A media wedge is a standardised test pattern used in the printing industry and in colour management. The media wedge consists of a series of colour patches with known colour values and colour intensities. It is used to check the colour accuracy and colour reproduction of prints, especially when calibrating colour management systems.
The media wedge contains a series of colour patches with different colours, including the primary colours (cyan, magenta, yellow) as well as black and greyscale patches. With modern, RGB-based printing standards such as FOGRA58 Textile-RGB, the media wedge can also consist of different RGB fields; in the case of the media wedge for multicolour printing such as seven-colour printing according to FOGRA55, the media wedge can also consist of 5 to 8 or more colours. However, such media wedges are still the exception, CMYK media wedges such as the UGRA/Fogra media wedge CMYK 3.0 are the most common media wedges in practice.
Each field has a defined colour value and a defined density or intensity. These values are precisely known, differ for all proof standards to be checked with the media wedge and serve as a reference for comparison with the printed result.
If a media wedge is used, it is printed together with the print job, i.e. usually the PDF. The printed media wedge is then measured with a colour measuring device, e.g. a spectrophotometer. The measured colour values are then compared with the known reference values of the media wedge in order to assess the accuracy of the colour reproduction and, if necessary, make adjustments to the colour management.
The media wedge is an important tool for ensuring that printed products are colour-correct and consistent. The media wedge is used in proofing in particular to ensure that the print result meets the colour specifications before actual print production begins.
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