Proof GmbH

News from Proof GmbH are compactly arranged.

Proof.de is featured twice in the “Fogra Aktuell” magazine

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In the current issue of Fogra News “Fogra Aktuell” Proof GmbH is involved in two places.

Firstly, a summary of the Fogra report on our first FOGRA55 certification for seven-colour printing with extended colour space in CMYKOGV appeared.

Photo: “Fogra Aktuell” report on Proof GmbH’s certification for Fogra55, the first CMYKOGV exchange colour space for extended seven-colour printing.

You can also find more information on our FOGRA55 certification on the Fogra website: https://fogra.org/en/press-releases/fogracert-erste-cpc-zertifizierung-fuer-fogra55-cmykogv-330

and on proofing.de:

  • We passed the first proof certification for the 7C proof under FOGRA55

    We passed the first proof certification for the 7C proof under FOGRA55

    A few days ago Proof GmbH was the first company to be certified for proofing for the new 7C exchange colour space FOGRA55. Fogra has developed characterisation data for extended multicolour printing with the printing colours CMYKOGV – i.e. cyan, magenta, yellow, black (contrast), orange, green and violet – FOGRA55 as part of a research…

And secondly, there was a report on the completion of the research project for textile digital printing, FOGRA58, in which we were allowed to investigate and test the proof capability of the new textile RGB colour space TextileRGB in relation to practice.

Detailed information on FOGRA58 can be found on the Fogra homepage: https://fogra.org/en/research/digital-printing/textilergb-13006

Information about our presentation at the Colormanagement Symposium can be found on proofing.de: https://proofing.de/look-back-fogra-color-management-symposium-2020/

  • Look back: Fogra Color Management Symposium 2020

    The 7th Fogra Color Management Symposium was held in Munich from February 12 to 13, 2020, to which I was invited as a speaker for the area of proofing in Session 6. I reported on our tests in proofing for the Fogra58-Beta-Textile-RGB Standard for textile digital printing. The Fogra Color Management Symposium is one of…

    Look back: Fogra Color Management Symposium 2020

You can download the current issue 72 here: https://fogra.org/fileadmin/files/7_downloads/veroeffentlichungen/news/fogra-news-72.pdf

All older issues can also be downloaded free of charge from Fogra: https://fogra.org/en/downloads/publications/fogra-news

We passed the first proof certification for the 7C proof under FOGRA55

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Proof GmbH Tübingen Fogra Certification FOGRA55 7C Matthias Betz examines 7C test form
Fogra Zertifikat Proof GmbH 2021 Fogra 55 7C CMYKOGV eCG 34807

A few days ago Proof GmbH was the first company to be certified for proofing for the new 7C exchange colour space FOGRA55.

Fogra has developed characterisation data for extended multicolour printing with the printing colours CMYKOGV – i.e. cyan, magenta, yellow, black (contrast), orange, green and violet – FOGRA55 as part of a research project over the past few years. The characterisation data and the ICC profile Ref-ECG-CMYKOGV_FOGRA55_TAC300.icc have been published on the Fogra website in recent weeks. We have now carried out the certification via GMG ColorProof, as GMG software can create and process multicolour profiles and already supports the new Fogra MediaWedge Multicolor V1 7C.

Proof GmbH Tübingen Fogra Certification FOGRA55 7C Matthias Betz examines 7C test form
Matthias Betz and Martin Streckfuß look at a proof of the various Fogra 7C test forms for FOGRA55 certification under standard light. Two Fogra Media Wedges Multicolour V1 7C can be seen on the left of the test form, which was output with the test form via GMG ColorProof.

Since the white point and the CMYK components correspond to FOGRA51 (PSOCoatedV3), we have used GMG ProofMedia premium OBA semiMatte 250 for the certification, as this GMG proof paper was specially developed for the output of PSOCoatedV3 proofs.

We are pleased to have received confirmation of successful certification from Fogra a few days ago.

Proof GmbH: FograCert: First CPC certification for FOGRA55 CMYKOGV

In the next few days we will offer the seven-colour proofs according to FOGRA55 in our Proof Shop.

Proof GmbH FOGRA55 Certificate CMYKOGV ECG 7C-Proof Preview

Proof.de: New video online

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Proof.de Imagevideo

Regardless of what we write here in the blog: Sometimes pictures speak louder than words. That’s why we’ve put a short video online that introduces us and our work. It gives you a brief overview of who we are and what drives us. What do you think of our short film? We are looking forward to your feedback!

