The present invention concerns measures for the space-optimized
determination of printing-related measured values. With the aid of a tone
value and/or color gradient in a control patch and a suitable measuring
device, it is possible to obtain, in a smaller amount of space, adequate
or even detailed information about the printing process. Correcting
values necessary for the automatic control of the printing operation can
be determined on the basis of the information thus obtained, which can be
also be continuously acquired due to the space-optimized tone value
and/or color gradients.