A method and system scan an item having at least one color feature using an in-line spectrophotometer of a printing apparatus. The scanning identifies at least one “item color” within the color feature. The item color is stored as at least one custom target color in a computer-readable storage medium of the printing apparatus. The custom target color can be stored with the print job for future reference. At least one print job is processed through a printing engine of the printing apparatus to output at least one printed sheet. During the processing of the print job, the printed sheet is scanned with the in-line spectrophotometer to identify at least one printed color on the printed sheet and the printed color is compared to the custom target color to identify any color difference. The printing characteristics of the printing apparatus are adjusted to reduce the color difference.