Proof GmbH 2021 Certified Again by Fogra with Fogra “Spot cert”

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Title Test Report Fogra Certificate Proof GmbH 2021 Fogra Contract Proof Creation 34558

Fogra Certificate Proof GmbH 2021 Fogra Contract Proof Creation 34558

This year we have again submitted proofs for Fogra certification. We thus prove that we not only deliver excellent proof quality through internal quality controls and checks, but that the quality of our proofs is also confirmed by an external body. We have therefore had proof prints certified for the seventh year in a row.

Already in 2019, we were among the first to also be certified for the representation of spot colours (“Spot-cert”), and in 2020 we also went through Spot-cert in addition. And all in all, we have been successfully certified by Fogra for the ninth time in a row. Sometimes customers ask:

“You get Fogra certified every year. Won’t that become unnecessary at some point? You know you can do it …”

Yes, that is sometimes true. Every certification means effort and costs, the prints have to be made, sheets have to be filled in, everything has to be sent to Munich and invoices have to be transferred. And that’s just so that we can have the same high quality confirmed as in previous years. On the other hand, this isn’t true either.

Proofing is only superficially “service by the book as always”. In real life, no two years are the same. Proofing software, for example, is not sold on the mass market, so every update brings difficulties: Important functions fail, protocols are output incorrectly, optimisations do not optimise but worsen the results…: What we haven’t had to experience! Especially here it is important to have the security of certification by Fogra that even with the latest software revision all relevant processes still run cleanly.

The same applies to the hardware, which can be just as troublesome as the software: sometimes we have a generation change of proof printers, which always involves a change of inks and colour pigments, sometimes the driver or firmware is renewed, sometimes faulty print heads have been replaced …: Here, too, there are many possible sources of error that keep us on our toes. And here, too, the certifications bring us security for daily production – our everyday business. And that, too, is often not commonplace at proof.de:

Verifiably precise …

Our so-called “everyday business” is often characterised by special cases, exceptions and special requirements. Admittedly: We like to work off Fogra39 proofs in ISOCoatedV2, where all data is delivered in CMYK. Something like that just runs really smoothly for us. But apart from these “standards”, we process much more for our customers: we produce high-precision colour samples, proof individual proof profiles for metal decor printing, process thick, high-gloss papers for proofs and extremely thin, matt papers for art projects, apply PANTONE colours to roll-ups, fine art prints in AdobeRGB on cotton canvas, ECI-RGB-V2 on Hahnemühle papers, print XYZ colour targets for multispectral cameras and …:

Our so-called “everyday business” is often characterised by special cases, exceptions and special requirements. Admittedly: We like to work off Fogra39 proofs in ISOCoatedV2, where all data is delivered in CMYK. Something like that just runs really smoothly for us. But apart from these “standards”, we process much more for our customers: we produce high-precision colour samples, proof individual proof profiles for metal decor printing, process thick, high-gloss papers for proofs and extremely thin, matt papers for art projects, apply PANTONE colours to roll-ups, fine art prints in AdobeRGB on cotton canvas, ECI-RGB-V2 on Hahnemühle papers, print XYZ colour targets for multispectral cameras and …:

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Proof.de parcel labels: Now paper instead of plastic

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Proof.de: More eco-friendly shipping labels made of paper instead of plastic

We have found a more environmentally friendly parcel sticker for our brown shipping boxes: Instead of a classic PVC sticker, we can now save the environment a little plastic with a paper label produced in offset printing, without compromising on quality and appearance. Admittedly, perhaps not a big step. But every small contribution helps to save our environment a little bit.

Proof.de: More environmentally friendly parcel labels made of paper instead of plastic

 

We have always used electricity from 100% hydroelectric power, print invoices and letters using energy-saving inkjet printing and have switched our IT to increasingly energy-saving computers, servers and NAS devices.

In addition, for the past two years we have been participating in the German Packaging Act through our partner Veolia, with the aim of minimising the impact of packaging waste on the environment in Germany.

Our annual disposal contribution serves to implement Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste. The aim is to further increase recycling rates in Germany.

 

Proof.de / Proof GmbH is a Member of Fogra

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Proof.de Proof GmbH Tübingen is a member of Fogra Research Institute for Media Technologies e.V.

 

Proof.de Proof GmbH Tübingen is a member of Fogra Research Institute for Media Technologies e.V.Proof GmbH is a member of Fogra – Forschungsinstitut für Medientechnologien e.V.. Why? In recent years, we have been able to draw on the support of Fogra with numerous projects, or work together with Fogra, for example for Fogra58 beta – Textile-RGB (where Matthias Betz was also able to report on our experiences as a speaker at the Fogra Colour Management Symposium 2020 in Munich as part of the presentation “Proofing of Fogra58beta”) or have contributed test prints and proofs to the research project “11.004L – Improving the printability and readability of bar and 2D codes in inkjet printing”.

