FOGRA PSD Process Standard Digital

ProcessStandard
Digital
Handbook 2016
Step by Step toward
Printing the Expected
Fogra Graphic Technology Research Association

Streitfeldstrasse 19, 81673 Munich
www.fogra.org
Publisher:
Fogra Graphic Technology Research Association
Streitfeldstrasse 19
81673 Munich
www.fogra.org
© 2012
Art.-Nr. 86035 (engl)
Author: Andreas Kraushaar
We would like to thank the members of the Digital Printing Working Group (DPWG). We
would also warmly thank Color Alliance for provide parts of their “LFP Designer Guide“ and
PDFX-ready for the PDFX-ready guidelines V2.
New in 2016:
¬ The new printing conditions FOGRA51 and FOGRA52.
¬ Inclusion of the new PDFX-ready guideline 2016 and update to PDFX-ready V1.4 and
V2.4, see chapter 3.4.
¬ New practical use case for the optimization of PDF colours by Color Logic GmbH,
see chapter 3.5.2.
¬ New example for process control solutions by Caldera, see chapter 5.3.3.
¬ Adjustment of the tolerances for the evaluation of colour accuracy (side-by-side and
media relative), see chapter 6.5.
Conditions of use:
PSD and Fogra PSD are registered trade marks of Fogra Graphic Technology Research Asso-
ciation. This PDF-file „ProcessStandard Digital“ is issued for use on operations. The PDF-file
can be downloaded from the Fogra homepage free of charge. The contractual partner shall
be entitled to pass the work on to its business partners in unaltered form and to point to
the download website www.fogra.org.
The contractual partner as well as its business partners shall not be entitled to copy and to
publicly distribute the work in the form of print media, online and offline digital media or
through presentations or to extract parts of it and to prepare them for other purposes. In
particular, it may not be stored in publicly accessible databases or web sites so that it may
be used (e.˘g. downloaded) by third parties. It is also not allowed to modify this handbook
unauthorized.
In the event of a failure to abide by the above the right to use this document shall be with-
drawn © Fogra 2016

Preface
Predictable Print quality
for small and large format digital printing
Every print shop is committed to a high level of quality. A basic prerequisite for this is to use
meaningful rules, hence a standard. In standardization a distinction is often made between
the specification of the final aim and the needed (process) steps to achieve that aim. A good
example for the latter one is the PSO - ProcessStandard Offset, which has been success-
fully in place for years.
For digital printing the PSD - ProcessStandard Digital now comes into play by providing
industrial typical guidelines ranging from data creation all the way to printing. The focus of
the PSD lies in the understanding and control of the entire workflow aiming for a predict-
able print result. In order to achieve this it needs both competent staff using appropriate
instruments on the one hand and the interplay of important ISO, national and de-facto
standards. So it is not one standard which takes precedence. Important standards must
work in concert such as ISO 3664 for image appraisal, ISO 15311 for evaluating the quality
of ink on paper, ISO 13655 for the colour measurements and ISO 14861 for high quality
soft proofing.
The PSD has three main objectives.
1. Output process control - Achieving a repeatable print output

Different output processes will be checked against their known and constant behaviour.
Here the PSD provides guidelines for ongoing process control by stipulating requirements
for the needed quality reports.
2. Colour fidelity
The second goal addresses a consistent colour communication by means of faithful image
reproduction. Guide by the motto: “Printing the Expected” quality oriented print service
providers do first understand the needs and expectations of their clients and are second
able to accurately reproduce that expectation. In that light the PSD extends the established
way of colour reproduction namely the absolute reproduction (“Side-by-Side“) by means of
a all new media relative colour reproduction. Here the PSD provides the framework (spread-
sheets and user guidelines) to evaluate print outs in a media relative fashion. In addition
guidance is provided how to deal with spot colours and substrates with a high amount of
optical brightener agents.
3. PDF/-X compliant workflow

Third, the entire workflow is subject to critical scrutiny as to its capacity for sustained
achievement of consistent print quality and colour fidelity. Here PSD offers guidelines for
creating, preflighting and processing PDF based documents.
Standardization does not mean that materials such as substrates, inks, toner or machinery
must be limited. On the contrary, Fogra PSD aims toward a manageable facilitation of a
material and process diversity in terms of rigours and consistent print quality. Only then
is it possible to identify suitable “combinations”, i. e. collection of a driving (RIP & colour
management), a substrate, ink or toner and a printing press.
PSD ProcessStandard Digital 3

The PSD-concept is visualized in Fig 1.1.
1. Output Process 2. Colour Fidelity

Prepress Control
✔ Proof to Print
Match
Large Format
✔
Small Format ✔
⇒ Stability ⇒ Printing the Expected
3. Workßow
✔ Data Preßight ✔ PDF/X Output ✔ ICC Handling
✔ PDF/X Creation ✔ Altona Test Suite V1 & V2 ✔ Light Audit
Fig. 1.1: Fogra PSD-concept. Aiming for a consistent and predicable print quality, the three aspects of output
process control, colour fidelity and workflow need to be evaluated.
The publishing industry is constantly changing. New disruptive digital printing techniques
enter the market, standards continue to evolve or to be revised; electronic media allows Hint:
print service providers to become communication providers. That implies more complex You are welcomed
processes and related interactions. To meet these changes the PSD is designed as a “living to print out the
PDF file and put it
document”. inside a ring binder
for easy access and
Intended audience replacements.
The ProcessStandard Digital is primarily aimed at print service providers active in the small
and large format digital printing area. While the small format market covers both electro-
photographic and (single pass) inkjet systems, large format (signage) printing (LFP) mostly
uses inkjet technology.
Furthermore the PSD is aimed at print buyers in need of vendor neutral information about
the strengths and weaknesses of digital printing processes. The provided industrial typical
requirements and guidelines help to create print ready documents up front and to negoti-
ate with the service provider based on informed decisions rather than on assumptions. It
also helps to avoid unrealistic demands. All information defined in this handbook shall be
considered as informative requirements and recommendations.
The PSD is currently not applicable for aspects related to AFP-based data, postpress as well
as environmental and sustainability requirements.
4 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

Content
Content
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1 Process Control and Quality Assurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Colour Communication in digital printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2.1 Requirements for colour reference visualizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2.2 Requirements for production printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.3 Interfaces and Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.4 Substrate choice defines the print output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1 What is colour? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1.1 D50 or D65, that is the question! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.2 The importance of the right illumination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.2.1 The ISO standard for image viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.2.2 The metamerism phenomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.3 Colour measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.3.1 Colour communication needs colour measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.3.2 Colour difference evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.4 How ICC works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.5 Basics of print data separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.5.2 Usage of DeviceLink (DVL) transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.5.3 Overprinting and Transparency - Roadblocks for daily production . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.5.4 PDF and PDF/X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.5.5 Device or simulation mode? - The importance of correct data driving . . . . . . . . 65
2.5.6 Detail sharpness - Confusing resolution and addressability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.6 Evaluating print image quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
2.7 Important printing technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.7.2 Inkjet Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.7.3 Electrophotographic Printing (Xerography) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3 Basics for data preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.2 The Output-Intent: From printing conditions to exchange spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.3 Designer guidelines for generating print-ready artwork
(PDFXready Workflow V2.4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.3.1 Which PDFX-workflow to pick? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.3.2 Inspecting PDF: Preflight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
3.4 Printer guidelines for optimized PDF handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
3.4.1 Creating print-ready PDF-files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
3.4.2 Practical recommendations for spot colour handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
3.5 Recommendations for converting Office-PDF into CMYK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
3.5.1 Practical use case: Company callas software GmbH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
3.5.2 Practical use case: Color Logic GmbH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
3.5.3 Practical use case: Company XXX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
3.6 Migrating from FOGRA39 to FOGRA51 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Content
4 Image Appraisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

4.1 Practical tips for image appraisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
4.2 Practical tips for Softproofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
5 Process Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

5.1 General schema for process control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
5.2 Requirements for the quality report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
5.3 Process control guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
5.3.1 General hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
5.3.2 Process Control Solutions provided by: Barbieri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
5.3.3 Process Control Solutions provided by: Caldera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
5.3.4 Process Control Solutions provided by: XXX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
6 Evaluation of print products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
6.2 From colour to the print image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
6.3 System-Check and Print-Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
6.4 Image Appraisal: Side-by-Side and media neutral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
6.5 Colour accuracy for production printing (ISO/WD 15311‑2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
6.5.1 OK-Sheet: „Side-by-Side“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
6.5.2 OK-Sheet: Media relative Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
6.5.3 Stability within the run (production variation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
6.6 Colour accuracy for large format printing (ISO/WD 15311-3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
6.7 Permanence and Durability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
7 Practical Guidelines & User Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

7.1 Rollup | Banner Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
7.2 Folding Partitions | PopUp Display Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
7.3 Soft Image Display System | Textile Folding Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
7.4 Hanging Banners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
7.5 Backlit Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
7.6 Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
7.7 Facade Banners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
7.8 Truck Tarpaulins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
7.9 Car Wrapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
7.10 Sunshades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
7.11 Wallpaper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
7.12 Art reproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
7.13 Posters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
7.14 Book Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
8 PSD-Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
8.1 Certification according to the PSD requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
8.2 Checklist – PSD Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
8.3 All PSD requirements at a glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Process Control and Quality Assurance
1 Introduction
1.1 Process Control and Quality Assurance
An agreed minimum set of parameters is required to uniquely define the visual character-
istics and other technical properties for the colour reproduction of a print product. It is Info:
therefore important that all individuals responsible for data creation, colour separation, ISO 8402:1995
proofing and printing operations agree on this set. This has been the underlying concept of defines quality
assurance as: all
ISO 12647 the multipart standard, which lists and explains the minimum set of primary pro- those planned and
cess parameters required for process control. These requirements uniquely define the visual systematic actions
characteristics for specific processes such as lithography, gravure, flexography, or screen necessary to provide
adequate confidence
printing. This concept is the basis for 15311, however the parameters of the 12647 series, that an entity will
with the exception of parts ´7 and ´8 do not allow for clearly identifying primary process fulfil requirements
for quality. Both
parameters that have a direct bearing on the visual characteristics of the image. Whereas customers and man-
part 7 and 8 of ISO 12647 specify requirements for contract proofing and validation print agers have a need
production systems, they refer to single-copies and do not provide specific criteria and for quality assurance
as they cannot
requirements for digital production. oversee operations
PSD on the other hand is process independent, in line with the move in the printing and for themselves. They
need to place trust
publishing industries to use electronic data for content storage and data exchange through- in the producing
out the print production process, from concept development to finishing. The economics of operations, thus
digital content creation and production preclude bespoke data preparation for all intended avoiding constant
intervention.
printing conditions, including analogue and digital processes. The final output conditions
for print products, ranging from printed cups to large format banners, are often not known
at the time of creation. Prior definition of expected image and product quality can be based
on specific print image quality criteria. Guided by the motto “Printing the Expected” the
concept of the PSD is based on a separation between process control and quality assurance.
Process control, as used here, covers all print specific settings and the corresponding
visual and instrumental measures in order to establish a repeatable and stable printing
condition. The process control measures therefore strongly depends on the printing
technology and media used. Although process control is considered to be the responsi-
bility of the print service provider some basic principles are important. They represent a
change from traditional practices and are outlined in chapter 5.
Quality assurance, as used here, covers the evaluation of the printed matter. In other
words what the client sees. Quality assurance measures reflect the provisions of the
draft ISO 15311-2 for small format (commercial) and ISO 15311-3 for large format
(signagne) printing. These criteria address colour rendition, homogeneity (uniformity),
resolution, artifacts, in addition to permanence aspects such as light fastness or rub
resistance. In order to address the different market needs the criteria and related test
methods are evaluated with respect to three different quality types (currently termed
“A, B and C“) .

