How a Coated-Films Manufacturer Feeds Spectrodensitometer Color Data into Excel QC Templates with WinWedge
Summary: A leading manufacturer of precision-coated imaging papers and films for color printing and imaging, uses WinWedge to feed readings from X-Rite Model 938 spectro-densitometers* and Model 301 densitometers into an Excel-based color quality control system. Includes icon-selectable templates that automatically open the right WinWedge configuration and spreadsheet for each instrument.
(*Designed for the printing industry, the spectro-densitometer combines the capabilities of a spectrophotometer, a colorimeter, and a densitometer in a single color measurement instrument. The spectrodensitometer measures and calculates data, and converts it into different numeric color expressions. The densitometer measures color characteristics such as density, dot, trap, hue error/grayness, and print contrast.)
The Challenge
Color tolerances in electronic imaging materials are tight, so the manufacturer continuously monitors color, color change, and color gamut through manufacturing and R&D. The X-Rite instruments produce rich numeric color data over RS232, but a previous custom program didn’t suit the QC team’s needs — and multiple instruments serving multiple test types meant any solution had to switch cleanly between device configurations without operators fiddling with settings.
The Solution
The coating manufacturer’s engineer, McBride, built the system around WinWedge and Excel. WinWedge parses and filters each instrument’s output so only the needed values reach the spreadsheet, correctly formatted. The elegant part is the template layer: the operator clicks an icon for the instrument and test in use, which automatically opens both the matching WinWedge configuration file and the corresponding Excel template. Readings then flow straight into analysis — color difference measurements, gamut calculations, and graphing — with no setup steps and no chance of a mismatched configuration.
The X-Rite instruments offer serial (RS232) output, therefore allowing direct connection to PC com ports. To complete the automated data collection system, McBride uses WinWedge by TAL Technologies, Inc. which serves as the interface between the instruments and his Excel-based system. WinWedge parses and filters the data from the instruments to ensure that only the necessary data is transmitted in the proper format as needed into the Excel spreadsheet.
To further ease the data collection and analysis process, McBride developed a series of Excel templates for each of the different instruments and applications. To use the templates, the user simply selects the measuring instrument from a group of icons, and the appropriate WinWedge configuration file is automatically opened, along with the Excel spreadsheet template. The user is then ready to start taking readings from the instrument and Excel performs the analysis. The analysis includes color difference measurements, color gamut calculations, and graphing routines.
Before developing this system, McBride noted that they used a custom program that didn’t suit their needs. The new data collection and analysis system using the versatile combination of WinWedge and Excel offers a flexible and analytically powerful solution, which is also user-friendly and cost-effective.
The Results
- Efficient, accurate, consistent color QC data collection in manufacturing and R&D
- One-click switching between instruments via paired configuration files and templates
- Only the required values reach the spreadsheet — parsed, filtered, formatted
- Replaced an unsatisfactory custom program with a flexible, user-friendly system
How You’d Set This Up Today
Current X-Rite and other color instruments connect to the USB ports on your new PCs via RS232 to UBS converter cables (FTDI or Prolific) or by Ethernet. Both handled by today’s WinWedge (Ethernet via TCP-Wedge in WinWedge Pro) on Windows 10/11. The icon-launched pairing of a WinWedge configuration with an Excel template is one recommended option in multi-instrument QC labs to simplify data collection from various measuring devices. The same approach serves any instrument family: densitometers, gloss meters, colorimeters, thickness gauges, height meters, load and tensile testers and many more measuring instruments.
Collecting Data from Your Own Instruments?
Running QC with multiple instruments? Download a free WinWedge trial or call (800) 722-6004 — we’ll help you build customized-instrument configurations that can be automatically launched for each instrument.
Originally published in our application archives · Updated August 2026