In addition, we have been certified by Fogra every year since 2013 for the production of proofs (https://shop.proof.de/en/info/fogra-certification.html) and are very grateful for the services of Fogra, which confirm the quality of our proofs every year, also externally.

Our most important contact person, Dr. Andreas Kraushaar, has often promoted membership to us, and now we have actually taken the step, although we still think that the membership fee is poorly structured, especially for small companies like Proof GmbH (companies with 1-100 employees pay the same membership fee) and we would like to see a more favourable entry. But on the other hand it is true: Fogra with its expertise, its competence and its always competent, helpful, quick and fit contact persons like Andi Kraushaar, Yuan Li and many more also deserves the support of companies that benefit from Fogra’s activities like we do.

We would therefore like to thank Fogra for all the support we have received and knowledge we have gained over the years. From now on, we are a member of Fogra and look forward to many more discussions, projects, ideas and initiatives.

New at Proof.de: The EPSON SureColor SC-P9500 Spectro

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Proof.de: Our new EPSON SureColor SC-P9500 Spectroproofer

For whatever reason: December is traditionally the month in which we make the most important new acquisitions. In order not to break with this tradition, the new proof printer generation from EPSON moved in with us this year: The SureColor SC-P9500 Spectroproofer.

Unpacking traditionally has to be done in front of the door, we wouldn’t be able to get the printer into the office on the two-metre-long pallet, but once it’s on rollers, it works fine.

Proof.de: Our new EPSON SureColor SC-P9500 Spectroproofer











The new SureColor P9500 complements our range of SureColor 7000 and 9000 proof printers and, above all, hopefully brings us a further plus in speed, especially for larger jobs. Thanks to a newly developed and now fully loaded print head with 12 inks with up to 800 nozzles each, it is said to print up to 2.4 times faster than our other proof printers, which is particularly advantageous for large proof volumes.

An overview of the most important new features of the EPSON SureColor 9500

  • High productivity thanks to higher production speed
  • Reliability thanks to better automatic jet inspection and dust protection
  • LCD display with 4.3 inch (10.9 cm) touch panel
  • Simultaneous use of glossy black and matte black, eliminating the need to switch inks
  • Lighting at the paper feed for better visibility of the printing process
  • Prints now fall on the reverse side in the delivery, which should reduce scratches
  • Higher print resolution with 1200×2400 DPI
  • “Black Enhancement Overcoating” technology for higher perceptible black density

We are currently still in the process of measuring the large number of media we use on the new printer and gaining experience with the new proof printer. Many of the “advantages” are not really relevant for us, as we have very specific requirements in proof printing. In terms of gamut, i.e. the maximum colour space that can be achieved, we were unfortunately unable to determine any real gain. According to our measurements, the colour space has changed marginally compared to the previous proof printers, but not really increased.

2.4 times the printing speed does not automatically mean that the proof printing will also be faster … 🙂

For example: Admittedly, the printer prints much faster than our other printers. But in return, it takes much longer to transport the proof paper to the fans for drying, and the subsequent measurement of the media wedge also takes longer than on the 7000 and 9000 systems. For an A4 proof with media wedge and test report, the 9500 is only 8 seconds faster, taking just over 8 minutes. In other words, the higher print speed is almost completely lost in other areas.

Therefore, A4 proofs will not be the domain of this printer, but rather we will try to proof the larger formats on the 9500, where the speed advantage comes into play more.

This reminds me a little of the upgrade to Fiery 7, which was supposed to be up to 5 times faster than the previous version with FastRIP technology. In fact, the FastRIP technology was and is so error-prone that we were never able to use it, as we felt that every 20th job was processed incorrectly or could not be processed at all. On the other hand, with the version upgrade, the entire proofing software became considerably slower … So for us as non-FastRIP users, all that was left on average was a slower system.

Conclusion:

And so we are still making our experiences with the new proof printer. The first conclusion we can draw is that many things are better, some are worse and some are simply different. The fact that the printer is still quite new is also evident from the fact that new media updates are constantly being added. We have already run some good jobs through the printer and it has not disappointed us. In this respect, the first conclusion looks fairly optimistic.