1. Introduction

Colour Communication in digital printing
1.2 Colour Communication in digital printing
Colour accuracy or Colour quality is typically related to almost anything with the term
“colour” in its name. When talking about colour in the PSD it is the closeness of the visual
match between a print and the reference printing condition. With respect to one-offs (sin-
gle copy prints) ISO 12647-7 defines the stringent tolerances for the Contract Proof crea-
tion. This is often referred to as “Champions-League“. The recently published ISO 12647-8
stipulates the tolerances for the so called Validation Print. To reflect this less stringent set
of quality criteria it is termed “Bundesliga”.
While for conventional printing the on-press proof was almost extinct there might be a
renaissance in the realm of digital printing. This is the case since it is extremely convenient
to use the same combination of materials for the reference print (Contract Proof, Validation
Print or On-Press Proof) and for the production run.
Once the tolerances for how close to match the references are meet colour reproduction
also relates to the closeness between that reference and the OK-print. Here PSD introduces
the media relative colour reproduction (and viewing), which provides, together with the
established absolute reproduction (viewed Side-by-Side), a modern framework for colour
communication between print buyer and print service provider. In addition the proposal of a
three level tolerance schema (quality types termed A, B and C) helps to identify the required
level of colour match and to cover a wide range of printing application. Here the level “A”
can be identified as “stringent” for colour critical applications; Level B represents “normal”
tolerances for industrial typical printing and level C is identified with “relaxed” tolerances.
It should be noted that the quality types A, B and C should not be confused to interpret
print products to be “better” or “worse”. They are simply reflecting a identified “reference”
implementation that happen to be identifiable by applying the collection of aim values and
tolerances.

1. Introduction
1.2.1 Requirements for colour reference visualizations
From on press proof to contract proof

Until the 1990s, the on press proof, aiming to simulate the visual characteristics of the
finished print product as closely as possible, has been the most widely used means in order
to create a colour reference. Such a proof showed a very good appearance match between
the proof and the final production run, since most of the printing parameters such as plates,
screen, paper and printing ink might be identical to those used for production printing. Only
ink trapping sometimes caused differences between proof and print when flat bed printing
units have been utilized in wet-on-dry printing.
Beside the conventional printing processes more and more photographic and toner-based
imaging techniques such as Kodak Approval, FUJI Final Proof, Analog- and later Digital-
Chromalin, 3M Matchprint, Coulter Stock LC Colourproofing and Iris Gaphics have been
used for creating the so called digital proofs. The advent of these technologies was mostly
driven by the cheaper price and the ease of use compared to the handcrafted creation of on
press proofs. On and off press proofs basically serve the following needs:
¬ Colour reference for the printer and the print buyer
¬ Proof for suitable data preparation
¬ Reference in case of dispute
Quality control
In the light of the standardization mostly driven by the German Printing and Media Indus-
tries Federation (bvdm) and Fogra aim values and associated tolerances have been estab-
lished for on press proofs. Basically, by tightening the existing tolerances for the production
run this has been derived. Due to the lack of widely used and affordable colour measure-
ment devices densitometric criteria, such as the solid ink density, tone value increase (dot
gain), spread or the ink trapping was used. As useful the densitometrical evaluation has
been proven to be for process control, it shows significant flaws in the colour match be-
tween two prints not being made up of the same constituents (ink, paper). For that reason,
the visual match between the digital proof and the OK-sheet or the production run some-
times have not been perfect.
When is a digital print a proof?

The previously mentioned lack of colormetrical evaluations as well as the rise of modern
and inexpensive digital printers, such as inkjet photo printers, lead to widespread use of
overly colourful prints sent to the printer as the reference for the OK-sheet. The print-
er often failed to reach the required appearance; reclamation and rework have been the
consequences. Though the question arose of how a digital print might be assessed on an
objective basis in order to be a (technical realisable) colour reference for a given printing
condition using a reasonable control element to be imposed on each document. This has
been the hour of birth of the “Farbverbindlichkeit” - the colour reliability. Though the colour
reliability is a property that has to be checked for each site or document separately. For
that reason, a compact control wedge, like the Fogra MediaWedge CMYK, reflecting the
trade off between a small size and a good correlation to the page content is essential for
an easy assessment of the colour reliability. That automatically rules out test charts, such
as the ECI2002, or charts testing the resolution or smooth vignettes for each print in the
daily production. Such tests have to be scrutinized in the past by the means of the system
or creation certification to be explained in the next paragraph.

A proof becomes a contract proof or a colour reliable proof only when certain criteria are
met. The MediaStandard Print (MSD) published by bvdm, a technical specification and an
accepted trade standard in the graphic arts industry, requires the Fogra MediaWedge, the
compliance to colorimetrical tolerances taken from ISO 12647-7 as well as a complete
human readable status line as prerequisites on each print. A label to be printed on each
proof comprising the pertinent information often documents this. A colour reliable proof
therefore guarantees that a printer, meeting the ISO aims, such as solid coloration and tone
value increase curves derived by a suitable process calibration, can be assured that they can
reach the given appearance by using the over and under inking capabilities of their press.
Trade associations or companies being active in different regions or markets and using other
aims, such as those defined in the MSD, may define colour reliability differently. They might
define other control elements, pick or alter other requirements from ISO 12647-7 or add
individual requirements to check a typical proof for the daily production.
The role of the colour reliable proof within the workflow

Fig. 1.1 shows a simplified printing workflow consisting of a client, designer, production
agency and print shop (printer).
Fig. 1.1: The role of the contract proof within production workflows nowadays.
The colour reliable proof will mostly be used at the end of the creative work in the produc-
tion chain. It shows the consistency of the data by giving the appearance to be expected
when the printer prints according to the printing condition for which the data has been
separated. In addition, it is the final place to see if something has to be corrected in the
data. In that case, the data has to be corrected and is subject to be proofed again.
Fig. 1.2: Typical layout of the Fogra MediaWedge V.3. Most measurement and evaluation software is capable to
read and evaluate the control strip. It therefore represents a versatile and flexible control wedge

1. Introduction
The „Validation Print“ – The colour reference in the design stage

In light of the increasing demand of print buyers for higher quality and improving image
quality of modern digital imaging devices, such as toner based printers, there has been a
customer and industry need for a less stringent set of quality criteria. This „second level“
should be used primarily in the creative process and reflects a high quality validation of the
proposed job content. Here especially cost and time efficiency play an important role since
the contract proof is not always adequate at this early stage. The Fig. 1.2 illustrates the role
of the so-called “Validation Print” in the colour and layout design stage of the production
workflow.
A “Validation Print” is therefore a defined and reproducible quality within the creative phase
and not primarily a colour reliable reference for the final production run. If prior agreement
among all parties (client, printer and production) have been made even a “Validation Print”
might be used as a colour reliable reference meaning that it represents the reference for the
production and in case of a dispute. This might be the case if the production run is subject
to be conducted using digital printing (e.g. using the same substrates).
Fig. 1.3: Role of “Validation Print“ and “Contract Proof“ in a schematic production workflow.
Certification, ISO standardization and day by day production

The increasing number of incompatible proofing certifications across different markets and
regions led to the cumbersome situation where manufacturers of proofing systems had to
certify their system several times. Manufacturers therefore came to Fogra asking for the
establishment of an international agreed upon standard stipulating objective criteria for
the certification of a proofing system and the proof creation process. This goal was reached
by the end of 2007 with the published standard ISO 12647-7 „proofing process working
directly from digital data“. The FograCert test procedures always kept track of the develop-
ment by reflecting the ISO 12647-7 during that time. Here, the FograCert Contract Proof-
ing System certifies the tested proofing system for the tested combinations of software,
printer, paper and the printing condition to be simulated in compliance with the defined
criteria. The FograCert Contract Proof Creation certifies compliance to the pertinent crite-
ria within ISO 12647-7, and therefore, the ability of the proof provider to create contract
proofs according to ISO 12647-7.

In 2006 the Japanese delegation brought up the discussion of the incorporation of second,
less stringent level of conformance into ISO 12647-7. They provided concrete recommenda-
tions for certain requirements, mainly taking the existing ones with adapted tolerances and
proposed to name that level “Design Proof“. There was a strong feedback from a number
of national bodies recommending not using the term “proof” in the naming of this second
level – TC130 WG3 has later agreed upon the term “Validation Print”. The second issue has
been around the incorporation into the part 7 rather than to put it into a different part
- ISO 12647-8 for example. Consensus has been reached by incorporating the Validation
Print into the existing part 7, not in the published 2007 version, but at the immediate revi-
sion of ISO 12647-7. This started immediately after the publication of the standard and it
was recently published as a final standard. This has been done in order to avoid two almost
identical standards. In order to reduce confusion between “Contract Proof” and “Validation
Print”, the status line (margin information) shall include the term “Validation Print accord-
ing ISO 12647-8” or “Contract Proof according ISO 12647-7” respectively.
Digital Printing System and Digital Print Creation and Colour Reliability
As already described, ISO 12647-7 defines the process agnostic criteria for a certified con-
tract proofing system as well as for the process of contract proof creation. However it does
not explicitly define the colour reliability. Based on ISO 12647-7 and the MSP, the user finds
a concise and stringent threefold hierarchy from the digital printing system (Contract or
validation printing system) over the digital print creation process (Contract Proof or Valida-
tion Print) up to the definition of colour reliability. The tolerances have been summarized
in Table 1.1.
ISO 12647-7 Substrate All Patches Near Neutral Primaries Primaries

Hint:
Maximum ∆H will be ex-
Deviation ∆E*ab ≤ 6 Average Average Maximum plained in 2.3.2.
tolerance ∆E ab ≤ 3
*
Average ∆H ≤ 1.5 ∆H ≤ 2.5 ∆E*ab ≤ 5

(Contract Proof)
∆E*ab ≤ 3
Maximum
Deviation ∆E*ab ≤ 8 Maximum
Average
tolerance ∆E*ab ≤ 3 CMYRGB —
Average ∆C h ≤ 2.5
(Validation Print) |∆H | ≤ 4
∆E*ab ≤ 3
ISO 12647-7:2016 (Draft; new tolerances)
Maximum Maximum
Deviation ∆E* 00 ≤ 5.0 ∆C h ≤ 3.5 Maximum
Maximum
tolerance ∆E 00 ≤ 3
*
CMYRGB
Average Average ∆E* 00 ≤ 3.0
(Contract Proof) |∆H | ≤ 2.5
∆E* 00 ≤ 2.5 ∆C h ≤ 2.0
Tab. 1.1: Criteria of the Fogra Media Wedge CMYK V.3 for colour reliability. ISO 12647-7 is currently under revi-
sion and will soon be published as ISO 12647-7:2016.

1. Introduction
Requirement Contract Proof according to ISO Validation Print according to ISO

12647-7 12647-8
Normative ¬ „Contract Proof according to ISO ¬ „Validation Print according to ISO
12647-7“ 12647-8“
¬ Proofing system designation ¬ File name;
¬ Colorant and substrate material Validation printing system designa-
types tion;
¬ Printing condition to be simulated ¬ Substrate material type;
¬ Colour management profile(s) used ¬ The printing condition to be
and simulated;
¬ Time and date are given. ¬ Time and date of production;
¬ Time and date of last calibration.
Optional Colorant types; Colour management profile(s) used; RIP name and version;
Scaling (if applied); Type of coating; Dedicated data preparation; Type of paper
/ structure simulation such as noise or patterning (if applied); Document ID (if
a PDFX document);
Tab. 1.2: Required items of the status line.

