Page 55 - Print 21 July-August 2019

Colour Science
US experts are the ‘go to’ people when it comes to instructing the local industry in the arcane secrets of colour management. Ray Weiss, US print specialist, hosted the first SGIAA colour boot camp for wide format printers
at Starleaton’s Melbourne facility earlier this year.
The other as–yet–unnamed expert is being brought out by Jason Hall to promulgate G7 colour science, on behalf of US-based Idealliance, for the wider print industry.
US colour science
output consistency across multiple platforms, print services and distribution outlets. It reduces waste and increases profit,” says Hall.
SGIAA, now Fespa Australia, hosted a three-day colour manage- ment workshop at Starleaton in Melbourne earlier this year, aimed mainly at wide format printers. US print specialist and director of digital print programmes at the US SGIA, Ray Weiss, gave colour tuition to ‘give bad colour the boot – improving production quality while reducing errors, waste, and customer complaints’.
Nigel Davies, president of Fespa Australia, says consistent industry trends confirm that companies
are recognising that they can differentiate themselves through colour management. “We seized the opportunity to raise the profile of colour and provide our members with access to the quality training needed to manage colour effectively,” he said.
The boot camp was based on the idea that colour management is not a theory question, but a technology problem to solve. Attendees at the $1500 course learned colour theory and its practical implications, the latest techniques in media profiling, device management, and how to apply the newest print standards
to production workflow. They were instructed in how to use colour measurement instrumentation and profiling software for faster pre- press and better quality control, as well as learning techniques for rapid device calibration, media profiling and print verification.
Local colour guru David Crowther, aka the Colour Doctor, was also on hand to share his expertise with participants. 21
Gis coming to Australia
7 is drawing on ISO sessions for G7 in Australia, the methodology to deliver system provides better value for ‘neutral grey’ colour printers. He maintains it is the measurement in line with leading specification worldwide, the European standards used by thousands of printers
of Ugra and Fogra. The move will since its launch in 2006, including
heal the split on colour methodology, and introduce new standards to the local printing industry.
Jason Hall is the new Idealliance representative in the region. He
aims to bring G7 certification to
the Australian and New Zealand graphic arts industry, organising a
US expert to come over this year to train locals to implement the new standard. The well-known industry identity is the managing director of Idealliance Australasia and a colour management veteran with ISO TC130 experience. He regards the arrival of the new ISO standards via G7 as a watershed moment in bridging the split between the European and the US colour standards.
The G7 set of specifications, also known as near-neutral, is used for achieving grey balance. It is currently being revised into ISO 12647-2.
This will make the Idealliance methodology compatible with the Fogra and Ugra sets that have long been used in the local industry. It aims to work on any print technology regardless of ink and substrate.
According to Hall, who is launching the initial training and accreditation
nternational brands such as Lego, Microsoft, Sony, and McDonald’s.
Master Qualification
Hall is pitching G7 training for local industry professionals who will then be able to assign G7 Master Qualification to a physical facility, such as a print works. He says it is the most sought after certification, and the most specified standard, in the world.
By having a certified expert trainer in Australia, one of 12 Idealliance offices worldwide, Hall claims that professionals will be able to gain expert qualifications, while avoiding the expenses of a visit to Europe under other systems. In some cases the G7 Certified Expert expense is
25 per cent of the total cost of other programmes. A similar saving is had on the compliance programme.
Hall believes the new system
will increase the take-up of print colour validation and process control throughout the industry.
So far one local, Heinz Widmer of Kodak, has made the trip to become a G7 expert. “Using G7 within a production workflow improves
Top:
Starleaton: the ‘go to’ colour resource for the printing industry, will be at PrintEx
Jason Hall: face of Idealliance Australia
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