Proof GmbH 2020 once again Fogra and Fogra “Spot Cert” certified

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Proof.de Proof GmbH Fogra Certification 2020 according to Fogra Spot Cert for ISOCoatedV2, PSOCoatedV3, PSOUncoatedV3 and eciCMYK-v2
Proof.de Proof GmbH Fogra Certification 2020 according to Fogra Spot Cert for ISOCoatedV2, PSOCoatedV3, PSOUncoatedV3 and eciCMYK-v2

This year we have again submitted proofs for Fogra certification. We thus prove that we not only deliver excellent proof quality through internal quality controls and checks, but that the quality of our proofs is also confirmed by an external body. We have therefore had proof prints certified for the seventh year in a row. Already in 2019, we have also been certified for the representation of spot colours (“Spot-cert”), and in 2020 we were the first company ever to add the Fogra-59 certification:

  • We were certified for the new Fogra 59 eciCMYK-V2 standard for the first time
  • We have again carried out a certification for PANTONE spot colours for all four printing conditions, the “Spot cert”. We certified the spot colours PANTONE 2270 C, PANTONE 151 C and PANTONE Cool Gray 6 C for the proof standards ISOCoatedV2, PSOCoatedV3 and eciCMYK-V2 and PANTONE 2270 U, PANTONE 151 U and PANTONE Cool Gray 6 U for the standard PSOUncoatedV3.

The quality of our prints and our spot colour reproduction of PANTONE colours has been confirmed to us by Fogra for all four proof standards.

You can download the complete 14-page test report from Fogra here. 

We have implemented the new certifications on the current software revision Fiery XF 7.1.3 and on the papers EFI Gravure Proof Paper 4245 Semimatt, EFI Proof Paper 8245OBA Semimatt and EFI Proof Paper 8175OBA Matt.

Proof.de Support Chat Software updated

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Proof.de Live-Chat

Today we updated our chat software Livezilla Pro to offer you even more comfort and speed in the chat. Simply contact us directly via chat … a lot of minor details or brief queries can be dealt with quickly and conveniently.

In addition to security updates and performance improvements, the chats should now be even more reliable in every possible browser and PC combination. Uploading and downloading files such as screenshots in the chat history should also be improved.

A word about data protection: We don’t use any supposedly free chat solutions based in Las Vegas, we care about the protection of your data and your anonymity in the chat:

  • We use the chat software of LiveZilla GmbH from the beautiful town of Singen in Baden-Württemberg,
  • anonymise or mask automatically the last 6 digits of your IP address,
  • host the chat software on our own server and
  • have of course SSL-encoded the chat with you.
  • All data is transmitted purely via our server,
  • there is no access by third parties and
  • Livezilla works without cookies.

So please don’t be surprised if you already have an order in your shopping cart and then start a chat with us, that we neither see who you are nor what you want to order from us. We only chat with “Guest 0288” or “Guest 6452″… only if you tell us your order number or your name, you will be “recognisable” as a person or company in the chat.

Gamut map: The colour tool for cross-media design

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Due to our involvement with freeColour e.V., at the last meeting in Switzerland the desire for a cross-media tool for designers was expressed with which one can create intersections of colourspaces from the freieFarbe CIELAB HLC Colour Atlas XL.

With Gamutmap, Proof GmbH has now created such a tool, which is available to all designers free of charge. With Gamutmap nearly 100 individual colour spaces can be indicated from 34.250 colours of the entire CIELAB colour space, or intersections from many combined colour spaces can be indicated.

An example: As a designer you are looking for colours for a new corporate design, which are available in sRGB for the internet, in ISOCoatedV2 for printing image brochures and in PSOUncoatedV3 for printing stationery. For video productions, the Rec.709 colour space is also to be taken into account.

In Gamutmap you can now easily select the colour spaces sRGB, ISOCoatedV2, PSOUncoatedV3 and Rec.709 and then click on “show”. After a few seconds you will only see the colours that are available in all selected colour spaces. If you move the mouse over a colour field, you will directly see the absolute colorimetric values of the colour in all selected colour spaces and you can copy them directly to your clipboard.

Since the hex value of the sRGB colour space was also still interesting, this colour space was additionally marked for display. The HLC and Lab values of all colours can be read directly in the colour table. All other colour values can be copied to the clipboard simply by moving the mouse to the desired colour field. For the colour field shown in the example above, it looks like this:

HLC: H005 | L055 | C035
Lab: 55 | 34,867 | 3,05
sRGB: 188 | 106 | 128
sRGB (HEX): #BC6A80
Rec. ITU-R BT.709-5: 188 | 87 | 115
ISO Coated V2 (ECI): 14 | 64 | 27 | 11
PSO Uncoated V3 (Fogra52): 10 | 70 | 34 | 8

Gamutmap is “Work in Progress”

We are sure that gamutmap will be a great help to many designers in creating cross-media corporate designs and are very happy that we were able to start and push the project with the members of freieFarbe e.V. For us, gamutmap is “work in progress”, which means: In the coming weeks we will add further functionalities and features to gamutmap. For example, a German version is in progress, and the download of spectral D50 CxF data of the selected colours should be possible in the future directly while hovering over the respective colour field, if the field is in the gamut of the freefarbe CIELAB HLC Colour Atlas XL. Further function extensions are already on our wish list… 🙂

We welcome suggestions, criticism, wishes and any support for the expansion and addition of Gamutmap.

