In-process color management system and method for digital color printing

An apparatus, comprising:

• a printer to print a color target on a substrate during a production run of a printing operation;
• a spectrophotometer to measure first color space values of the color target;
• and
• a processor to:
• compare the first measured color space values to reference color space values to identify a difference between the first measured color space values and the reference color space values;
• compare the difference to a threshold range;
• and
• in response to the difference being outside of the threshold range, adjust color values during the production run to enable a difference between second measured color space values and the reference color values to be within the threshold range.

A method, comprising:

• generating a color target during a production run of a printing operation;
• measuring first color space values of the color target;
• in response to measuring the first color space values, comparing the first measured color space values to reference color space values to identify a difference between the first measured color space values and the reference color space values;
• comparing the difference to a threshold range;
• and
• in response to the difference being outside of the threshold range, adjusting color values during the production run to enable a difference between second measured color space values and the reference color values to be within the threshold range.