Adopting
International Printing Standards
and Certification
Bob Chung, Professor
RIT, Rochester, NY, USA
September 19-20, 2012
2
Topics
❖ Connecting the dots
❖ Printing industry trends
❖ Printing standardization and certification
❖ New rules of the game
❖ Managing change
3
Connecting the Dots
❖ Given 9 dots in a 3 by 3 formation, what are
the minimum number of connected straight
lines needed to connect all 9 dots without
lifting the pencil?
4
Connecting the Dots
❖ Most of us would agree, it’s ‘5.’
1
4
5
2
3
5
Connecting the Dots
❖ A better answer is ‘4’ if we think outside the
box, i.e., there is no boundary.
1
3
4
2
6
Connecting the Dots
❖ The take-away
 Paradigms provide ‘boundaries’ or ‘rules’ for us to
follow. While they help us to be successful, they
may block our minds to see other possibilities.
 Past rules may not apply to new problems, i.e.,
‘business as usual’ may not be the best thing for
a company.
 Acquiring new paradigms takes courage and
requires change.
7
Printing Industry Trends
❖ Technology outlook
 Digitization and the Internet are breaking down
technology and distance barriers.

The speed and ease of moving job contents and business
information has transformed our industry from a local/regional
business to a national/international business.
 DRUPA 2012 technology showcase




More color
More personalized to high volume workflow solutions
More automation
More digital production inkjet presses
8
Printing Industry Trends
❖ Competition outlook
 The competition used to be the printer across
town. it’s now everywhere, i.e.,

The printer across the country and the printer across the ocean.

The e-media provider who is providing print as an e-media
alternative.

Our own clients who start their in-house, in-plant printing
operations due to ease of operation, cycle-time reduction,
information sensitivity, etc.
9
Printing Industry Trends
❖ Market and customer outlook
 Print buyers are becoming more global. They want to
work with few preferred suppliers to keep their
supply chains manageable.
•
GASMA PRINT’s vision, “Simplify the Future”
 They demand predictable and repeatable color
across different printing technologies and from
different media.
 They view printing certification as a sound basis for
building trust between printers and themselves.
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New Rules of the Game
❖ What do these changes mean to a printing
company?
 Where are my customers going?
 Do I know my customer’s perceived and unmet needs?
 What do I need to know about printing certification to
earn my current and future customer’s trust?
 How do I ‘connect the dots’ in the new PRINTING
paradigms?
11
New Rules of the Game
❖ RIT perspectives
 2009 – The U.S. printing industry requested RIT to
create a certification scheme
 2010 – Conducted standards and certification survey,
personal visits to Europe (Switzerland, the Netherlands,
U.K., Germany), joined ISO/TC130
 2011 – Certification scheme development, conformity
assessment, ANSI/CGATS TR 016
 2012 – PSA certification scheme, testing, partnership
with IDEAlliance and APTEC.
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New Rules of the Game
❖ A Bangkok Summit objective is to bring
current information of international printing
standards to users in Thailand.
 The summit agenda covers many certification schemes
and process control approaches to printing
standardization.

ISO standards specify aims and tolerances. ISO does not dictate
how to implement it. ISO does not dictate which certification
schemes to follow.

Which approach best addresses my customer’s perceived and
unmet needs?