Proof cheap. What does that mean?

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proof.de Packaging of a Proof/ Digital proof

Proof cheap is a typical search term that people use in search engines to find a cheap, colour and legally binding proof. But what makes a cheap proof?

A proof is one that is produced according to the specifications of the latest revision of the proofing standard ISO 12467-7 and is within the tolerances of this standard. The current revision is ISO 12647-7:2016, which has been tightened even further with this standard and has been supplemented by a certified edition of spot colours such as PANTONE and HKS.

Such certified proofs can be ordered at shop.proof.de for all proof profiles.

But what makes the certified proof cheap? That’s the low price. Proofs are printed on certified proof papers on very high-quality pigment inkjet printers, usually using expensive proofing software, and measured with spectrophotometers. So how can production be done cheaply here?

1: Using cheap pigment ink?

One litre of ink for proofing devices is around 400 EUR, so it makes sense to use inexpensive alternative ink from China. The problem: there are no manufacturers – neither in China nor anywhere else – who produce inks that would actually produce similar inks in terms of pigment colour and spectral composition. I once called a manufacturer who advertises that his – already quite expensive – inks could also be used for proofing. When I asked him, he said: “No, no, that’s just for advertising, but of course I would never do that or recommend it, and I don’t know anybody who does that. As for the China inks, he said: “They start at 20 EUR per liter, but you get a different ink with every delivery, depending on where the wholesaler buys. Then they have to re-measure the proofer every time… forget it.” In addition, replacing a clogged print head costs around 2,500 EUR, so the risk is too high. A real proof therefore only works with original, very expensive ink.

2: Using cheap software?

GMG ColorProof, EFI Fiery XF and ORIS Color Tuner are just some of the most important proofing solutions on the market. What they all have in common is that proofing software is rather a niche software, so the programming effort is very high compared to the sales figures. Depending on the size of the output device and the range of functions in terms of verification, spot colour display or proofing on special materials such as transparent foils, etc., the software costs between 5,000 and 10,000 EUR, and in combination with other software products from GMG or Colorlogic it can quickly cost considerably more. Although there are a few low-cost solutions here too, these are usually irrelevant in professional proofing, as they are either not suitable for more than one workstation, or important functions such as spot colour libraries etc. are missing.

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Look back: Fogra Color Management Symposium 2020

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The 7th Fogra Color Management Symposium was held in Munich from February 12 to 13, 2020, to which I was invited as a speaker for the area of proofing in Session 6. I reported on our tests in proofing for the Fogra58-Beta-Textile-RGB Standard for textile digital printing.

The Fogra Color Management Symposium is one of the events in the field of colour management and brings together scientists and users from all over the world for a two-day exchange of ideas in Munich. A total of 21 speakers and 7 moderators reported on the topics multicolour printing, proofing, print procurement, customer expectations, colour management for 3D printing and colour management for textile digital printing, the topic to which I was also assigned.

I arrived one day earlier, because there was a “Speakers Dinner” the evening before, and I also had to discuss with Jan-Peter Homann and Joe Tschudi the structure and selection of our patterns in terms of textile RGB. On site in Munich we set up the standard light booth LED Color Viewing Light XL HYBRID 2.0 provided by Just-Normlicht and coordinated once again which samples we would show best during the Color Management Symposium.

Joe Tschudi and Jan-Peter Homann and I discuss which samples we want to show at the Fogra Colour Management Symposium 2020 for the proof comparison of Fogra58beta-TextileRGB
Joe Tschudi and Jan-Peter Homann and I discuss which samples we want to show at the Fogra Colour Management Symposium 2020 for the proof comparison of Fogra58beta-TextileRGB
A sample that we showed at the Fogra Colour Management Symposium 2020 for the proof comparison of Fogra58beta-TextileRGB Below the proof we made, above Joe Tschudi's fabric produced by sublimation printing, both illuminated in Fogra58-beta-TextileRGB under D50 standard light.
A sample that we showed at the Fogra Colour Management Symposium 2020 for the proof comparison of Fogra58beta-TextileRGB Below the proof we made, above Joe Tschudi’s fabric produced by sublimation printing, both illuminated in Fogra58-beta-TextileRGB under D50 standard light.

During the Speakers Dinner I had the opportunity to talk to Jürgen Seitz from GMG, the moderator of my session, and Jeffrey Stauffer from oneflexo GmbH, in order to organize our session on day 2 well. Gerardo Cerros from CMA Imaging Belgium SPRL, the third speaker of our session arrived directly for his presentation. Furthermore we could test our presentations on the Fogra computers and already got to know the lecture room and familiarize ourselves with the stage. On the stage sat the three speakers per session plus the moderator of the session. All presentations, moderations, questions etc. were translated live from English to German and German to English. I held my presentation in German, but I had kept the slides in “Denglish” so that they were understandable for Germans as well as for everyone else.

