A digital printing machine color control method includes printing test images onto substrates, measuring substrates using a measuring device, comparing actual color values on substrates and saved color setpoints of test images using a controller, calculating differences between color setpoints and actual color values on substrates using the controller, upon exceeding acceptable deviations between color setpoints and actual color values, modifying solid or halftone values by a factor using the controller, repeating printing test images using test image halftone values corrected by the factor and measuring new actual color values using the measuring device, comparing actual color values newly printed using corrected values and saved color setpoints of test images using the controller, calculating differences between newly printed actual color values and saved color setpoints of test images using the controller, and printing print jobs if differences between new actual color values and color setpoints are below acceptable deviations.