X-Rite Pantone has proposed a new program that it claims will help cut the problems printers face when exchanging colour data results from different measurement tools.

The company says that by opening its XRGA standard to third parties, high quality print data can easily be exchanged, regardless of make or manufacturer.

According to X-Rite, aligning instrumentation to a single standard would help cut waste while reducing job setup times.

X-Rite print solutions market manager Stephen Miller said the issue of colour data exchange was a problem that "just about every company" has dealt with at one time.

"Unfortunately, some printers deal with this on an almost daily basis as they are trying to exchange high quality color measurement data to stakeholders in their supply chain," he said.

According to X-Rite, the XRGA standard incorporates ISO-13655 with other best practices in colour methods to reduce measurement variation among instruments due to different calibration standards.

Miller added that the company's XRGA standard, which was introduced around two years ago, has proved to be "such an effective tool" when harmonising colour measurement data.

He said: "While X-Rite competes with a number of other respected companies in this field, we should cooperate as an industry to develop a common standard of instrument agreement to benefit all of our customers."

In addition, Miller said the unified standard also created "bridges" between a number of disciplines such as brand owners, designers, printers and graphic artists.