Proof Software and Technology

Here it’s all about the software side of proofing. EFI, Fiery and GMG Color and much more to come here as a theme for discussion.

ONE Technologies: The proof paper for Fogra 51 announced in May is still not available.

Fogra Fogra 51 and 52: No Start in sight.

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Fogra Fogra 51 and 52, optical brighteners and the new standards for offset printing and proofing are currently on everyone’s lips. In the proof area we still see only announcements and beta versions, but no real solutionsby now. In 2013 the reorganization of ISO 12647-2 was adopted for offset printing, but according to ECI the earliest “expected recommendation on the implementation of the new ISO 12647-2 as well as the provision of appropriate handouts and instruments’ will be in 2015. The current status of Fogra 51 and Fogra 52 from our perspective:

Color profiles:

  • Fogra Fogra 51 and 52 have completed the beta phase at the Fogra in May 2014 and were forwarded to the ECI. The there in the project “fred15” compiled information and downloads are but from March, July to October 2014, but since then there has been no more news on the new standards. So there is currently no date for the release of the final profiles, handouts and tools foreseeable. Fogra, ECI, bvdm and UGRA continue to work together on the new standards.

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Is it possible to proof on special paper such as production paper?

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“We print 135gr/sqm on a Berberich Allegro. Can you make us a proof on this paper? Can you proof on our final production paper?”

Our telephone support often asks for a proof on production paper. Unfortunately, we always have to answer the question negatively. I would like to briefly explain the reasons for this in the following article.

Proofing on production paper is still technically impossible.

All proofing systems currently certified by Fogra are based on an inkjet printer as a test printer, mostly from Epson, Canon or HP. These printers are characterised by a large colour space, good resolution and excellent homogeneity and colour stability – all characteristics that are absolutely necessary for a proof printing system. The Epson systems used by the majority of proof printers are based on 11-colour pigment inks, which can reproduce a significantly larger colour space than e.g. ISOCoatedV2. However, the prerequisite for this is the use of special papers optimized for inkjet printing, in which the pigments and inks are optimally emphasized. This requires special coatings that are optimized for optimum reproduction, fast drying, good abrasion resistance and high UV stability of the print. On an image printing paper without these coatings, the ink would run, hardly dry and would not be smudge-proof. The color space would also be impossible to achieve. A proof would therefore not be possible from this point of view.

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Proof GmbH Fogracert Contract Proof Creation 28651

Proof GmbH: Fogra certified for ISOcoatedv2 (Fogra 39) and PSOUncoated (Fogra 47)

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The Proof GmbH has again successfully completed Fogra certification for the production of contract proofs – Contract Proof Creation. The certification proofs have been produced both on EPSON 7900 and EPSON 9900 proof printers with SpectroProofer measuring instruments. Our two proofing papers were included in the certification process. Proof GmbH is therefore certified for the most frequently used Proofing Standards. The requirements for the Fogra certification go far beyond simply measuring the media wedge. So the proofs are analyzed according to the following criteria: Compliance with the tolerances of the …

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PDF X/4 data – who calculates? InDesign or the RIP?

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Recently we received a PDF file from a Swiss customer who asked us to proof it according to ISOCoatedV2. The format was PDFX-4, we could open the file, preflight it and also display it in Acrobat. However, when proofing in Fiery XF 5.2, the file was only output after a RIP time of over 3 hours. Adobe PDF X4 screen output in Acrobat Professional We have recorded the screen layout on a modern Macbook Pro with four processor cores and the latest Acrobat Pro version to illustrate the enormous demands …

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Heatset and coldset? What’s the difference?

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Nowadays, two different processes are used in web offset printing: heatset and coldset.

The coldset process is mostly used to print newspapers and paperbacks, with the printing ink drying purely by absorption.

In the heatset process, the paper is passed through a large dryer and a chill roll unit after the last printing unit. The length of the printing press is almost doubled by these two units. To ensure that the ink dries optimally, special heat-drying inks are used here.

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Moiré effect through overlapping grid

What is Moiré? And can I see Moiré in a proof?

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The Moiré effect, or in other words a halftone screen overlay, is a common phenomenon when viewing prints. It occurs when two even patterns overlap unevenly.
Moiré Effekt

When does Moiré appear?