1.2.2 Requirements for production printing
Concrete methods for evaluating colour rendering between an original and a reproduc-
tion are known since the publication of 1931 CIE standard observer - hence more then 80
years. With the presence of affordable colour measurement devices densitometry has been
pushed back towards process control applications. This way of colorimetrically defining the
closeness of a visual match was implicitly referring to an image appraisal that assumes a
simultaneous viewing of both the original and the reproduction - placed next to each other.
This way of appraisal is called “Side-by-Side”. The plethora of devices and substrates in
digital printing and the corresponding variety of use cases challenge that concept of colour
reproduction/viewing. The most prominent nature of the absolute reproduction is the paper
simulation, which is needed to compensate for the different paper shades. Such a paper
simulation, however, is often not needed for many use cases or applications. Contrary often
print products with a paper simulation are often refused by the print buyer. That is the case
since the print product would never have seen direct next to the original in a “Side-by-Side”
fashion. Hence print service providers are faced or demanded to switch off the paper simu-
lation. The established “PSO-like” evaluation would most likely result in no conformance
due to the colour difference in the paper colour.
For that reason, an old-fashion method, e. g. known from densitometry, will be used which
normalizes or adapts for the paper colour. This approach is simplified by considering colours
relative to white. Allowance is made for the fact that observers tend to perceive not in
isolation but with reference to a framework provided by the environment. Such a frame-
work is often the (unprinted) substrate. The media relative approach is intended for those
applications where the final print product is subject for individual viewing or observation.
It assumes that the observer fully adapts to the individual substrate what is practically the
case for most not colour media. While keeping a certain level of predictability this media
relative reproduction (and evaluation) is not applicable without limits. For instance it makes
no sense to render from FOGRA51 (“coated offset”) to IFRA26 (“newspaper printing”). For
that reason there are details requirements for the source and destination gamut to make
sure that both gamuts are similar in size and shape.
In the case when image content needs to be reproduce on a gamut that is substantially
smaller than the reference large colour differences can be expected. These depend on the
uses gamut mapping algorithm and the actual gamut differences. If gamut mapping algo-
rithms are used that come from different vendors the reproduction might show significant
differences. That is practically termed “not consistent”.
This fact calls for another approach which allows for consistent rendering across different
gamuts. Such an approach is termed “common appearance” and still an active field of re-
search. It is planed to incorporate such an approach as soon there is enough substantiation
for a practical, vendor neutral implementation.

1. Introduction

Interfaces and Responsibilities
1.3 Interfaces and Responsibilities
As already described, all of the guidelines and recommendations should be interpreted in an

informative manner. Unless the criteria for the PSD certification are concerned (see chapter
8) there is no need to differentiate between a “shall” and a “should” - as it is good practice
in ISO to clearly identify normative requirements (shall) and information recommendations
(should).
The following table 1.3 identifies typical tasks together with the corresponding party being
responsible for that specific job. It helps to clarify responsibilities .
Nr. Task Responsible Note
1 Data creation – open Print service provider Providing a reliable visualization e.g. by
(application) files should inform the means of a hard- or softproof based on the
data deliverer about corrected (optimised) data is needed for
the status of the data colour critical jobs.
integrity.
2 Providing Print-ready Data deliverer
data – marked as
PDF/X.
3 Preflight of data Print service provider
4 Agreement and Print service provider These include the definition of the quality
negotiation about together with the cli- type for CMYK (and spot if present), the
the output condition ent (print buyer) intended viewing distance, the reference
(printing condition) characterization data set as well as the
colour reproduction („Side-by-Side“ or
media relative)
5 Printability of the Print service provider Unless the manufacturer of the print-
substrate ing system has “certified“ the pertinent
substrate.
6 Process Conversion Print service provider The print service provider is required to
when data is not pre- inform the print buyer about potential
pared for the intended limitations preferably with a contract proof
printing condition based on the re-separated data.
… will be continued
Tab. 1.3: Overview of typical tasks and related responsibilities for industrial typical production. The table will be
continued in the course of time.

1. Introduction
Proposal for a practical PSD compliant job sheet
A-Nr. 135711 PSD Job sheet Template

Last job 12345678
Date 08.12.2016 - 08:57:41 Digital Print Preference
Customer Customer-Nr. 12345 Agency Your Contact

Smith Ltd Person in charge: Wolfgang Goethe
Telephone:
Musterstr. 12 Mobile:
34567 Musterstadt
Telephone: Telephone: Sales representative:
Contact: Contact:
Run length: 100 Schedule Date

Product: ProcessStandard Digital Data to print shop
Format 150 mm x 210 mm Print
Number pages Cover pages: 4 pages Delivery
Content pages: 12 pages
Data and proofs Print ready PDF-files and contract proof of pages 1, 13 and 15
Print Cover pages: 4-colour (4/4-colour)
Content pages: 4-colour (4/4-colour)
Colour Reference FOGRA51 Quality Type: A B C
Colour Reproduction  Side-by-Side  Media Relative
Spot Colours  Yes Quality Type: A B C
 No
Viewing Distance  Standard (50 cm)  Different: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cm
Substrate Cover: MultiArt Silk, wood free matt coated, 250 g/m²
Hint:
Content: MultiArt Silk, wood free matt coated, 150 g/m²
Post press creasing cover, fold, saddle stitched with two staples, trimmed three This job sheet is
sides only an example,
Packaging Use card boxes which can be
Delivery Direct to customer extended on an
Please note: individual basis.
Prepress
Imposition Schema
Please note: Colour reference for spot colour is sample provided by customer
Print
Please note: Deliver with additional job (Nr. xxx)
Delivery to: Samplecity GmbH
Musterstr. 12
34567 Musterstadt
Permanence  Lightfastness according to ISO 12040
 Other: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Material  Paper ordered  Paper at warehouse  Paper by customer
Sheets Sheets Format SG/LG Description g/m² Cut to Sheet

DB 1: SG 1: 20 1.000 mm x 700 mm SG MultiArt Silk 250 350 x 470 mm 80
Cover (Digital):
4 Pages, 4/4 colour
DB 2-4: SG 2-4: 53 1.000 mm x 700 mm SG MultiArt Silk 150 350 x 470 mm 2
3 x Inhalt (Digital):
4 Pages, 4/4 colour
Print
Sheets Machine/Press Perfecting Colours Net sum Gross Result
02 - DB 1: SG 1: 4607 - Nexpress 2500 Yes 4/4 60 80
Cover: 4 pages, 4/4 4-colour
colour
03 - DB 2-4: SG 2-4: 4607 - HP 7600 Yes 4/4 3 x 60 3 x 70
3 x Content: 4 pages, 4-colour
4/4 colour

Substrate choice defines the print output
1.4 Substrate choice defines the print output
The final print image quality is not only in offset printing significantly influenced by the
used substrate. Therefore the title of the PSO chapter can be used here 1:1. Contrary to
conventional offset printing according to PSO it is not possible to establish a group of rep-
resentative papers or more generally substrates (known as paper types) that allow by means
of basic optical properties the prediction of the final visual appearance (when printing with
a predefined process). It is believed that due to the hybrid imaging technologies used for all
kinds of digital printing scenarios a process or technology oriented classification seems in-
appropriate. It is not possible, as it was for conventional printing, to clearly identify primary
process parameters that have a direct bearing on the visual characteristics of the image.
Modern marking technologies are highly optimized for the interaction of colorant, substrate
and the imaging process and can’t easily be separated from each other.
For that reasons digital printing is not building “its own” printing conditions but rather start
with fully characterized printing condition by means of a set of characterization data such
as FOGRA51, i. e. offset printing according to ISO 12647-2:2013 on coated stock. Such a
data set is called an exchange space when it happen to be used by many people for its ap-
propriateness by means of a large but achievable gamut. The achievable gamut can gener-
ally be bracketed between cold-set printing on newsprint on the small end and by sheet-fed
printing on gloss coated stock (in ISO 12647-1 referred to as paper type 1) or inkjet printing
on are large gamut process on the large end.
The main benefit of such an exchange is twofold: On the one hand offset printers can use
data prepared for this reference printing condition 1:1 while digital print service providers
use colour management tools to re-separate (retarget) the data towards the actual printing
condition. All offset related process information such as the paper type, ink sequence or
the screening can be ignored. This is in particular helpful for hybrid jobs where prints will
be produced with offset while a prior short run or some later comers are printed digitally.
This workflow concept is illustrated in Fig. 1.3 and governed by the motto “Printing the
Expected”.

1. Introduction
Fig. 1.4: „Printing the Expected“. Concept of the underlying idea to achieve a consistent image and colour rep-
rodiction across different channels. Printing is only one channel and by providing a few exhcange spaces (to not
confuse print buyers) it can be further devided into digital and conventional production.
The responsibility of the print service provider lies in the selection of an appropriate digital
printing condition that is capable to closely match the gamut of the reference in a reliable
fashion. Similar to offset printing the entire combination (interplay) of the paper, driving,
print mode must be scrutinized with respect to it strengths and weaknesses. Such proper-
ties are :
¬ The reproducible colour gamut including the tone reproduction limits
¬ The gloss of the unprinted areas (in case of missing surface finish)
¬ The colour of the unprinted substrate
¬ Shine trough of a image printed on the back side or the backing
¬ Graininess, in particular that of the black colorant
¬ Production run stability

These parameters, except for offset printing, can’t be deduced or estimated only by know-
ing optical and surface related substrate properties. They must be evaluated on an indi-
vidual basis typically by test prints either done by the manufacturer or by the print service
provider. Here manufacturers offer print media databases (alongside an ICC-printer profile)
that help the customer to pick and to judge a paper that is suitable for the pertinent print
job. Such an ICC-profile is wrongly termed “paper-profile”. This term should be deprecated.
However the printer should be cautious since many of the prescribed aspects can be de-
duced from the ICC-profile alone. In order to help a plausibility check is provided in the
following clause.
Practical plausibility check of colour measurement values

The readings of a colour measurement, both for self luminous and reflective colours, Hint:
strongly depends on the used geometry. That refers to the exact setup of the illumination The „12-o’clock-
and detection paths of the light. Primary parameters are the angle of the incident light, the test“ is a practical
test to check the
size of the illuminated area and the observing direction (detector). Secondary parameters sensitivity of a
that might also be important are the aperture of the illumination and detection optics, field measuring device
of depth and the degree of over- or underfilling. with respect to
positioning. Here
you place the
In light of a measurement condition that reflects what we see (under average conditions) instrument on a
patch measure it
the 45°:0° (or 0°:45°) is the best compromise. For that reason that geometry is required (in and repeat this for
ISO 13655 and ISO 5) for densitometry and colorimetry aspects in the graphic arts. The 12 angular posi-
influence of the aperture will be obvious when viewing objects under a very tiny observer tions The variation
of the 12 readings
angle (as we typically do when using our eyes). The bigger the difference between the natu- is indicates the
ral aperture of the human eye and the viewing aperture of the device the bigger the mis- influence of struc-
tured substrates on
match between the perception and the instrumental reading. This effect is quite negligible the measurement.
for isotropic substrates, i. e. surfaces that have a uniform reflection distribution function. It helps you to
Using a plethora of new substrates such as textiles, plastics, ceramics, glass, metals etc initiate corrective
actions. .
in digital printing represents major challenges for state of the art colour measurements.
Mostly the non-uniformity, i. e. structures and textures surfaces causes the aforementioned
mismatches. E.g. for metallics the 45°:0° readings are not usable at all since due to the me-
tallic reflection most of the incident light will be reflected in the mirrorlike angle and not to
the sensor (placed at 0°). Thus the readings are much too dark. In that case a multi-angle
geometry needs to be taken into consideration.
The usefulness of a print media (substrate) therefore can’t be judged on a few optical prop-
erties alone. In other words the substrate manufacturer can’t advertise it as “PSD compliant
substrate”. In fact a substrate needs to be considered as a part of a system combination
that can be measured with existing ISO 13655 measurement devices in a way that plausible
colour values can be achieved. For that reason a practical plausibility test was designed and
will be mentioned in the following paragraph.

