Wrapping heat-deformable plastic labels around packages relies on a shrinking process. Shrinking plastic labels distorts not only the shape but also the color of the printed artwork. In this study, we analyze and model the color shifts induced by shrinkage. The ultimate goal is to generate full color images which after shrinking have colors as close as possible to the original colors. For this purpose, we present a thickness enhanced Clapper-Yule prediction model. Its calibration requires spectral measurements of original, nonshrunk samples, as well as the measured shrinkage factors. With the prediction model, we establish a table creating the correspondences between target colors after shrinking and ink area coverages. This enables creating color images which after shrinking match the original images. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 41, 56-63, 2016