Moire is always created when screens overlap. Typical examples:

  • You have scanned in a newspaper ad and print it in another newspaper.
  • You print the portrait of a managing director wearing a jacket with a fine houndstooth pattern, a checkered shirt and a finely patterned tie. Regardless of the printing process, complete moiré chaos is guaranteed to break out here.
  • A brick building is reproduced in offset printing.
  • The photograph of a ventilation grille is viewed on a monitor

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How exactly can printing ink be measured?

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For some years now, the possibilities of colorimetric measurement of printing inks have become simpler and cheaper. And so it is often believed that measuring printing inks is simple, inexpensive and, above all, highly accurate. And this also across a wide variety of brands and generations of measuring devices. Is that true?

If you look at a few studies, that does not necessarily seem to be the case. IFRA, for example, requires that when measuring BCRA ceramic tiles the colour differences between different measuring instruments should be below Delta-E 0.3. In reality, however, things looked different. In a Nussbaum study, 8 out of 9 measurements were for a Delta-E greater than 2.0; in a Wyble & Rich study, the deviations were between Delta-E 0.76 and 1.68. But why are the deviations so large?

On the one hand, the measuring instruments differ in the way they illuminate the surfaces to be measured. This is important in two respects: On the one hand, measurements can vary greatly depending on the material, for example, because light is emitted and measured from only one light source onto the measuring surface. If a measuring instrument has only one lamp, which, for example, radiates at an angle of 45 degrees onto the measuring surface and whose reflection is measured, then the measurement can deviate by up to Delta-E 3.0 if you only rotate the measuring instrument about its own axis. If a left-handed person and a right-handed person measure the same tiles with the same measuring device, then just by holding the measuring device differently and by the different lighting angles of the tiles a measurement can be completely different.

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Softproof – opportunity or risk?

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Softproof means: The correct color display of a printed product on a monitor. Both a standardized print, e.g. according to process standard offset printing, can be simulated – e.g. a later offset print according to ISOCoatedV2 can be simulated correctly in colour on the screen – and the output on digital terminals such as LFP systems in advertising technology. From a technical point of view, soft proofs are now well controllable. The monitor technology is advanced enough to provide excellent displays with a high color gamut and consistent illumination even …

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Can spot colours be proofed?

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Since many printed matter contains spot colours such as Pantone or HKS, the question often arises whether these colours can be proofed at all. The answer is “no”. Only an approximate simulation of these colors is possible.
The reason: Each special ink is a specially mixed, “real” ink and therefore cannot be mixed from the 4 printing inks (cyan, magenta, yellow and black).

Today, modern proofing machines have up to 12 different printing colours and, in addition to the classic primary colours, also have, for example, orange and green and violet as real colour pigments in the machine. Proof printers such as the Epson SureColor P9000V are therefore capable of displaying significantly larger color spaces than, for example, ISOCoatedV2. The spot color simulation in these devices is therefore sometimes very good when controlled via a Contone driver, which can access the entire color space of the proof printer. Epson himself points out, for example, that “98% of all Pantone colors” can be covered. This may be doubted, but a number of over 90% of all Pantone colors is realistic from our point of view.

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Standardized light and metamerism effect

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A proof is only as good as the light under which it is viewed. Just going to the window or switching on the light at dusk is useless: between December and July, between 8 am and 8 pm, between cloudy and sunny days there is a huge difference in the lighting, which makes any colour evaluation impossible. And if you switch on the light, you normally switch on a bulb with 2700 Kelvin – or even worse: an energy-saving neon bulb that somehow shines in any spectra… a disaster! The …

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Ugra Fogra-MediaWedge V3.0 and measuring protocol

What is the UGRA-Fogra Media Wedge 3.0 used for?

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Every print shop in Germany adheres to a predefined standard, the process standard offset printing. This standard defines target and tolerance values for printed products. In order to prove that your proof delivered to the print shop meets these standards or is within the tolerances, the media wedge is measured and the values analysed in case of doubt – i.e. in case of a streak. If these measured values are correct, the print shop is obliged to adhere to and achieve these values. Practice generally shows the following: If you …

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Ugra Fogra-MediaWedge V3.0 and measuring protocol

How colour-accurate are proofs?

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A proof is prepared according to the currently valid ISO standard 12647-7 and is legally binding with a UGRA-Fogra media wedge and measurement report. How does this check work? If you need a proof with UGRA/Fogra Media Wedge CMYK V3.0, there are two ways to add the test report to your data. With proofing devices in which a measuring device is integrated, the media wedge with 3×24 standardised colour fields is printed directly under the proof data. This media wedge is driven directly in the proofing device to a kind …

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