1. Introduction
PSD Substrate conformance – Visual based plausibility test

Until there is an objective method to judge a substrate with respect to its printability and
runability properties for a specific digital printing process the following visually based ap-
proach is recommended.
1. Assure printability and runability for the given combination (e. g. perform ink limit)
2. Print a test-chart with a layout and patch-size that can be measured with the perti-
nent ISO 13655 compliant instrument (e.g. iSis or iO from X-Rite, LFP from Barbieri,
FD-7 from Konica Minolta or SpectroDens from Techkon). Print also the Fogra image
quality testform (pages 1 and 2) and/or other DeviceCMYK test images of choice by
using the same settings.
3. Print at least 5 times and repeat the measurements at least two times each.
4. Analyse the resulting measurement data with respect to outliers and spurious readings.
Use the CIEA*b* spider web for assistance; it is depicted in Fig. 1.4
5. Create an ICC output profile (“Paper_test-XYZ.ICC”) and save the measurement data in
a separate ASCII file
6. Use a contract proofing system and create a new printing condition by facilitating the
created output profile (or the ASCII measurement data) as the aim values
7. Proof the same data set (test chart and test images) according to the requirements of
ISO 12647-7 by simulating the newly created printing condition (“Paper_test-XYZ.ICC”)
8. Visually compare the original print out (step 2) with the proof print under norm light
conditions (ISO 3664:2009).
9. Check if the measured colour differences on your proof (e.g. Fogra MediaWedge evalu-
ation) do correlate with what you see. This is a subjective decision but based on your
experiences it should be possible to make an educated guess about the suitability of
the substrate. This check tells you if the ISO 13655 compliant readings are meaningful,
which is the paramount prerequisite for “printing the expected”.
In case your test fails, the used measurement solution (spot size, instrument geometry,
software algorithms) can’t be used in the context of the PSD to measure and mimic the
pertinent substrate. Practically this restricts substrates to paper-like media where this tests
usually is performed successfully. In case transparent substrates, measured on a white
backer, pass this plausibility test, this substrate can be used in the context of the PSD. Due
to the lack of agreed upon viewing conditions for backlit applications there are currently no
provisions for such materials. However, the principles of the PSD can be applied in general
to all other media.
Fig. 1.5: CIEa*b* spider-web diagram. Left: Perfect printing process. Right: Noise and erroneous data.

On-Press and Off-press substrates - Is the difference needed?
Due to the limited printability of production (e. g. offset) papers to be used with state of the
art inkjet proof printers, a clear separation between “proofing substrates” and “production
stock” was required to express the differences.
It seems that this differentiation will be needed for the near future; however the raising
level of colour accuracy of modern digital production machines provides the ability to cre-
ate the colour reference (either a Contract Proof or a Validation Print) with the same sub-
strate as the one that will be used later for production. In particular that might be the case
for Validation Print that has the potential to become the “new” on-press proof. In that case
the customer can predict the final appearance of the print product not only by means of the
colour accuracy but also for related properties such as haptic, opacity and differential gloss.
Summary: The substrates determines both the final print quality and the achievable perma-
nence and durability. It is the governing factor of the individual system combination, which
unfortunately can be grouped or categorized as it was possible for offset printing.
It is the responsibilty of the print service provider to select the appropriate substrate.
Practical recommendation for media selection

1. The intended production substrate should be communicated clearly between the print
service provider and the print buyer. The definition of a paper type (e. g. coated paper)
is not appropriate for high quality print jobs. (See job sheet for more information).
2. When an additional surface finishing is planned it should be clearly communicated
both in the job sheet and in the slug line (status information) of the Contract Proof or
Validation Print to indicate if the colour reference reflects the printed product before
or after surface finishing.
¬ In case, for whatever reasons, the production substrate differs from the intended sub-
strate a print media should be selected that resembles the intended one by means of
gloss, paper colour and coating.
3. If not defined otherwise a white backing should be used for all colour measurements
(quality assurance)

2.

What is colour?
2 Basics
2.1 What is colour?
The term colour is used quite differently in general usage. Contrary to the German language,
where colour is unfortunately used for both the colorant and the perception, the English
language suitably differentiate between paint (as the colorant) and colour as the percep-
tion. However colour is often wrongly referred to as a property of an object such a “green
apple”. This makes precise colour communication harder and was already noted by Yule:
„Colour was an art long before it was a science, and consequently
the language of colour is poetic rather than factual.”
— J. A. C. Yule, Principles of Color reproduction, 1967
Speaking scientifically about colour there are four different approaches that help to cat-
egorize and understand the different motivations and circumstances:
¬ To study the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye (Ophthalmology). In other
words the psychophysical relationship of the human visual system with respect to
colour vision e. g. Colour deficiency or colour blindness.
¬ To study the physical mixing of colorant objects to generate a required coloration e. g.
ink formulation.
¬ To study the pleasing affective response (harmony) of colours interacting with each
other
¬ To study the perception of the colours as to how the human visual system reacts to a
given physical stimulus (Basic and higher colorimetry)
The Fogra PSD uses the term “colour” only by means of the last aspect namely as an at-
tribute of the visual perception consisting of any combination of chromatic and achromatic
content. Colour should not be confused with the physical stimulus (i. e. the visible radiation
that enters the eye) that causes the sensation.
Generally there are four governing factors that contribute to the final colour appearance
of an object colour, i. e. colours perceived to belong to an object. Firstly it is the spatial and
temporal surround. This includes simultaneous and successive contrast phenomena. Sec-
ondly the surface characteristics play an important fact since they determine the gloss. Ex-
isting methods such as the TAPPI 75° method only allow for a indication or an increasing or
decreasing gloss intensity but not an absolute description. Nor do existing reflection based
gloss meters explain effects such as differential gloss or distinctness of Image. The third
area or factor is the texture of a sample. Last but not least the translucency must be meas-
ured appropriately in order to estimate its contribution to the overall colour appearance.

2. Basics
These four general factors are visualized in Figure 2.1
Colour Appearance
Gloss Texture
Colour
Surrounding Translucency
Fig. 2.1: Schematic view of the contribution of four elementary factors to the final colour appearance.
It is true that a colour is unambiguously defined by three figures such as CIEXYZ or CIELAB,
but only under the specific measurement and viewing conditions. The most important influ-
ential parameters are the illuminant and the observer. The graphic arts industry uses for a
variety of (good) reasons the CIE 1931 2°normal observer and the CIE D50 illuminant. This
is also stipulated in the relevant ISO standards such as ISO 3664 for viewing and ISO 13655
for measuring. It must be noted that the afore mentioned unambiguous definitions only
refers to objects that are perceived structure-less, opaque, free of fluorescence and seen
with a adapted eye in a neutral grey surround and background. If theses assumptions are
not met, the straight forward application of colorimetry is compromised.
Many print products can be well characterized colorimetrically under these circumstances.
However there are applications and uses cases where the contribution of the factors shown
in Figure 2.1 come into play. For instance the colour saturation of the underground sign
significantly differs due to the different gloss levels (see top left). In light of the plethora
of substrates used in digital printing this is a great challenge for the nowadays colour
management.
2.1.1 D50 or D65, that is the question!
There are only a few topics that give raise to so much debate as the choice of the right illu-
minant. Contrary to the TV-, paper or textile industry, which are using D65 as the reference
illuminant, the printing industry is seeming to go its own way. This parapgraph explains the
background for that decision and discusses the consequence of a thinkable change toward
D65.

What is colour?
The importance of the correct viewing conditions

The illumination plays a vital part when assessing colours between an original and a repro-
duction. Here both the spectral power distribution of the pertinent light source [over the
visual wavelength ranging typically from 380 to 730 nm] and the state of visual adaptation
determine the resulting colour appearance. The latter is basically governed by the entire
field of view and most strongly by the immediate surround extending the objects to be ap-
praised. Based on the principle transmission or reflection properties of the samples to be
evaluated there are basically two different types of viewing conditions: Viewing transmis-
sive media and Viewing reflective media.
Typical transmissive objects are photographic transparencies while colour reflection art-
work as well as reproductions such as proofs or production prints (press sheets) are typical
candidates for hardcopy material. In the light of internationally agreed upon (standardized)
way of colour appraisal, e.g. for image and colour quality evaluation or critical comparison
of prints and transparencies, a common set of defined viewing condition parameters is
strongly required. One of them is the reference spectral power distribution which plays
also a vital part in other important processes such as data preparation (e. g. via ICC Colour
Management) or colour measurement.
The quest for the right colour temperature

The current practice of colour appraisal is marked by a significant decline of transmissive
media to be used as typical originals. The direct comparison of such transmissive media (e. g.
slides) against the printed reproductions was the main reason for internationally agreeing
on the warm white CIE D50 daylight illuminant in 1974 (ISO 3664:1974) [xx]. This consensus
was the result of important compromises which will be explained in the following section.
Photographic transparencies are mostly balanced in a way to exhibit a neutral colour ap-
pearance when illuminated by a tungsten projection lamp. Those kind of light source usually
having a correlated colour temperature (CCT) ranging from 2800 K to 4000 K. The cor-
related colour temperature is the temperature of the Planckian radiator whose perceived
colour most closely resembles that of a given stimulus at the same brightness and under
specified viewing conditions. For that reason such a “CCT-range” was a reasonable choice
for typical viewing application. Contrary to transmissive media a viewing apparatus was not
necessary for judging press sheets or proofs. Therefore it was common to assess the prints
at the north side of the building which resembles a natural daylight phase to some extent.
Anyhow it is known that phase of natural daylight are far from being constant; they vary
dramatically with local and temporal changes. Typical daylight phases have been defined by
the CIE (CIE - Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage), see Fig. 2.2. They are characterized
by their correlated colour temperature such as D50, D65 or D75.
Fig. 2.2: Identical hardcopy prints under three different light sources (left: office illumination – „ Cool white
Fluorescent“, middle: daylight simulator D50 according ISO 3664, right: tungsten source)..

2. Basics
It should be noted here that a light source refers to the physical photon emitter while the
illuminant refers to tabulated data. Because it is very difficult to produce artificial light
sources of illumination which closely match the spectral power distribution of CIE daylight
phases, it is important that the light sources used in the pertinent viewing cabinets (day-
light simulators) show conformance to the criteria stipulated in ISO 3664.
Fig. 2.3: CIE-daylight phases (solid line), simulators using discharge lamps (dashed line) and simulator using a
xenon lamp.
The paramount reason for using daylight is, that it is usually perceived to be more neutral
compared to objects illuminated by tungsten light sources. In addition a higher contrast is
perceived using daylight illumination especially for colours absorbing in the blue spectral
region such as yellows. A direct comparison between D50 and D65 with respect to the
maximum colour differences between the adjacent tone values shows slight advantages
using D50 for cyan and magenta colours. The differences for other colours have been found
to be not significantly different from each other. In that experiment spectral reflectance
curves of the primary and secondary offset colours have been facilitated by means of the
CIE1976 and CIEDE2000 colour difference between tone values that differ about 1 %.
Having this scenario of two different correlated colour temperatures (approx. 3000 K [ ] for
transparencies and aprox. 6500 K for prints [ ]) the compromise was reached by agreeing on
an average colour temperature of 5000 K. This was necessary since the visual adaptation of
the eye needs a stable reference; a direct comparison (short term memory matching) of two
images with different “white points” causes significantly different perceptions.
Though print shops weren’t forced to install two different types of lamps in their prepress
and press rooms. The already mentioned industry branches such as the textile or automo-
tive industry weren’t faced with those compromises and have been working with D65 for
years.

