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ColorLogic GmbHPrinting Standardsand Profiles

2ImpressumCopyright 2013 ColorLogic GmbH.All rights reserved. Reproduction of this information - including excerptsthereof - is only permitted with express, written consent.ColorLogic GmbH assumes no liability whatsoever for the accuracy of theinformation contained herein as regards the details and descriptions of standards and third-party products.Adobe, Acrobat, Photoshop, Postscript and PDF are registered trademarks ofAdobe Systems Inc. Windows, Windows XP and Windows 7 are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the USA and/or other countries. Apple, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, MacOS, MacOSX andColorSync are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. in the USA and/or othercountries. PANTONE and other Pantone trademarks are the property ofX-Rite Inc. All other trademarks are the property of the respective owners.2nd Edition,Version 4.0, March 2013

ContentPrinting standards and profilesEfficient workflows through using standard profiles .4Organizations and manufacturers in connection with printing standards,printing conditions and ICC profiles .5ISO, ICC, GWG, Adobe . 5FOGRA, ECI . 6BVDM, CGATS, IDEAlliance, SWOP, GRACoL and G7, Japan .7Australia, Asia, South America and Africa .8Color management workflows with standard profiles .103

4Printing standards and profilesBrief descriptionPresentation of the role of printing standards and the associated ICC profilesin the color management workflow.Application programs ColorLogic DeviceLink Sets (DLS) CoPrA All common DTP programsTarget groups Agencies Prepress Printers Photographers (who create printing data)Efficient workflows through using standard profilesDepending on the printing process and the paper type, different sizes of colorgamuts can be produced when printing ink on paper. A printing standard fora printing process describes various categories of substrates (papers) andthe necessary measures for printing stably and repeatably on the press inaccordance with a printing condition.A printing condition for printing is represented by colorimetric data - alsoknown as characterization data. Profiling software (e.g. CoPrA) can be usedto calculate an ICC printer profile for a printing standard from standard characterization data. It is common practice that major manufacturers, industryorganizations or experienced users calculate their own ICC profile versionson the basis of standard characterization data. Consequently, several profileversions for one and the same printing standard (process and paper type) areoften in use. Depending on region, however, there is frequently one leadingorganization whose profile version is regarded as the industry reference for aprinting standard, and thus as the printing condition.These reference profilesgreatly facilitate communication between the data supplier and the printer.To create optimum data for printing, the printer and the data supplier agreeon the standard to be used. Reference profiles for the respective printingstandard are then used to create the printing data and produce the proofs.

5Organizations and manufacturers in connection with printing standards, printing conditions and ICC profilesThere is a handful of organizations and manufacturers around the world thatadvance the development of printing standards, printing conditions and theassociated ICC profiles. Europe and the USA are two important centers ofdevelopment in this context.ISOThe International Organization for Standardization is made up of nationalstandardization bodies that together define globally valid standards for themost diverse sectors. Key ISO Standards for print production define, for example, colorimetry, the format for characterization data, the format of colorprofiles, the PDF format in general, and the PDF/X format for the exchange ofprinting data in particular, or the standardization of offset printing on differentpaper types.The ISO itself publishes neither characterization data for printingstandards, nor ICC profiles derived from them.ICCThe International Color Consortium cooperates with the ISO on developing the specifications for ICC profiles and their calculation in applicationprograms and operating systems (e.g. with the help of a color managementmodule - CMM). The ICC itself publishes neither characterization data forprinting standards, nor ICC profiles derived from them. Rather, the ICC maintains a directory (Registry) of characterization data for printing standardspublished by various national organizations.This ICC Registry is provisionallyconsidered to be the world‘s most important reference for printing conditions/characterization data in print production.GWGThe Ghent Working Group elaborates worldwide recommendations for theuse of PDF/X in print production. Among other things, this includes specifications for the preflighting (data check) of PDF/X files, as well as the maintenance of a list of recommended standard profiles (output intents) for dataexchange with PDF/X files (see also our "Preparing Mixed Color PDFs forPrinting" manual).AdobeFor selected characterization data, Adobe creates ICC profiles that are notonly included in the scope of supply of the Creative Suite software, but canalso be downloaded from the Adobe Web site free of charge.

