creation of standard colors for a design, as in the case of “club colors” or a licensed design. Additionally, EmbTrak Enterprise provides for the unlimited creation of named colorways for a specific design, and can even associate them with specific product/color combinations.

Productivity

All of these color management tools are available to the EmbTrak Enterprise user at the touch of a button. Depending on the type of coloring they do (e.g. green grass golf or licensed), our users achieve an increase in coloring speed of up to 400%, and an overall improvement in preparation department productivity of 20-80%.