What is colour?
So why not change to D65 when there are no transmissive media anymore?
In the light of the decline of transmissive media in prepress work the before mentioned
compromised loses its justification. A potential change toward D65 as the reference il-
luminant for the printing industry must be seen with caution. This is due to a plethora of
consequences that will be outlined exemplary here:
¬ Extensive investments will be required for the established viewing apparatuses
¬ Revisions will be necessary for ISO standards with respect to aim values
¬ Modification of established documentation base [best practices, quality management
documents, guidelines, characterization data, spec sheets etc]
¬ Enormous effort for communication and seminars needed
¬ More problems when matching samples with less (e. g. proof) and high amount of opti-
cal brighteners agents since the higher amount of UV leads to a higher excitation.
Giving those reasons a hasty change toward D65 can’t be recommend. Interestingly a cur-
rent study [xx] shows, that the average colour temperature for indoor lighting is about 4700
K, and therefore even below of D50.
Anyhow, in order to evaluate potential advantages of using D65 in the graphic arts, e. g. for
softproofing applications, Fogra will study necessary experiments within a coming research
project concerning the quality of viewing apparatuses.

2. Basics

The importance of the right illumination
2.2 The importance of the right illumination
Print products will be observed and judged under different illumination levels and types.
The perceived colour strongly depends on the light hitting the object to be viewed. The
resulting effect depends on the interaction of the spectral distribution of the incident light
and the spectral reflection factor of the object. Only when agreeing on a reference (stand-
ard) illumination a global colour communication is possible. For the graphic arts industry
this was defined to be D50, see last paragraph 2.1
When fluorescing objects are of concern, that is true for all papers containing optical
brightener agents, not only the spectral distribution of the incident light in the visible but
More information
also in the UV-region plays an important role. can be found at Fogra
Extra No. 18
2.2.1 The ISO standard for image viewing
The active participation of manufacturers of standard light booths on the revision of ISO
3664, specifying tolerances for artificial sources of illumination which closely match the
spectral power distribution of natural daylight (D50), resulted in equipment that met the
stringent criteria of conformity 2009 shortly after its adoption. This third edition cancels
and replaces the second edition (ISO 3664:2000), which has been technically revised by
tightening the compliance tolerances on the UV portion of the standard illuminant D50
spectral power distribution. The replacement of the old tubes with the new ones, including
suitable modification of the apparatus itself (reflectors, diffusers, etc), is gradually in pro-
gress. While this conversion mostly happened smoothly there are some critical comments.
Based on background information described in the recent ISO news issues this article gives
more insight and comments on the raised issue.
„Measure as you see“

There is no doubt that the best viewing condition for the visual assessment of colour is
that in, which the product will be finally seen. The approach of the printing industry is to
first determine a suitable standard light source (D50) and then they match the spectral More information
on the genesis of ISO
power distribution as closely as possible. If the light source used for measuring graphic 3664 can be found at
art specimens also matches the spectral power distribution the provisions are made for a ISO News 5 and 8
consistency between measurement results and visual assessment. ISO 13655:2009 provides
for colorimetric measurements under several spectral conditions. One, identified as M1, has
the same spectral power distribution as D50 and samples deemed to match colorimetri-
cally under that measurement condition can reasonably be expected to match visually ISO
3664:2009 compliant viewing cabinets.
While this is generally the fact for individual samples being evaluated it gets more compli-
cated, if a second sample is added, which differs in the amount of optical brightener agents
(OBA). This is related to a process called adaptation, which describes the processes by which
the visual system alters its operating properties in response to the prevailing viewing condi-
tions. Simplified one can say that the eye adjusts to the brightest area in the field of view
and perceives that after a short time as white. In cases where the amount of optical bright-
ener agents differ between the two samples, the before mentioned adaptation (in concert
with simultaneous contrast) leads to a whitish appearance of the OBA-rich paper while the
OBA-free substrate (such as a proofing substrate) appears yellowish.

2. Basics
This visual discrepancy inevitably leads to conflicting goals.

A proofing substrate is usually OBA-free in order to assure a high level of light fastness. A
comparison of such a proof print with a production paper with a high amount of OBA nec-
essarily results, under a D50 illumination, in the before mentioned appearance. The proofing
paper looks slightly yellowish while the production paper looks bluish white – as you would
see it outdoors. This situation mimics real world behaviour, i. e. the OBA free proof looks
yellowish and the OBA-rich stock appears bluish white – Mission accomplished?
Only in the first instance. In the production chain however this “visual discrepancy” is not
desired since the contract proof serves as the reference – when seen alone sometimes long
before printing. In other words white areas of the contract proof, when judged alone, ap-
pear neutral and white and the print buyer accepts it as the reference for printing. When
starting the print job by comparing the OBA-rich substrate with the contract proof it sud-
denly changes its appearance as described. In order to match the “yellowish proof” the
printer is now forced to increase the inking of the yellow ink. When the print is then seen in
isolation it appears with a strong yellowish cast, which inevitably leads to customer com-
plaints. Using the same spectral power distribution as D50 therefore restricts the usage of
samples, which severely differs by their amount of OBA.
At this point the question must be asked why such a comparison is made in this way at all!
In other words, why a reference printing condition that is based on substrates containing
a moderate amount of OBAs is used for printing ob OBA-rich substrates? From a technical
point of view this can be attributed to be inappropriate. A pragmatic solution would be to
use a proofing substrate with similar amounts of optical brighteners. This approach, how-
ever, is not only facing a lack of standardization by means of a concrete approach, but also
the reduction in light fastness and logistical challenges due to the required availability of
various proofing substrates. Due to the lack of alternative proposals that cover the entire
colour management workflow from profile building via softproof simulation to print con-
formance assessment an individual printing condition must be established.
The increased UV-content in the ISO 3664-2009-compliant viewing cabinets now leads to
higher excitation of the optical brightener agents. Comparing print samples with different
amounts of OBA leads to both a yellowish cast of the OBA-free or –poor proofing stock and
to a colour change of prints containing a high amount of OBA.
The criticism that this effect is less prominent by using older (ISO 3664:2000) lamps, which
typically use a considerably lower UV-content, should be addressed as follows. First, it has
been observed that graphic arts viewing booths vary with respect to UV-content. The prac-
tical result is that specimens that have nearly identical measured colorimetric properties, TIP
at times will not visually match when viewed in the viewing booth, and vice versa. Second, When the white
tile of your colour
asking for a standardized production necessarily requires the usage of measurements e.g.
measurement
for conformance assessment. In the said scenario any objective evaluation of a visual match devices, placed next
would result in an instrumental mismatch. This can be clearly seen when comparing the to the intended
production stock,
paper white differences of PT 1/2 being CIELAB=95,0,-2 and a typical reading of a OBA-rich appears yellowish,
paper e. g. CIELAB=94,1,-8. Therefore this situation can’t be simply attributed to a “bad” it is recommended
to establish an
standardization. It rather indicates for which types of substrates a proof to print match is
individual printing
achievable and for which configurations more work has to be done. condition.

2.2.2 The metamerism phenomenon
As prescribed in the previous section the appearance of a surface colour is influenced by

the illumination. The following paragraph provides information and practical guidelines for
an important aspect of colour rendering, which is often confused. We talk about metamer-
ism.
What is „metamerism“?
The terms „metamerism“ originates from Greek and refers to equality under certain circum-
stances. When comparing a yellowish paper with a white paper under a yellow light both
papers match. Changing to a white illumination the appearance changes to the “normal”
state, i. e. the white paper appears “whitish” and the yellow one “yellowish”. The effect that
two different objects, i. e. samples with different spectral reflectance factors, match under
one light source and fail to match under a different is called metamerism. The two samples
are called metameric samples or metamers. In more technical terms you can say: E XPERT
Two specimens having identical tristimulus values for a given reference illuminant and ref- Metamerism is
caused by the
erence observer are metameric if their spectral radiance distributions differ within the fact that the hu-
visible spectrum. The procedures concerned with a special metamerism index for a change man visual system
from a reference illuminant to a test illuminant of different spectral composition, or that for is comprised of
three different
a change from a reference observer to a test observer of different colour-matching func- receptors (that
tions are called the determination of special metamerism indices. project the high
dimensional spec-
tral reflectance
Metamerism - change in illumination (MILM) space onto three
This procedure defines a special metamerism index Milm for a change from a reference dimensions)
illuminant to a test illuminant of different spectral composition. It must be noted that the
metamerism index Milm is not suitable for determining the resultant colour shift or specify-
ing the colour constancy of a single object colour when the illuminant is changed. That will
be explained later. Figure 2.4 shows typical light sources.
Typical CIE standard lightsources
200
A
180 D50
D65
160 F1
F12
FL 31
140
Relative Intensity
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700
Wavelength in nm
Fig. 2.4: Standardisierte Lichtarten der CIE.

2. Basics
Metamerism - change in observer

Observer metamerism represents the case where one observer see a visual match between
two samples and another doesn’t. The CIE 1931 and 1964 standard colorimetric observers
represent the colour vision properties of the average population reasonably well. Never-
theless it is well known that individual deviations in the colour-matching functions occur
among colour normal observers. Hill provides a set of 24 colour matching functions that
show the variability among persons with normal colour vision, see Fig. 2.5. They contain
both the CIE 1931 2° and CIE 1964 10° standard observer. Observer metamerism is not
restricted to “human observers”. It can also be computed for cameras which have camera
spectral sensitivities instead of cones or colour matching functions.
24 observers
2.5
2
Relative Sensitivity
1.5
0.5
350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wavelength in nm
Fig. 2.5: Set of 24 representative observers (colour matching functionn) collected by Hill.
In most industrial colour matching processes, the aim is to produce a sample having a
spectral reflectance function as close as possible to that of the standard. If the reflectance
functions are the same, the match will hold for all light sources and for all observers. This
type of match is known as a spectral match. In many cases within the graphic arts industry
it is not possible to obtain a spectral match using the desired set of dyes or pigments. If
the reflectance functions are very different, then the match might be very good for one
light source (e. g. D50 daylight) but may not hold for other sources (e. g. tungsten or TL84
fluorescent light). This type of match is known as a metameric match. The degree of meta-
merism may be quite small or very marked, depending on the difference between the two
reflectance functions and the specific illuminant concerned. The degree of metamerism can
be evaluated by calculating the colour difference under the second and third light sources
(either visually or instrumentally).
Calculation of metamerism indices

In order to calculate the colour difference between two samples under different light source
you need to know the spectral reflectance factor of both samples. Using these factors and
appropriate software programs you can determine the colour difference under the refer-

ence (e. g. D50) and test (e. g. TL84) light source. If the two metameric object colours fail to
be a precise match with respect to the standard colorimetric observer, a suitable account
should be taken of this failure. The nature of such account should be completely specified
and the size of the failure recorded. In addition the used colour difference formulas such as
∆E*ab or CIEDE2000 should be indicated.
Figure 2.6 shows the reflectance factors of two different samples. The dotted red light
represents a composed (CMY) grey of a proofing system while the blue line characterizes
the a pure grey printed in offset lithography.
D50 F2
0,8
I II I II
Reflectance facotr
0,6
0,4
0,2
0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700
Wavelength in nm
Fig. 2.6: Spectral reflectance factors of two metamers. They appear identical under D50 but show a significant
colour difference under a typical office illumination, here „F2“ (discharge lamp), --pure grey, - - - composed
grey.
About metamers and paramers

The principle of metamerism, i. e. the lack of any colour difference under the reference il-
lumination, is often not met in daily life (see also the example provided below). Such objects
are called paramers instead of metamers.
Colour constancy
Colour constancy is a property of one sample that is often confused with metamerism. It
relates to the property of an object to maintain the same colour appearance under a wide
range of illuminants. One example: Using the two samples from Figure 2.6 it might be
known that observing the composed grey sample will lead to different colour casts when
seen under different illuminants. The pure grey sample however will mostly result in an
chromatic appearance. Both phenomena are illustrated in Figure 2.7.
Metamerism 2 Samples Colour constancy 1 Sample
Lab1 = Lab2
Lab1 ≠ Lab2
Metamerism Index Colour Inconstancy Index

MD65-A, MD65-F11 CIID65-F11, CIID65-A
Fig. 2.7: Schematic comparison of metamerism vs poor colour consistancy (colour inconsistancy).

