Press:

Rods and Cones among Certified Experts for GraCol G7

IDEAlliance Certifies Experts to Propagate G7™ Industry Experts Trained in New GRACoL 7 Process Controls

Alexandria, VA, March 14, 2006. The International Digital Enterprise Alliance (IDEAlliance) today announced that a training program hosted by Amp Printing, Dublin, CA, has prepared a new group of leading color management and on-press consultants to bring new GRACoL 7 (G7) tools and techniques to the industry.

Background
Throughout 2004 and 2005, the GRACoL (General Requirements and Applications for Commercial Offset Lithography) Committee of IDEAlliance developed an unambiguous description of how good commercial printing “appears” to the eye on a Number 1 sheet and developed new calibration and process control methods that make use of spectrophotometry and CTP to enable printers quickly and accurately replicate visual appearance on any press or proofing system. The G7 methodology is revolutionary because it is the first specification designed to reliably and efficiently match the visual appearance of multiple devices by defining gray balance and NPDC (neutral print density curves) instead of the traditional method of measuring TVI for each color.

According to Don Hutcheson, Chair of the GRACoL Committee and President of Hutcheson Consulting, “GRACoL 7 is not an attempt to create new standards but a way of utilizing existing ISO (International Standards Organization) Standards in a more efficient and effective way. GRACoL7 is an implementation of the ISO 12647-2 printing standard, with metrics, methods and characterization data developed during seventeen research press runs at nine US printing sites over eighteen months. Input was also provided by other industry groups like ECI and FOGRA in Europe, and by countless individuals worldwide on the Printing Across Borders (PAB) users list (www.printingacrossborders.org). All these sources helped finalize a definition of gray balance and Neutral Print Density Curves that GRACoL believes to reflect the average typical appearance of good ISO-compliant commercial printing in the USA and overseas.

Jeff Main, President of Amp Printing commented, “We at Amp are very excited about this new approach to proofing and printing. We strive to reliably provide the best color reproduction to our clients in the shortest time and at the lowest cost. The new G7 methodology that was taught at our facility represents the state-of-the-art for printers and we have every intention of basing our printing workflows on G7 from this time forward.”

Steve Smiley, Chair of the IDEAlliance Print Properties Committee (PPC) and Director of Engineering at Vertis, Inc. added, “The good news is that recent experimental press tests conducted by PPC indicate that G7 can be applied to any type of printing. G7 is not just for commercial printing but for publication printing, news printing, flexographic printing and more. This means that separations or files generated for one printing method will have a similar visual appearance if printed by another method. The G7 process has generated a great deal of excitement among print buyers because by following this methodology, we can print on virtually any type of press and on any substrate while maintaining a common visual appearance.

Dianne Kennedy, VP of Publishing Technologies and GRACoL Program Manager for IDEAlliance stated, “Certification of GRACoL Experts is an important way we can advance adoption of GRACoL across the printing industry. Following this session we will have trained Experts from the United States, Latin America, China and Hong Kong. We are honored that such respected industry professionals participated in this training program and look forward to working closely with these consultants in the future.” Ms. Kennedy continued, “We advise printers to visit www.gracol.org/experts/ to locate an Expert who can assist them with press calibration and printing to G7. The Experts will also work as our agents to qualify printers who are routinely using G7 to be identified as IDEAlliance Master Printers.”

About the GRACoL Experts Program
In order to extend the reach of the new G7 printing methodologies for industry professionals, IDEAlliance is establishing a GRACoL Experts Program and a Master Printers Program. Candidates eligible for the Experts program are individuals with established experience in color management and pressroom techniques. Each candidate must be a member of IDEAlliance and have either participated in research press runs or attended a G7 certification training session. This certification training session was led by Don Hutcheson and hosted by Amp Printing, Dublin, CA on March 6 – March 7. Amp Printing, having demonstrated their ability to employ G7 process controls has qualified as a founding member of the Master Printers Program to be launched next month.

The Who’s Who of GRACoL Certified Experts
As a result of the recent certification program, the following industry professionals have been identified as certified Experts:

• Amp Printing, Jason Tempestini, Color Services Manager
• Chromix, Steve Upton, Chief Technology Officer, member Color Management Group
• CGS Publishing Technologies International, LLC, Ben Star, Technical Consultant,
• Prestia Color Consulting, Lou Prestia, President, a member of the Pilot Marketing Group
• Kodak Graphic Communications Group, Rich Thies, United States and Canada Professional Services Group, Subject Matter Expert, Color and Press
• Latin American Center for Digital Communications, Joseph F. Staszak, Director
• Rods and Cones, Anne Taylor, Color Consultant, member Color Management Group
• Rods and Cones, David Troutt, Color Consultant
• Rods and Cones, Son Do, Chief Technology Officer, member Color Management Group
• RPimaging , Dan Reid, Chief Consultant, member Color Management Group
• Spectraflow, LLC, Matt Mikkelsen-Pope, Color Technician, member Color Management Group
• WYS System Ltd., Hong Kong , Wilson Chung, Color Mgt Specialist

A Note of Thanks
IDEAlliance wishes to recognize those organizations whose products and services made the GRACoL Experts Certification training possible:

• Amp Printing
• Sappi Fine Paper, North America

About Amp Printing
With revenues over $11 million, Amp Printing has earned a reputation as one of the Bay Area’s premier printers. Amp, located in Dublin, CA, flourishes in an environment where a hands-on management team makes customer service a top priority and highly-skilled craftspeople approach each new project with a can-do attitude, rigorous attention to detail and right-time integration of cutting edge technologies. Amp has a corporate commitment to continuous improvement supported by investments in the latest technology and a new state-of-the-art, 70,000 square foot facility. Hosting the IDEAlliance Experts training session is just one way that Amp continues to build its leading edge expertise.

About Hutcheson Consulting<
With over 38 years of production and R&D experience in photography, pre-press and printing, Hutcheson Consulting offers a unique level of color management training to anyone who needs accurate color, like ad agencies, art galleries, movie studios, photographers, publishers, separators, printers, and software developers. All training is customized to the customer’s specific requirements. As chairman of GRACoL, Don Hutcheson brings his innovative "shared appearance" concept to international printing standards, whereby all printing methods can share a similar gray scale appearance, simply through common calibration goals.

About GRACoL®
In 1966, a graphics arts task force was formed by the Graphic Communications Association (now IDEAlliance) to develop a document containing general guidelines and recommendations that could be used as a reference source across the industry for quality color printing. Since that time, the GRACoL Committee has developed, maintained and published printing guidelines that have since become de facto standards on many pressrooms. The mission of GRACoL is to improve communications and education in the graphic arts by developing best practices that reflect the influence and impact of new technologies in the workflow of commercial offset lithography. GRACoL is a registered trademark of IDEAlliance. Learn more at http://www.gracol.org.

About IDEAlliance
IDEAlliance (International Digital Enterprise Alliance) is a not-for-profit membership organization that has been a leader in information technology and publishing since 1966. IDEAlliance advances core information technology to develop standards and best practices to enhance efficiency and speed information all facets of publishing – creation, production, management, and delivery of knowledge-based content – digitally and in print. IDEAlliance members represent a unique convergence of the leading publishers, printers, and solution providers. IDEAlliance provides a user-driven, cross-industry, and open environment in which its members can strategize, innovate, standardize, and implement solutions to real business challenges in publishing. See http://www.idealliance.org for more information.

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