insights4print.ceo

Strategic Insights

Did a two-year-long, real-life experiment reveal the magnitude of the Smallest Actionable Difference?

12/09/2026

We need a new metric: the ‘Smallest Actionable Difference’ (SAD), to know which difference in brand color reproduction will turn off consumers and therefore hurt trust and sales. But lab experiments can’t determine this, since […]

Strategic Insights

Our mind not only plays tricks on us,
it even invents reality…

04/08/2026

You probably thought what a silly question that is in the header image. “That’s Coca-Cola, obviously!” But check again, read the letters on that can out loud, very carefully, one by one… Did you notice? […]

Strategic Insights

Beyond the P1/P2 light booth:
What color actually looks like on the shelf

07/06/2026

If you work in printing, or if you are a brand owner, print buyer, or designer who cares about the quality of print products, you probably know very well what the press control station or […]

Ink savings in offset printing: some historical context

28/07/2026

“Is this you?” That was the question I got via e-mail recently, with a link to a 2011 article in the Polish print magazine Świat DRUKU. It was a message from Jinkai Qian from Techkon, […]

Strategic Insights

Why are print buyers holding single-use print jobs to a higher standard than the reference they use?

15/05/2026

Serious question: why are print buyers holding disposable FMCG packaging to a higher standard than their reference: their copy of the Pantone color guide? Why would consumers – who are not color savvy, typically looking […]

Strategic Insights

Can I trust this Oreo?
(a print bubble story about framing, priming and no one caring enough to comment)

28/02/2026

Last week, I used LinkedIn for another experiment, seeking the wisdom of the crowd. And as it can happen, it went quite differently from what I intended, even though the setup seemed quite simple to […]

Strategic Insights

It’s proven: color differences can confuse consumers!
Well… if the colors are some 50 dE00 apart…

01/02/2026

If you are a regular reader of my blog or my LinkedIn posts, you’ll probably know I have been questioning the claim that color differences confuse consumers and negatively impact sales. And guess what: I […]

Strategic Insights

Print quality ain’t what it used to be…
(spoiler alert: it’s much better!)

25/07/2026

From time to time, I read these remarks on LinkedIn: print quality isn’t what it used to be, and people start complaining. And every time, a smile appears on my face: “Really???” So, let’s do […]

Strategic Insights

Tolerances in brand color reproduction:
one size – fits all?
Why printing needs expectation management

26/08/2026

When talking about tolerances for the reproduction of brand colors in print, you often hear just one number. Whether it’s 2, 3, or 4 dE00, it’s just one number. And we have to ask ourselves: […]

XCMYK at Midnight Oil: How government regulations can drive innovation

10/08/2026

XCMYK has a lot to offer: using the same traditional four inks, a much larger gamut can be achieved, as well as some very nice blues. Many recent digital presses support it, or they have […]

Landa Digital Printing: The flight of Icarus

06/09/2026

The verdict is in: Landa Digital Printing is sold to FIMI for 80 million US$ in a flash sale. Benny Landa, who a few years ago claimed his company was worth 2 billion US$, is […]

Strategic Insights

Probabilities and priors
How a maths theorem defines brand and product recognition

16/08/2025

While on vacation, I finished reading the book ‘Everything Is Predictable – How Bayes’ Remarkable Theorem Explains the World’ by Tom Chivers. And yes, you may question my choices of books, but I have to […]

Landa Digital Printing – a textbook example of ‘sunk cost fallacy’?

07/08/2026

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will have noticed that I’m a fan of ‘behavioral economics’. It’s a fascinating field in economics, that studies the irrational behavior of human beings. One […]

The evolution of offset printing
And why is this relevant to the troubles at Landa Digital Printing

08/08/2026

It might seem a bit strange to have an article on the evolution of offset printing. Still, it’s highly relevant at this moment: it provides some context on Landa Digital Printing and its difficulties in […]

Strategic Insights

We need a new metric:
the smallest actionable difference (SAD)
JND and JAD don’t cover consumer behavior in shops

14/03/2026

‘JND’, the ‘just-noticeable (color) difference’, is a core concept in color science. Next to that one, there is also ‘JAD’: the ‘just-acceptable (color) difference’. But these are not sufficient, if you ask me. That’s why […]