2. Basics
Example calculation: Metamerism Index change in illuminant

By using the Ugra metamerism indicator a concrete example on how to calculate a meta-
merism index should be given. It is made up out of three identical pairs of metameric
samples lined up as depicted in Fig. 2.8. The samples are created in a way that they match
under daylight (D50) and mismatch under different light sources. In this example a typical
office illumination called TL84 (also termed CIE F11) is used as a test light source. Inspect-
ing the Table 2.1 one can see that the indicator is using paramers instead of metamers
since the colour difference under the reference light source (D50) is not zero (∆E≠0). It is
CIEDE2000=2.9 instead, which can be attributed as a small but visible colour difference.
Fig. 2.8: Simulation of the Ugra metamerism indicator. Top: almost no colour difference under the reference light
source (D50). Bottom: Significant colour different under test light source, here TL84.
Referene light source (D50) Test light source (F11)

XYZ - Ref 21.32 23.25 4.5 22.43 25.01 4.22
LAB- Ref 55 -5 47 57 -8 52
∆E00 2.9 (small visible mismatch for D50)
XYZ -Test 22.18 23.30 3.11 22.80 27.04 3.38
LAB - Test 55 -6 -50 59 -19 54
∆E00 8.4 (significant colour difference)
Details CIE 1931 2° observer, Reference: D50, Multiplicative correction, since CIEXYZ
values don’t match under D50 -> paramers.
CIEXYZKorr - - - 21.67 25.14 3.6
LAB - Test 55 -6 -50 57 -16 50

MID50->F11 MILM=6.7
Tab. 2.1: Calculation example to determine the metamerism index (change in illuminant). A very first guess can be
made by simply subtracting the colour difference under the reference from those under the test light source. The
correct method however needs to leverage (Null) the difference under the reference illuminant before calculating
the colour difference under the test. Here the multiplicative correction has been applied.

Colour measurement
2.3 Colour measurement
2.3.1 Colour communication needs colour measurement

When measuring colours it is advisable to separate between the measurement of surface
and self luminous colours. The following guidelines focus on the measurement of surfaces
while the reader might consult the free of charge Fogra Softproof handbook that focus on
the measurements of self luminous colours, i. e. displays, both in contact and via distance
measurements. For more background
information please
refer to the Fogra
Measuring surface colour Softproof Manual
In order to communicate colour it is extremely important to agree on the intended usage
of the measurement values. The main task of colour measurement is to mimic the colour
sensation for a given set of viewing conditions. Though measurement devices are build in
a way to “measure as we see”. Important parameters of the viewing conditions are the il-
lumination and detection geometries, the excitation of potential optical brightener agents
(OBA) by means of a certain UV energy, polarisation and for not opaque samples the used
backing material. Given that there are two substantially different use cases aiming for dif-
ferent goals:
¬ Measuring the final colour appearance, i.e. a high correlation to what a normal sighted
observer perceives under a given viewing condition (“Measure as you see“). Here a
45°:0° (or 0°:45°) geometry is the best compromise for typical viewing and therefore
standardized, e. g. in ISO 13655. The best way to reflect this is to use a tele-measuring
device that is placed at the viewer positions by using a receiving aperture that is simi-
lar to the human visual system (typical 2°). Those devices are often tricky to handle.
For that reason the most 45°:0° devices measure in direct contact. Here it is important
to illuminate the sample as uniform as possible to avoid differences when slightly
replacing the device. Also the focus point needs to be taken into consideration. In par-
ticular when using a scanning device that is not in direct contact with the sample.
¬ Measuring material properties by reducing any kind of surface induced effects. Here
the measurement devices use an integrating sphere and a larger aperture. This allows
for a diffuse illumination which in results in material independent readings. This kind of
devices is typically used when there is a physical sample as the original.
For the given reasons it is extremely important to communicate the intended use case to
allow for a meaningful interpretation of the measurement values. Different industries have
established appropriate standards. The paper industry, for instance, uses ISO 5631 that
defines an integrating sphere to assure consistent paper production across different sites
while the graphic arts industry defines an 45°:0° directional illumination defined in ISO
13655 to allow for a colour appearance match between prints and monitors. However even
within the printing industry a series of measurement illumination conditions M0, M1, M2
and M3 have been defined to address the different needs.
ISO 13655 light source UV-content Polarisation UV-Cut Reference Backing
filter filter
M0 incandes- low (but techni- No No D50/2° wb/bb
cent lamp cally not defined)
M1 D50 as D50 No No D50/2° wb/bb
M2 continuous No No Yes D50/2° wb/bb
M3 continuous No Yes Yes D50/2° wb/bb
Tab. 2.2: Overview of ISO 13655 M series of measurement conditions. wb/bb: white/black backing.

2. Basics
M0 or M1?
Many modern printing substrates contain Optical Brightener Agents (OBA). These agents
are added to enhance the brightness (but not the CIEL* lightness) of the paper and improve
the appearance of the printed product. They operate through the process of fluorescence by
absorbing invisible ultraviolet (UV) radiation at wavelengths below 400 nm and emit light
mostly in the blue end of the visible spectrum at about 430 nm. The perceived colour of a
substrate that contains OBA will look different, depending whether the light source used
to view the prints contain more or less UV. In practice, colours viewed under real viewing
conditions containing UV sometimes were notably mismatched, and failed to meet expec- More information
tations. about M0, M1, M2
and M3 can be found
In order to find out the amount of OBA the CIEb* value provides a good indication. A nega- at the X-Rite white
tive b*-value mostly indicate a substrate that contains some OBA since the light emitted paper “The M Factor”
or “ISO 13655:2009
at 430 nm increases the blue reflection and hence the CIEb* value. However there are also
demystified by Konica
papers with a negative b*-value that contain no OBA at all. This is cause by special dyes Minolta (https://www.
that are used to compensate the yellowish appearance of the row material. Therefore it is konicaminolta.
eu/en/measuring-
advised to check a substrate by means of both the coloration and the OBA-content. Two instruments/learning-
measurements can be used to achieve this; either a M0 and a M2 measurement or a M1 and centre/colour-
measurement/colour/
a M2 measurement. For substrates with no or a small amount of OBA the UV-content of
iso13655-demystified.
the measurement illumination can be neglected. That was the practice for older graphic arts html).
measurement standards and lead to the current confusion as to which measurement con-
dition to use M0 or M1. Before ISO 13655:2009 it was assumed that all substrates would
measure the same using a D50 illuminant, and OBA content was not a concern. Therefore all
Fogra characterization data sets refer to D50 in the header information. The measurements
however relate to the instruments that were available at these times which have been ad-
ditionally altered to match the prints under the standard illumination at these times.
In order to minimize the measurement variability and to provide a way to communicate the
illumination source used for measurement (and viewing), a new notation of measurement
conditions was needed. As of FOGRA51, all further Fogra standards will be based on M1.
Mode M1 specifies that the spectral power distribution of the light source used to measure
the specimen should match CIE illuminant D50. M1 also defines a “second part” that is
only valid for measuring optically brightened papers but not for measuring inks or toners
that fluoresce. This second definition requires that a compensation method is used with a
controlled adjustment of the amount of UV-component. This is to provide a high correlation
to the D50 illumination conditions as stipulated in ISO 3664:2009. The second method is
mostly used when one UV-LED lamp is used.
Using a UV-filter is often referred to as a the problem solver. That is not the case since pa-
pers that differentiate themselves by means of their different OBA amount would virtually
look (and measured) the same when the OBA won’t be excited. TIPP
Since M1 compatible measurements are currently not wide spread at the moment there Classification of the
are no easy provisions available. However Fogra is actively working on practical solutions content of OBA:
and they will be added to the PSD as soon as they are available. For the time being the 0 ≤ ∆B ≤ 1 = Free
recommendation is to use the media relative (instead of the absolute “Side-by-Side”) colour 1 < ∆B < 4 = Faint
4 ≤ ∆B < 8 = Low
reproduction, see 1.2.
8 ≤ ∆B ≤ 14 =
As a rule of thumb it can be said that papers with a CIEb* value below -5 (when measured Moderate
with legacy M0 devices) require caution in using it must be exercised and testing (including ∆B ≥ 14 = High
the establishment of an individual printing condition) is advised.

Colour measurement
ISO 13655 Typical applications

M0 For any use where neither substrate nor imaging colorant fluoresce (much)
Calibration, profiling, process control, press acceptance, proof measurements
M1 For use when substrates may fluoresce (strongly) and the user is confident that the
inks do not fluoresce.
Upcoming recommendation from Fogra/ECI will cover the explicit use of the meas-
urement conditions M1.
M2 For use when paper fluoresces, but there is a desire to eliminate this effect from
affecting the data (process control or profiling where no ISO compliant print con-
formance is needed)
M3 For special use cases where first surface reflections should be minimized including
the use of polarisation to do so. (In particular for process control in offset printing
to reduce the ink setting effect)
Tab. 2.3: Applications and use of M0, M1, M2, and M3.
Don’t compare apple with oranges

If you are trying to hit standardized values, “print to the numbers”, or to meet customer
supplied values, it is essential to understand the source of the values. Density values and
hence tone values are less effected by illumination conditions but differ by means of the
used status (E or T).
For process control there is no strict requirement of the used illumination condition since
the primary aim is to keep process constant. That’s why the mode M2 is mostly used here.
Contrary when profiling a digital press in order to match a reference characterization data
set such as FOGRA39 it is recommended to use the measurement condition that is used by
the reference. With the advent of FOGRA51 and FOGRA52 now a proof to print match is
achieved without any “gurus” and “compensations”. This means that matching FOGRA51 or
FOGRA52, the machine profile needs to be made with M1.
2.3.2 Colour difference evaluation

From colour to colour difference
Characterizing and evaluating colours differences can be done in various ways. Basically
such a colour difference is understood as a (weighted) distance between two colours [typi-
cally two points in a coordinate system] in a reasonable colour space. While in some indus-
tries such as the textile or automotive industry there is often a physical reference sample
and a reproduction or test sample in the graphic arts industry both colours are normally
equally important and no specimen takes precedence over the other. That is important since
colour difference equations such as the CMC formula might not always be symmetric, i. e.
∆ECMC Ref. vs. Test ≠ ∆ECMC Test vs. Ref.
The most common colour space to define colours is the 1976 CIELAB colour space, which
can be visualized by both cartesian as well as polar coordinates, see Fig. 2.9 for an example.

2. Basics
Fig. 2.9: Portraying two different ways to specify one colour. Left: the usage of CIEa* and CIEb* in the so called
cartesian coordinate. Right: Using the hue angle CIEhab and CIEC* (the distance from the achromatic axis) to de-
scribe the exact colour. Note: It is only the CIEa*b*-plane, so the lightness information is retained. Source: bvdm.
As colour is three-dimensional there are three coordinates (figures) needed for an unambig-
uous definition. This is usually facilitated by a lightness component (e. g. CIEL*), a hue angle
(e. g. CIEhab) and a chroma component (e. g. CIEC*). Since Figure 1 is only showing two of
the three dimensions one must be cautious when interpreting colours or colour differences
to not forget the “missing dimension”. In this example it is the (neglecting of the) lightness
information, which will be important for this report. So a three dimensional visualization is
strongly recommended to get the full image. If, as it is normally the case, the CIELAB values
are given, the CIEC* and CIEhab are calculated as follows:
CIE Chroma:
*
Cab = (a ) + (b )
* 2 * 2
CIE hue angle: hab = arctan (b*/a*).
What is a colour difference at all?