The speakers and presenters visit the stage and stage technology. The grey box at the back left is the interpreter's booth, which housed the two simultaneous interpreters.
The speakers and presenters visit the stage and stage technology. The grey box at the back left is the interpreter’s booth, which housed the two simultaneous interpreters.

The complete programme of the symposium can be found on the Fogra website. The topics of the seven sessions were:

1. Managing customer expectations – Managing colours throughout the  food chain
2. Creating colour credibility in CMYK and extended gamut printing
3. Real-world multicolour packaging implementations (ECG)
4. Industrial Printing application:  High Speed Inkjet beyond commercial and packaging printing
KEYNOTE: Colour workflows in the motion picture  world –  How HDR & Wide Gamut  change the game (Harald Brendl, ARRI)
5. Colour communication for fashion textile applications
6. Colour Proofing for Packacking & textile applications
7. Colour in 3D (3D Softproof & Appearance measurement)

You can download the presentation of my lecture “Proofing in textile printing: Contract proofs for RGB-(FOGRA58) based textile workflows” here

After the session, there were lively discussions at our Fogra58 stand and the fabric/proof comparisons exhibited were discussed. Special attention was paid to a pattern with different shades of grey by Joe Tschudi. The proof was quite neutral grey for the human eye, but the fabric had a clearly visible green cast. In terms of measurement, however, the two patterns were only DeltaE00 0.3 apart for an i1Pro2, and a ball-head meter also showed a similar distance. A nice example to demonstrate the difficulty between textile printing and proof, between measuring devices and human perception.

Fogra has issued a good conclusion of the proofing session here.

Many thanks to Andreas Kraushaar and the entire Fogra team for the excellent organisation and support during the entire Colour Management Symposium. An outstanding event that shows current developments in colour management and broadens the view to new markets and segments.

Update of shop.proof.de successfully completed

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Shortly before Christmas, we initiated a major shop update, and adapted and improved numerous detail functions. But we are especially pleased that the update went without any major disruption for our customers, and that the shop was online and accessible for only a few hours, even though the update had to be carried out at the live shop.

The most important point for us was to update the upload area. The new file upload can now process up to 2GB per file and up to 50 files per article and: The upload now starts automatically, and does not need to be started first. We are thinking about increasing the file limit further here, but we really recommend our customers to simply zip many small files and upload the .zip file before uploading. This helps with the overview, and also helps us in handling.

Another new feature is that now all upload areas of all articles are uploaded in parallel and after successful upload all data is displayed appropriately for the articles. Only after the successful last upload the overview page is updated.

The overview of the loaded data has also improved.

Due to an updated shipping module we have more and more variable shipping methods at our disposal. Thus, starting next year, we will also be able to offer a UPS Express before noon, presumably parallel to the DHL Express before noon.

This is how well organized the new shipping selection now looks

The most important point for us, however, is that the integration of the external modules has now changed so that we can import updates to the shop without having to touch all external modules at the same time. This will give us a lot of flexibility and allow us to respond even faster to better functions in the future and implement them in the shop.

A lot of changes in the background are security patches and an update to a current PHP version, which makes the shop overall more performant and secure.

Next year we are planning a graphical update of the shop before, which will make the website even clearer and faster.

Proof GmbH is now four times Fogra and Fogra “Spot cert” certified

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Fogra Zertifizierung Proof GmbH 2019 Contract Proof Creation 33246

This year we have again submitted proofs for Fogra certification. We thus prove that we not only deliver outstanding proof quality through internal quality controls and checks, but that the quality of our proofs is also confirmed by an external body. We have therefore had proofs certified for the seventh year in succession.

In 2019 we have made two innovations in Fogra certification.

  • We were certified for the first time for the new standard Fogra 54
  • We have also carried out a certification for PANTONE spot colours for all four printing conditions, the “Spot cert”. We have certified the spot colours PANTONE 2270 C, PANTONE 151 C and PANTONE Cool Gray 6 C for the proof standards ISOCoatedV2, PSOCoatedV3 and PSOsc-b_paper_v3 and PANTONE 2270 U, PANTONE 151 U as well as PANTONE Cool Gray 6 U for the standard PSOUncoatedV3

The quality of our prints and our spot colour reproduction of the PANTONE colours was confirmed by Fogra for all four proof standards.

Proof.de Fogra Prüfzertifikat für Fogra Zertifizierung und Spot cert Sonderfarbzertifizierung

The complete 14-page Fogra test report can be downloaded here.

