Test strips are used to calibrate and verify G7 compliance. In these examples, the reduction of colour cast is improved from A to B to C.
Changing the world
Major print buyers are further driving the adoption of G7. Their challenges of time to market and shipping costs have motivated them to source graphics from G7 master printers in different regions. Previously, they could not do so with confidence, as different printers using different inks on different substrates did not result in a common visual appearance. It was certainly possible to achieve great-looking prints, but very difficult to match them.
Now, on the other hand, these buyers know G7 master printers use the same calibration points, adjusted colorimetrically to an NPDC, and can therefore produce a common visual appearance anywhere across the world, regardless of inks and substrates. Graphics can even be matched across different printing methods, such as digital inkjet and screenprinting.
As such, another growing trend is compliance to international standards. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards (CGATS) 21-1 and 21-2, Graphic technology – Printing from digital data across multiple technologies, for example, are print standards based on G7. General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography (GRACoL) and Specifications for Web Offset Publications (SWOP) are also based on G7’s NPDC. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is lagging behind somewhat, due to small pockets of resistance to the colorimetric print standards established by G7, but ISO/TS 10128:2009, Graphic technology—Methods of adjustment of the colour reproduction of a printing system to match a set of characterization data, provides G7 as a grey balance calibration option. And as mentioned earlier, colour management tools, RIPs and graphic design software are all adding features based on G7 and standards for grey balance.
All of these changes will affect wide-format printing professionals whether they know it yet or not. Their companies stand to benefit by becoming qualified as G7 master printers now, rather than later, as they will be positioned to comply with new standards for colour accuracy as they come into effect.
Mike Ruff is a consultant with more than 40 years’ experience in the graphic arts industry, chair of the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technology (ASDPT) and a certified G7 expert trainer. He is scheduled to present a seminar at Graphics Canada 2015 focusing on best practices for profitability. For more information, contact him via e-mail at mruff@mikeruffconsulting.com and visit www.graphicscanada.com.