Having now two colours, e. g. an aim CIELAB value that is to be printed and a measured
value of a digital print, one common way of computing a colour difference is to calculate
the length between both points (in the defined colour space). This is done by calculating
the difference for the three dimensions, typically the lightness-, hue angle- and chroma-
differences or the lightness, “redness-greenness” (CIEa*) and “yellowness-blueness” (CIEb*)
differences. Based on the well known Pythagorean theorem (“a2+b2=c2”) the resulting dis-
tance (∆E) is calculated as follows:
This is illustrated in Fig. 2.10 and shown by means of a concrete example in Table 2.4.
Fig. 2.10: Visualization of the colour difference components, here the lightness difference ∆L*, the “redness-
greenness” difference ∆a* and the “yellowness-blueness” ∆b*.

Colour measurement
CIEL* CIEa* CIEb* CIEhab CIEC*

Reference 55 -37 - 50 = arctan(-50/-37) = square root (-372+-502)
= 233,5° = 62,2
Print 53 -35 - 48 = 234° = 59,4
Difference ∆L=55-53 ∆a=-37-(-35) ∆b=-50-(-48) = 233.5° - 234° = 62.2 - 59.5
∆L=2 ∆a= -2 ∆b= -2 = ∆h=0.5° = ∆C*=2.7
Tab. 2.4: Example calculation of two colours by means of the characteristic differences. The reference represents
the Cyan solid for FOGRA39.
That results in a total colour difference (∆E*ab) of:
= 22 + (−2 ) + (−2 )
* 2 2 *
∆Eab ∆Eab = 12 = 3, 45 ≈ 3,5
The computation of modern colour difference metrics such as CIEDE94 or CIEDE2000 is

more complex and is explained elsewhere. For information both have been calculated for
Hint:
this example to CIEDE2000 ≈ 2 and CIEDE94 ≈ 2.1. The “E” stands for the German word
The weighting fac-
“Empfindung”, which means “perception”. The unit of ∆E*ab is 1, so you normally would write: tors for CIEDE2000
“The colour difference of my brand colour was ∆E*ab = 2.3 today” and not “The colour dif- kL, kC and kh should
be set to 1.
ference of my brand colour was 2.3 ∆E’s”. Conceptually (psychophysically) ∆E=1 represents
one just noticeable difference.
Why is a total colour difference not enough?

As you can spot in Table 1 one can infer more information than only the total colour dif-
ference ∆E. Colour difference information, such as the lightness difference, the hue angle
or the chroma difference, might give additional explanation in how to solve daily colour
management challenges: “Do I need more density to achieve the aim?” or “Is the hue angle
achievable at all?”. Having a closer look at the formulae defined in Table 1 one must be cau-
tious in using the right terminology. So the chroma difference (CIEC*1 – CIEC*2) between
two colours is termed ∆C*. This if often confused with the colour difference in the CIEa*b*-
plane, which this article is all about.
In defining a reasonable hue-angle (“colour cast”) difference, e. g. from a blue to purple
blue, the statement of ∆h in degrees is not appropriate. Imagine a pale colour (CIELAB3
in Fig. 3) and a saturated colour (CIELAB2 in Fig. 2.11) would have the same hue angle dif-
ference. For that reason a more appropriate hue angle difference metric has been defined,
namely the CIE hue contribution: ∆H. It is calculated as follows:
You can imagine this result as what is being left of the colour difference if the lightness
and the chroma differences have been “removed”. Technically or geometrically speaking, it
is the cord between the “hue rays” of both colours on the geometrical mean. The sign indi-
cates whether the colour change is to the “redish side” (clockwise) or to the “blueish side”
(counter clockwise). If you use the formulae above, all ∆H values are positive. This reduces
problems that would occur if you evaluate several ∆H values in order to calculate an aver-
age or mean value, as it is required for the composed grey patches of the control wedge
defined in ISO 12647-7.

2. Basics
Fig. 2.11: Visualization of the hue rays of two colours and the corresponding areas for a ∆a*, ∆b* colour difference
definition (green) and a CIELCh based definition.
∆Ch – the most reasonable way to characterize near neutral colour differ-
ences!
So far we have seen colour differences somewhere in the colour space. Close to the grey
axis, in other words for near neutral colours (typically with a ∆C*<7), the usage of an ex-
plicit hue is not appropriate. The closer a colour lies to the neutral axis the less meaningful
a hue becomes. In Figure 2.11, for example, there is no hue difference for a grey colour with
CIELAB_A=50,0,0 and CIELAB_B=50,0,-3. Anyhow, one will perceive colour “A“ (compared
to colour “B”) as yellowish. In order to solve this, you simply compute the distance of both
colours in the CIEa*b*-plane (neglecting the CIEL* information) as follows:
This difference is called chromaticness and is defined, among others, in DIN 55981, ISO
12646 (called ∆EC) and now in ISO 12647-8.
All three near neutral pairs have, from a relative point of view, the same chromatic differ-
ence. From an absolute point of view, the pair “A2-B2” appears more blueish and “A3-B3”
more greenish. This “absolute perception” will only occur if the “neutral” patch “A1” is pre-
sent in the field of view. Without this “orientation” all “B-samples” have a “yellow-reddish”
cast compared to the “A-samples”. Conversely all “A-samples” comprise a bluish-green
colour cast compared against the “B-samples” – including the neutral patch A1 compared
to B1.
Fig. 2.12: Three near neutral grey pairs where „B“ has always the same colour shift as „A“. Translation: Green
(Grün), Yellow (Gelb), Red (Rot), Blue (Blau). Source: http://www.farbmetrik-gall.de/images/farbsti_460.gif

Colour measurement
In Conclusion:
For the evaluation of near neutral colours the ∆H (hue contribution) is usable but not very
appropriate. Instead the usage of the ∆Ch metric will be proposed.

2. Basics

How ICC works
2.4 How ICC works
The basic concept of ICC colour management is the separation of colour transformation
between image capturing and image reproduction. This de-coupling has been achieved by
introducing a PCS, a profile connection space, namely CIELAB. A typical ICC colour conver-
sion contains an input profile, that covers the transformation from the device dependent
coordinates of the scanner or camera into CIELAB (or CIEXYZ), and an output profile that
contains the rendering from the CIELAB colour space to the device coordinates (and the
associated device gamut). That concept is visualized in Figure 2.12.
.
Eingabe Ausgabe
Input-ProÞles PCS
PCS
ProÞle Connection Space
¬ Kodierung
RGB1 ¬ Farbraum (CIELAB, Display-ProÞles RGBx
CIEXYZ)
¬ Referenzfarbumfang
[PRMG]
¬ Druck-Medium-
RGB2 Eigenschaften
CMYK1
. .
. .
. .
Output-ProÞles
RGBn
CMYKOG
DeviceLink-ProÞles
Fig. 2.13: Schematic overview of the ICC colour management paradigm.
A sample will be digitized by means of a scanner or a digital camera. The ICC-source profile
converts from e.g. sRGB values to the CIELAB colour space. In order to map these colours
to a given printer, a colour matching module (CMM), which connects the transformations
mathematically and performs the final transformation is needed, e. g. into the CMYK device
coordinates. In the same manner a direct transformation from RGB to CMYK, without go-
ing to CIELAB, is possible. This is called a “Device Link profile”. The red colours displayed in
Figure 2.12 represent all possible reflective colours, termed “optimal colours”. The gamut
depicted in “real” colours represents the perceptual reference media gamut (PRMG) which
provides guidelines for ICC-profile builders to increase interoperability.
Reproducing colours by means of ICC refers to a metameric reproduction. This means a
colour is defined by three coordinates describing its appearance for the CIE 2° standard ob-
server and D50 illuminant. D50 was chosen in 1993, when ICC was established alongside a
Fogra symposium, since ICC was created in the realm of printing. Today, ICC also addresses
the motion picture industry and others.
However reproducing colours across different devices with different (gamut) limitations
different there are many ways to render colours. Four important rendering intents have
been defined by the ICC, see Tab. 2.5.

2. Basics
Transformation: Transformation: Description

Device → PCS PCS → Device
AtoB0 BtoA0 Perceptual Reproduction
AtoB1 BtoA1 Media-Relative Colorimetric
AtoB2 BtoA2 Saturation
AtoB3 BtoA3 Absolute Colorimetric
Tab. 2.5: Overview of the four rendering intents defined by ICC. The transformation covers both “directions”. On
the one hand the forward direction from device coordinates to PCS and the inversion direction when going from
CIELAB to the device.
Two colorimetric rendering intents are specified by ICC (ISO 15076), though only one is in-
cluded as fully constructed in the profile. The included media relative colorimetric intent is
based on media-relative colorimetry, which is normalized relatively to the unprinted media
white for reflecting, transmitting, and self luminous media, or, in the case of colour encod-
ings and capture, to the colour encoding values that correspond to the highest perceived
brightness. Thus the media white will have the values of 100, 0, 0 in PCSLAB. This ensures
that highlight clipping will not occur when the media-relative colorimetric intent is used.
The use of media-relative colorimetry enables colour reproductions to be defined which
maintain highlight detail, while keeping the medium ‘white’, even when the original and
reproduction media differ in colour. However, this rendering intent introduces some change
in all colours in the reproduction when the media whites of the source and destination do
not match. The calculation of the media neutral CIEXYZmr values is as follows:
Xmr = (XD50/Xn) × Xabsolute
Here Xn, Yn, Znrepresent the tristimulus values of the substrate, XD50 the colour values of
D50 (XD50=0,9642) and Xabsolute represents the “normal” measurement values. CIEY and CIEZ
will be calculated analogously. The media relative values are stored in the profile by means
of the AtoB1 and BtoA1 table. In order to apply the absolute colorimetric transformation,
the content of the media relative table will be used together with the (paper) white point
to determine the absolute values. The media relative colour encoding is very efficient. In
addition it allows for a colour reproduction that is applicable when colours are observed in
isolation (instead of a “Side-by-Side” proofing workflow, where you need a match of the
absolute values). The assumption is made that the observer is fully adapted to the individual
situation. The media relative way of encoding colours will therefore be used for conform-
ance assessment when the use cases require a media relative assessment and reproduction.
The exact colour rendering of the saturation intent is vendor specific and involves com-
promises such as trading off preservation of hue in order to preserve the vividness of pure
colours.
Because perceptual rendering generally involves mapping the colours of a source to be
well-suited for a destination medium (i.e. colour rendering and/or colour re-rendering), it
is desirable that the perceptual intent PCS reference medium (PRM) and associated view-
ing conditions are well-defined. Then the source profile can perceptually render from the
source to the PRM, and the destination profile can perceptually render from the PRM to the
destination medium. The PRM in the PCS serves as the common intermediate representa-
tion. Well-defined viewing conditions are required because they will affect the appearance
of colour content represented on the PRM. Perceptual rendering remains a proprietary art,
due both to the current state of perceptual rendering algorithms, and also to the fact that
viewer and application specific preferences can affect the nature of a desired reproduction