These new certifications have been implemented on the current software revision Fiery XF 7.1.3 and have been applied to the papers EFI Gravure Proof Paper 4245 Semimatt, EFI Proof Paper 8245OBA Semimatt and EFI Proof Paper 8175OBA Matt.

Good times: The general meeting 2019 of freieFarbe e.V. in Switzerland

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After the association freieFarbe e.V. had met last year in Tübingen for their annual general meeting, this year we met in a rustic hut in the Appenzeller Land, which Peter Jäger from pre2media and Eric A. Soder from pixsource.com had excellently chosen, just like the sunny weather that should accompany us from Friday to Sunday.

freieFarbe e.V. Mitgliederversammlung 2019: Unsere Unterkunft in den schweizer Bergen
freieFarbe e.V. general meeting 2019: Our accommodation in the Swiss mountains

The chairman of the association, Holger Everding from DTP Studio Oldenburg and Jan-Peter Homann from Homann Colormanagement in Berlin arrived in Tübingen on Thursday, and after a first long night full of discussions and a meeting in the Proof.de office on Friday morning around noon, the three of us continued our journey to Switzerland. After a joint dinner with Peter Jäger and Eric A. Soder (from Tübingen, we had taken some Swabian potato salad and my handmade Maultaschen with us the evening before), an evening full of planning and a strategy workshop for the tasks and goals of the next year began. Without question, this evening was also spent discussing, developing, laughing and working creatively until late into the night between Flensburger Pils, Swiss mountain beer and wine in attractive red and light yellow shades.

Ausschnitt der Ergebnisse des freieFarbe Kreativworkshops am Freitag Abend mit Gewichtungen (blaue Aufkleber) und Zuständigkeiten (Namenskürzel)
Part of the results of the freieFarbe creative workshop on Friday evening with importance (blue stickers) and responsibilities (name abbreviation)

After breakfast, we continued on Saturday to swissQprint, where we had the opportunity to learn more about the status quo of large format digital printing from association member Guy Flüeli, as well as visit the production facilities and conduct print tests on the Karibu and other SwissQPrint presses.

Jahreshauptversammlung freieFarbe e.V. 2019 in der Schweiz
from left to right: Matteo Baschera, Jan-Peter Homann, Matthias Betz, Holger Everding, Eric A. Soder, Martin Spaar, Peter Jäger, Michael Jakobi. It is missing: Kai-Uwe Behrmann, Jan Seguda, Guy Flüeli (photo)
  • Holger Everding, Guy Flüeli, Jan-Peter Homann
  • Showroom swissQprint
  • Michael Jakobi, Matteo Baschera, Martin Spaar, Matthias Betz, Guy Flüeli, Jan-Peter Homann

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Paper white from Arctic Paper, Surbalin from Peyer and more added

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We have added 140 additional paper white values from Arctic Paper, Peyer, Igepa, Antalis and Mondi. As a result, a total of almost 1400 paper whites are now available in our database.

From the company Peyer we have added the colour shades of the Surbalin product range, although we have not covered all surfaces individually here. However, we have now also included other Peyer products such as Peytan, Peydur, Peyprint and Comet in the paper white database.

You can find the paper white database at shop.proof.de:

https://shop.proof.de/en/info/paper-white.html

Papierweiß von Arctic Papier, Igepa, Mundi und mehr

How to match the production paper, proof standard and the proof precision of spot colours

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Today a customer called who wanted to order a proof of several HKS N spot colours on an uncoated paper. “Which proof profile should I choose? And how exactly can you match my special colours in the proof? I probably have to proof several HKS N red tones in comparison. By the way, the printing is to be done on Fly Cream, a slightly yellowish paper.”

What is the paper white of the production paper?

First of all, I searched with the customer for the production paper in our paper white database. A quick look via full text search revealed that we have measured Fly Cream from Papier Union:

Fly Cream enthält gemäß unseren Messungen keine optischen Aufheller, also "keine OBA". Das LAB Papierweiss liegt bei allen drei Messungen bei rund LAB 95 / 0,7 / 9,2
According to our measurements, Fly Cream does not contain any optical brighteners, i.e. “faint”. The LAB paper white in all three measurements is around LAB 95 / 0.7 / 9.2

With a B-value in LAB of 9.2, Fly Cream is really not just a little yellowish, as the customer said, but clearly yellowish, chamois, creamy … whatever you want to call it. So it was natural to check the proof profile “ISOUncoatedYellowish”, Fogra 30, to see to what extent the paper white could match.

What is the paper white of the possible proof standard?