6FOGRAFOGRA is very active in the development and updating of ISO Standards inEurope. Based on ISO Standards for standardizing printing, it elaborates characterization data that can be downloaded from the FOGRA Web site free ofcharge. The names of the characterization data published by FOGRA consistof the abbreviation FOGRA and a serial number. For instance, FOGRA39represents offset printing on coated paper.Under the name FOGRAcert, FOGRA additionally implements a comprehensive certification program for equipment and services in print production.The certification of printers for production according to ISO 12647-2 is alsoknown under the name PSO for Process Standard Offset.ECIThe European Color Initiative is a grouping of European publishing houses,printers, and a number of manufacturers from the color management field.The objective of the ECI is the development of free tools relating to printproduction with ICC profiles and PDF/X on the basis of industry standardsfor printing. In the web offset and gravure sector, the ECI coordinates printingtests across Europe, from which standard characterization data are obtainedand then published by FOGRA.The ECI creates reference ICC profiles from all FOGRA characterizationdata. Having initially been introduced in Germany, they are nowadays extensively used for standardized print production in Europe and parts of Asia.Thenaming conventions for ECI profiles were changed in 2008. All ECI profilescreated before this date included the abbreviation ISO in their names, as theywere intended to represent standardized print production on the basis ofISO 12647-2. Familiar profiles from this period include ISOcoated.icc, ISOcoated v2 eci.icc, ISOwebcoated and ISOuncoated.icc, for example. To infuture rule out the false impression that these could be official ISO profiles,the names of all ECI profiles created for offset printing since 2008 include theabbreviation PSO. ECI profiles for gravure printing include the abbreviationPSR for Process Standard Rotogravure. 2009 saw an important update in thegravure sector that is indicated by the abbreviation PSRv2.ColorLogic refers to the ECI profiles or profile names on numerous occasions in its workflow products.The ZePrA program includes a host of settingsfor converting or optimizing PDF/X data, where the ECI profiles are embedded as identifiers (e.g. as the output intent). In addition, the names of manyStandard DeviceLink Profiles from ColorLogic include abbreviations derivedfrom the ECI profiles.If the ECI releases new profiles, ColorLogic promptly produces matchingDeviceLink profiles and settings for ZePrA.

7BVDMIn the context of standardization, Germany‘s Bundesverband Druck und Medien cooperates closely with FOGRA and the ECI. Among other things, itpublishes the Media Standard Printing (MedienStandard Druck), which canbe downloaded for free, and the chargeable manual Process Standard Offset Printing (ProzessStandard Offsetdruck, in German only). The BVDM andFOGRA both act as co-certifiers for certifying printers in accordance withthe PSO.CGATSCGATS represents the USA within the ISO and publishes characterizationdata representing American printing standards.The characterization data startwith the abbreviation TR, followed by a three-digit number.TR001 representsan old version of the American SWOP standard and constitutes the basis forthe commonly used SWOP profile in the Adobe Creative Suite. In contrast toFOGRA, CGATS does not certify equipment or service providers.IDEAlliance, SWOP, GRACoL and G7IDEAlliance is an American umbrella organization for media production. Itsmembers are not only manufacturers from the media industry, but also endusers. In addition to activities relating to XML, IDEAlliance also deals withother specifications: GRACoL for sheet-fed offset printing, SWOP for weboffset and gravure, and G7 as a calibration technology for all printing processes. Based on CGATS characterization data, the GRACoL and SWOP workinggroups also devise ICC profiles for American printing standards. However,they are no longer actively advertised, now that Adobe has published its ownSWOP and GRACoL profile versions and integrated them in the CreativeSuite.Like FOGRA, IDEAlliance also offers certifications for equipment and serviceproviders on the basis of SWOP, GRACoL and G7.ColorLogic offers settings for its workflow applications and Standard DeviceLink Profiles for the American market. They refer to the Adobe profiles forSWOP and GRACoL.JapanStandard characterization data likewise exist for Japanese printing standards.In contrast to Europe and the USA, however, they are chargeable.Working onthis basis, Adobe offers standard ICC profiles that have established themselves as quasi-standards. The naming of ColorLogic DeviceLink profiles for theJapanese market is geared to the Adobe ICC profiles for Japan.

8AustraliaThe Australian printing industry works on the basis of the ISO specificationsand the FOGRA characterization data for coated papers (FOGRA39) andLWC papers (FOGRA28). The 3DAP label offers production guidelines, certification for proofing systems, and proprietary profiles based on the FOGRAcharacterization data. ColorLogic DeviceLink profiles with the target colorspaces ISOcoated v2 and ISOwebcoated represent the same printing standard as 3DAPv3 PAPERTYPE-1 and 3DAPv3 PAPERTYPE-3.Asia, South America and AfricaApart from Japan, no Asian country has so far published its own specificationsfor standardized printing, including characterization data and profiles. ManyAsian printers either work according to in-house standards or gear themselves to their customers, if they come from Europe or the USA.The situation is similar on the other continents.