How do PSO, G7, and PSA differ?
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G7 and PSA
 G7 is a press calibration method and a qualification
scheme per G7 Pass/Fail Criteria.
 No audit, no production variation assessment
 PSA focuses conformance to dataset, as defined by
ISO/DIS 15339 and ANSI/CGATS TR 016.
 RIT is the 3rd party auditor.
 PSA offers two levels of certification: PSA Certified and
PSA with Honors.
 RIT and IDEAlliance, working together, define “G7
GRACoL Certified Printer” based on the PSA
certification and G7 Master Printer status.
14
PSO and PSA
Scheme
PSO
PSA
Applicable
standards
ISO 12647-2
ISO 12647-7
ISO 2846
ISO/DIS 15339-1
ANSI/CGATS TR 016
ISO/TS 10128
Calibration &
control
TVI adjustment
Printer’s choice (TVI, gray
balance, device link)
White point
Proofing and printing
substrates adhere to
specified aims
Proofing and printing aims are
adjusted based on the white
point of the substrate being
printed
Printing
conformance
requirements
4 solids (∆E*ab), 4
midtone TVIs, 1
midtone spread
Dataset (∆E00), 4 solids (∆E00),
4 midtone (∆E00), 1 midtone
triplet (∆E00)
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New Rules of the Game
❖ Printers want repeatable color. Customers want
predictable color.


ISO 12647-2 defines process control conformance aims.
ISO/DIS 15339 & CGATS TR016 define product color conformance
aims.
ISO/DIS 15339-1 product control
Color Management
Job Data
(3-channel
or
4-channel)
Proof
Reference
Dataset
Print Buyer
and Designer
Color
Management
(optional)
Color
Control
Bar / RIP
Printing
ISO 12647-2
process control
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New Rules of the Game
❖ Customers prefer paper with bluish cast.
 The bluish white of the paper (containing OBA) causes
two problems:

It affects printed colors, including greys and solids, thus, printing
conformance.

There is a mismatch between non-OBA proofs and OBA prints.
ISO 3664
Viewing
Proof_CMYK
47-7
126
O
IS
of
Pro
Ref_CMYK
7-2
264 t
1
ISO A Prin
OB
Appearance
Match?
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New Rules of the Game
 ISO 12647-2 (2004)
 The first significant printing standard that demonstrated
‘printing by numbers’ since the film-based workflow
days.
 It focuses on process control and considers color
management outside of its scope.
 Characterization dataset, e.g., Fogra 39, was the result
of process control and was not ISO balloted.
 No provision for substrate correction which leads to
proof-to-print mismatch.
18
New Rules of the Game
 ISO/DIS 15339-1 (2011)
 A new printing standard that uses digital data as
common input to multiple printing technologies.
 It defines a set of reference printing conditions
(characterization datasets) with substrate correction to
enable printing to substrate-corrected dataset.
 The use of press calibration, process control, and color
management are at printer’s discretion.
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New Rules of the Game
❖ RIT has done extensive tests on the effect of proofing
and printing to substrate-corrected dataset on proof-toprint match under the influence of OBA.
The results are positive.
ISO 12647-7
Proof
ISO 15339-1
Print
ISO 15339-1
Proof
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New Rules of the Game
 PSA is a new certification scheme based on
national and international standards.


ISO/DIS 15339-1 (2011)
ANSI/CGATS TR 016 (2012)
 PSA addresses printer’s certification needs
based on dataset conformance using typical
papers.
 PSA also addresses print buyer’s unmet needs,
i.e., print-to-proof color match under the
influence OBA.
21
Managing Change
❖ Every printer faces the challenges of
managing its daily operations to meet
customer’s perceived and unmet needs.
 Printing certification is strategic in building customer's
trust.
 Printing conformance to dataset is strategic in meeting
customer’s color match needs across multiple
substrates and printing platforms.
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Managing Change
1. Plan

What are my customer’s
requirements?

Why certification is important to
my company?

Who else is interested in
certification?
3. Check
 Conduct self studies
 Measure progress
 Close process gap
4. Act
2. Do

Implement standards compliant
workflow

Decide conformance schemes

Select a team

Institute training




Contact certification body
Prepare for on-site audit
Participate in the audit
Celebrate the success
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Thank you.
Q/A
Bob Chung, Professor
RIT, Rochester, NY, USA
rycppr@rit.edu
RIT printing alumni in Bangkok,
Thailand in September 19, 2012 are
(from left) Jaruwat, Channassa, Bob,
Theera, and Sunchut.