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Margie Dana

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Print Standards: Why You Should Care

by Ron Ellis

Today's Tip is by local prepress consultant Ron Ellis. Ron is also a GRACoL-Certified Expert, and since Boston Print Buyers is hosting two events this week on GRACoL, I thought this topic was particularly relevant.

The mention of print standards is enough to make most of us yawn, but there are important reasons to care about them. Many of us accept the proof that the printer gives us, and because of the proof, lock the jobs into specific printing plants and print conditions.

Print standards give us the freedom to define what the jobs should look and proof like upfront. Standards break the restriction tying us only to the plant or printer that generates the proof. This puts you in control instead of the printer.

The idea of standards is simple, and has been in our industry for a long time. With a standard such as GRACoL (a commercial print standard), you can design the job using a working space that is already present in your Adobe applications. This means you can have a reasonable idea of how the job will look and print before you even hand it to the printer – as long as you hand it to a printer who can match the GRACoL standards. Many agencies and print buyers are switching from their older standards (such as the color produced by a proprietary proofing system) to print standards such as GRACoL or SWOP.

One agency who has made the switch is Hill Holiday. The Hill Holiday Digital Imaging Group creates high-resolution artwork and images as well as proofs that are then sent to printers and publications across the country.

“At the Hill Holliday Digital Imaging group, one particular file can be sent to dozens of different printers,” explains Allan Woolwine, Vice President of Digital Imaging for Hill Holiday. “We have no in-house presses, therefore we decided to match our contract proofs to the SWOP standard when doing magazine ads. The total ink densities and the maximum shadow and highlight densities conform nicely to the requirements of most publications. This is a standard everyone can hit, no matter how many presses it is being printed on. For commercial sheet fed presses we match our proofs to the GRACoL standard, where the densities can be a little higher and the shadows a little darker. That way we know our files can be reproduced on many different presses."

Print standards are a valuable tool you can use to produce better quality work, and to help you create work that many vendors will be able to print. The fact that Adobe applications have these print standards built in makes it easy to see the results upfront during the creative process before it is too late. By using print standards we can optimize our work for the appropriate printing platform and achieve better results.

Ron Ellis is a New England-based consultant specializing in color management, workflow training, and prepress integration. He is a GRACoL-Certified Expert who covers a wide range of proofing systems, rips, and workflow techniques. Ron is published frequently in PIA-affiliated magazines and has produced training materials for numerous printing vendors. Reach him at 603-498-4553 or through his web site at www.ronellisconsulting.com.

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Want to learn more about print standards and how you can implement them? Consider attending the Boston Print Buyers Dinner Program on June 14th, if you're a print customer. If you're a print provider or other manufacturer, BPB is hosting a GRACoL breakfast session on June 15th. Details on both events are at www.bostonprintbuyers.com.

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Upcoming Boston Print Buyers Event - June 14^th

The Revolution in Printing & Proofing

Registration is open for our June 14th dinner program, sponsored by
Eastman Kodak and Integrated Color Solutions, Inc.

Read more and Register online

When:	Wednesday, June 14th, 6 - 8:30 pm
Where:	Millennium Bostonian Hotel, Boston, MA
What:	Cocktails, networking, dinner, program and a trivia contest.
Cost:	$20 for Members; $50 for Nonmembers

Boston Print Buyers presents a very special June event. A panel of experts will enlighten us about new methodologies that help ensure color fidelity in your printed products.

Why Should Buyers Care About GRACoL?

Listen to prepress consultant Ron Ellis:

"GRACoL 7 is a popular standard that will help you deliver high-quality jobs that can be printed by a number of print vendors. GRACoL 7 helps you see what you'll get during the creative process and helps you deliver the final result through use of GRACoL-certified printers. Remove the unknown, improve your quality, and find printers who can deliver for you with GRACoL 7."

Bottom line?
Improve your quality and expand your choice of vendors with GRACoL 7.

Our panel includes:

Nick Patrissi - Moderator, Senior Manager Marketing Customer Development, Graphic Communications Group, Eastman Kodak.
John Dunn, Corporate Accounts Group Production Director,XPEDX.
Gerald Gerlach, Integrity Graphics; co-chair of GRACol.
Dianne Kennedy, Vice President, Publishing Technologies, IDEAlliance.
Michele Laird-Williams, Director of Print Media, Kodak's Graphic Communications Group.
John P. Sweeney, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Integrated Color Solutions, Inc.

For program details, the bios of our impressive panel and to register, visit our event page.

Special Guests from China: a delegation of senior print executives from China will be in attendance.

June 15^th Breakfast Meeting in Boston for Printers

GRACoL 7 - Intro and Tutorial

Experts Gerry Gerlach (Co-Chair of GRACoL), Dianne Kennedy (IDEAlliance) and John Sweeney (ICS) will present a two-hour session on GRACoL 7 for printers and other manufacturers on Thursday, June 15th, in Boston, MA. Visit our event page for more information and to register.

Details:

9 - 11 am at the Millennium Bostonian Hotel in Boston (parking is available, plus it's accessible by public transportation). The fee is $50 for the program and a continental breakfast. Preregister now.

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