Together with the customer we looked up our “paper white of proof profiles” table:

Das Papierweiss des Proofstandards Fogra30, ISOUncoatedYellowish
The paper white of the proof standard Fogra30, ISOUncoatedYellowish in LAB: 95.93 / -0.77 / 3.85

Contrary to the customer’s expectations, the paper white of ISOUncoatedYellowish is not even as yellowish as the paper white of the edition paper Fly cream, which is more yellowish by more than 5 steps on the B axis. So it was clear: PSOUncoated as a brighter-free uncoated paper proof standard is clearly too white, ISOUncoatedYellowish is much more suitable.

On what kind of proof paper will this proof standard be printed?

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eciCMYK profile available for proofing

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Today we have activated the exchange colour space eciCMYK, Fogra53 for proofing and integrated it into the online shop of proofing.de for ordering.

eciCMYK is the colour space for CMYK print production and complements the other Fogra colour spaces, but in contrast to these it does not represent a specific printing process, but is rather “neutral CMYK”. Due to the large gamut of eciCMYK all classical printing processes can be represented, it can be proofed on modern proofing systems without any problems and corresponds in its characteristics to typical CMYK printing colour spaces.

Proofs in eciCMYK / Fogra 53 can now be easily ordered in our Proof Shop, you can select the profile directly when ordering.

Further information on Fogra 53 can also be found on the homepage of the European Color Initiative ECI. Andreas Kraushaar from Fogra also presented the colour space in the Fogra aktuell issue 201, which you can download for free.

Paper white of many paper manufacturers and online printers measured

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We spectrally measured the paper white tone and the proportion of optical brighteners of over 1,000 papers of the most important paper manufacturers such as Berberich and Papier Union as well as online printing companies such as Flyeralarm and wir-machen-druck.de.

Example: Spectral data comparison of Antalis Coqueror CX 22 white for the measurement standards M0 and M1. Below you can also see the color deviation in Delta-E00 of 1.97 and the two paper white values in LAB and LCH.

Only a few paper manufacturers currently publish data on paper whiteness and the proportion of optical brighteners in their papers, but only technical indicators such as whiteness according to ISO 2470-2 or CIE ISO 11475. However, designers can hardly record paper whiteness with these values. In addition, it is not possible to read from these data whether and what proportion of optical brighteners the paper has.

Example above: Spectral data comparison of Antalis Coqueror CX 22 white for the measurement standards M0 and M1. Below you can also see the color deviation in Delta-E00 of 1.97 and the two paper white values in LAB and LCH.

Left: CGATS.17 Data for measurement conditions M1 and M0 for paper Antalis Conqueror CX 22 white

We have therefore measured the most important papers and dyes of all central paper producers and paper distributors as well as online printers in the three measurement standards M0, M1 and M2. From the difference in the paper whiteness of the two measurements M2 (UV cut without UV portion) and M1 (ISO 3664:2009 with noticeable UV portion), we determined the color distance on the yellow-blue axis of LAB in Delta-b and derived from this the proportion of optical brighteners according to Delta-B according to ISO 15397 and evaluated it.

Delta-B conversion: OBA share in the paper

Delta-B < 1 = faint OBA
Delta-B < 4 = little OBA
Delta-B < 8 = low OBA
Delta-B < 14 = moderate OBA
Delta-B > 14 = high OBA

Spectral data of all measured papers for download

Parallel to the images of the spectra, we have also provided spectral data in CGATS format for the measurement modes M0, M1 and M2, which can be downloaded for any paper. These values can be used, for example, in proofing software to calculate a paper white simulation for a specific production paper.

free colour: CIELAB HLC Colour Atlas XL published and can be ordered at proof.de

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HLC Colour Atlas XL - freieFarbe proof.de - title white 2018 v1

After almost a year of work the time has finally come. The CIELAB HLC Colour Atlas XL saw the light of day. The new HLC Colour Atlas XL is the basis for all stages of professional colour communication – from design to the finished product. The standard version contains 2040, the new XL version even 13283 mathematically-systematically graded CIELAB colour tones on 74 pages.

You can order the CIELAB HLC colour atlas here in our shop

The free file package contains the layer PDF version with several gamuts for the analysis and research of colors, as well as the spectral data (380-730 nm) of all color tones for recipe software, an Excel table with the measured values and spectra as well as color value tables for all common CMYK color spaces and sRGB. All files are available for free download under a CC license.

Only the HLC Color Atlas XL printed by Proof GmbH is subject to a fee, as production is very labour-intensive and cost-intensive. We at freieFarbe e.V. and Proof GmbH see the “CIELAB HLC Colour Atlas XL” as a genuine, transparent and high-precision alternative to the hundreds of proprietary colour systems, which often make fast and precise cross-media communication in design and production very difficult.

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