How ICC works
(when exact colour matching is not the objective). It is not practical or desirable to specify
standard perceptual rendering algorithms. Consequently, it is also not practical or desir-
able to require perceptual rendering intents to match an exact perceptual intent reference
medium gamut (PRMG). Gamut mapping could be applied to clip the results of a perceptual
rendering algorithm to a specific target gamut, but that would result in a loss of informa-
tion and reversibility. Therefore, the reference medium white point, black point, and viewing
condition attributes of the PRM are defined precisely, and the PRM gamut is defined to be
a fuzzy target that can be used as the aim of perceptual rendering transforms, but does not
have to be exactly matched.
If the illumination on the test object or reproduction medium (e. g. store light) differs from
the reference illuminant (D50), it will be necessary to apply a chromatic adaptation trans-
form (CAT) to the measured values. For the media-relative colorimetric intent, scaling to
the media white point is then performed to produce values appropriate for the PCS. The
CAT-Tag covers this information. For the perceptual intent, other factors such as the view-
ing conditions, differences in gamut between the actual and reference media, and user
preferences also need to be considered by the profile builder.
ICC defines seven different types of profiles that are used for different purposes. They differ
by their required tags and other content. The four most important types are:
¬ Input Profiles, are generally used with devices such as scanners and digital cameras.
The types of profiles available for use as input profiles are N-component LUT-based,
Three-component matrix-based and Monochrome.
¬ Output Profiles, are used to support devices such as printers and film recorders. The
types of profiles available for use as output profiles are N-component LUT-based and
Monochrome. A typical example is PSOCoated V3 (ECI) that covers the transformation
from CMYK to Lab (and the inverse being the separation table).
¬ Display profiles, represents display devices such as monitors. The types of profiles
available for use as display profiles are N-component LUT-based, Three-component
matrix-based, and Monochrome
¬ DeviceLink profiles, provide a dedicated transformation from one device encoding to
another, which can be useful in situations where such a transformation is used fre-
quently or has required optimization to achieve specific objectives.
The biggest difference between DeviceLink profiles and other profiles is that a Device-
Link profiles only contain one rendering intent, therefore they make no use of the original
concept of the flexible mapping of input and output transformations. Instead, they are
optimized for one dedicated transformation important to the digital print service provider.
They often have to print data prepared for offset printing (e. g. FOGRA51) and need to apply
a transformation that finds a compromise between a good colorimetrical match and other
print related issues such, as pure primaries or an ink saving option. It should also be noted
that ICC (or non ICC conforming) DeviceLink profiles are not invertible.
Finally it should be mentioned that ICC-based transformations are static, i. e. precomputed
for a given process and then applied on a pixel by pixel basis (irrespective of the neighbour-
hood).
Modern ways of colour transformation take the local neighbourhood, as well as the source
and destination gamuts into consideration. These approaches are an active field of re-
search. However, there are proprietary products in the market, particularly in the field of
image enhancement.

TIP: Cut this side off and check it yourself how
good ∆E*ab and CIEDE2000 correlate with your
2. Basics perception.
Your Visual
∆E76 CIEDE2000
Colour Difference

Basics of print data separation
2.5 Basics of print data separation
2.5.1 Introduction
The terms „UCR“ [Under Colour Removal] and „GCR“ [Grey Component Replacement] are
used quite frequently - but often not consistently.
Commercial offset printing mostly uses the primary colours Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and
Black. This “CMYK-scale” requires that all elements, graphics and rasters must be pre-
pared by means of an appropriate CMYK tone value combination. Here, spot colours can
be thought of as additional colours that are often used as solids for brand colours. Cases
where additional colours are used as primaries in the same way as CMYK (e. g. Hexachrome)
are not considered here.
Separation and print data preparation

The determination of the CMYK tone value combinations (also known as tone values or ink
combinations) are normally entitled “separation”. Preparing CMYK data from already sepa-
rated CMYK is termed “re-separation”. The separation process only addresses the suited
CMYK combination representing a colour within the gamut. Gamut mapping, i. e. the sub-
stitution of an original unmatchable colour with a different reproduction to achieve visual
similarity, is not part of the separation and needs to be done before. Gamut mapping is still
highly subjective, since preference and pleasantness are hard to define objectively.
That means, the gamut of the output device has to be known in order to do the separation.
This also applies for output processes with more than four primaries such as CMYKRGB or
CMYKCc,Mm,Kk. However the number of ink combinations drastically increases with the
number of used primaries.
The appropriateness of a separation for a given printing process is governed by two major
parameters, namely the used screening and the colorimetrical and print related properties
of the used primaries. Such properties are the typical level of misregistration, the tone
value reproduction limit, the minimum thickness of lines that can be imaged and printed
in a reliable fashion, the screening frequency and hence the risk for visible structures such
as pepper corn or the tone value sum (TVS). The tone value sum is often known as the
total ink coverage (TIC) or the total area coverage (TAC). The combination and interplay
of these governing factors is termed “channel specificity”. This characteristic behaviour is
responsible for a separation that mostly follows a set of rules to use the suitable CMYK
tone value out of a number of combinations that all correspond to the same CIELAB colour
(instead of using a random CMYK-combination, what is theoretical doable). Depending on
the pertinent aims, a cost function can be determined that reflects the practical rules to
be followed. These rules, as well as the special role of the black printer, will be explained in
the following paragraphs.

2. Basics
Typical aims for separation algorithms

¬ Save costs: by replacing primaries among each other or replacing (expensive) chromat-
ic primaries with black by keeping the same level of colour accuracy. For office printers
this is often adapted for an optimal use of the ink cartridges. In the graphic arts you
can mostly find “ink saving” transformation that perform a GCR in order to replace
pure with chromatic inks.
¬ Reducing post press issues: Reducing the maximum tone value sum by replacing
chromatic inks with the black ink without significantly compromising colour accuracy.
It should be noted that reducing the TVS might lead to a reduced gamut in the dark
chromatic colours, which is not primarily caused by the physical restrictions, but by
sub-optimal separation algorithms.
¬ Stabilizing the printing process: Print process dependent replacement of chromatic
inks by ink combinations with dominant use of black ink for neutral and near neutral
colours.
¬ Improve print quality: Facilitating CMYK combinations that reduce visible artefacts
such as “pepper corn” (e. g. by using black for skin colours).
¬ Maximizing colour constancy: Facilitating CMYK combinations that maximize colour
constancy. That refers to stable colour appearance under a wide range of illuminations.
The importance of the black printer [“Black Generation“]

As described, the black channel or black printer play a dominant role for CMYK-based sepa-
rations. When describing separations it is important to know that the black content or black
portion is a relative unit, i. e. to be expressed as a percentage. This percentage is calculated
from the number of CMYK combinations that all correspond to the given colour. For ex-
ample a mid grey, CIELAB=50,0,0 [D50/2°/wb], can be reproduced with more than 500 dif-
ferent CMYK combination that all correspond to that colour within a ∆E*ab ≤ 1. The number
of potential CMYK combinations decreases with increasing lightness or chroma since there
are simply less CMYK combinations possible to result in that very colour. Black generation
therefore can be understand as the colour specific selection of the black proportion. Two
extreme ways of black generations are visualized for a neutral colours ranging from black
(CIELAB=20,0,0) to white (CIELAB=90,0,0).
heavy use of black light use of black

Fig. 2.14: Visualization of two different black separation strategies by using Photoshop CS 6. Left: strong usage of
black (“heavy GCR”). Right: Weak usage of black or strong usage of chromatic inks (“Light GCR“).

Both dialogue boxes show the resulting CMYK combinations based on a separation of a gra-
dient from black to white. The screenshot on the right side shows an example where neutral
colours are mostly printed by using chromatic inks - Cyan, Magenta and Yellow (CMY). Only
for very dark colours, where the overprint of CMY is not able to achieve the required dark-
ness, the black channel will be used. This is referred to as “minimum GCR” (Grey Component
Replacement). Contrary, the left side shows a “strong GCR” and the utilization of the black
printer as much as possible.
The parameters on the left side of the box provide the use a fine adjustment of the black
generation. These parameters affect not only the neutral colours but also the chromatic
ones, which is typical for GCR.
Another phrase which is often used in black separation is “under colour”. Given a CMYK
separation, this refers to the lowest portion among the chromatic inks. In other words,
but colorimetrically not perfectly correct, it is that amount that does not contribute to
the chroma portion of a colour. As an example the CMYK combination 55/45/40/0 should
be used (here reflecting FOGRA39). The under colour would be 40% which relates to the
assumption that 15/5/0/40 would be the same as 55/45/40/0. The exact calculation re-
sults in CMYK=54/44/45/0 and CMYK=7/5/8/55 respectively to achieve a mid grey of
CIELAB=55,0,0 (D50/2°/wb). A separation algorithm or strategy that results in such a CMYK
combination is termed “Under colour removal”. Using the same analogy the addition is
termed “Under colour addition”. Contrary to the GCR the UCA or UCR is restricted to near
neutral colours. The parameter “black width” helps here since it allows to adjust the black
portion to be used for chromatic colours (“starting” from the grey axis).
A consistent and straight forward understanding of the black separation terminology is hin-
dered by the legacy usage coming from the analogue photographic process using opponent
colour filters. The before mentioned UCR resembles a re-separation, since the under colour
can only be computed by an existing CMYK-combination. Using digital technologies that
must be attributed as wrong since today algorithms calculate for all colours the number of
potential CMYK-combinations and then apply the set of rules explained before. Technically
a lightness based and a chroma based weighting function can be used as a basic approach.
However it must be said that many software programs use the term inconsistently.
In conclusion it can be said that a separation for an offset print related can be fully char-
acterized by the black generation and the maximum tone value sum.

2. Basics
The importance of the separation for pre-media purposes:

„Info-Colour“ versus „Image-Colour“
When preparing image content the data creator must recognize the “channel specific-
ity” in order to create appropriate separation. Here two different intentions can be found.
On the one hand there is the reproduction of graphics which are termed technical tones,
i. e. pure colours where at least one chromatic ink is zero. On the other hand there is the
colorimetrically accurate reproduction, which might lead to CMYK tone values that are
not meeting the requirements of the technical tones. A typical example is a pure Yellow
(CMYK=0,0,100,0) prepared for offset printing, that should be reproduced with a large
format printer that can’t exactly match the offset gamut. Printing the values “as is” the
resulting print still looks like a bright yellow but a side by side comparison might fail to
match. Simulating the “offset yellow” might require a CMYK=0,5,95,0, which might lead to
visible artefacts (due to the magenta dots).
In order to sort out this trade-off it is important to resolved the final intention (or the ren-
dering intent) of a graphical element before the separation. Practically the first case refers
to graphics that are used to create a high contrast to communicate “information”, which is
termed here “Info-Colour”. “Info-Colours” are always defined by means of device coordi-
nates, mostly CMYK. The colour accurate reproduction is mostly required for pixel images
(= raster), hence the term “Image-Colour”.
Many problems and reclamations in the realm of printing can be traced back to errors and
misunderstandings in the data transformation path the refer to the interpretation of the
image content as “Info”- or “Image-Colour”.
Any printing process needs its dedicated separation

Print shops often receive data of unknown origin and quality. In spite of the huge improve-
ments in automation of preflighting and data correction often manual steps are needed to
achieve imposed data across the print format that reflect the same black generation and
total ink coverage. In particular that is important for offset printing since image content
with conflicting black generation (within the print format) makes a consistent control of
the press run almost impossible for the print operator. That is the also case when images
are prepared for the same printing conditions but with different ICC-profiles, hence dif-
ferent gamut mapping and black generation algorithms. Imagine a grey separated in one
image with CMY and in another with K only. The proof print would show the same result
but within a print run a manual correction of the ink keys (e.g. optimizing a skin tone with a
minus-correction in Magenta) might result in a hue shift of the composed grey (CMY) and
no changes for the K-only image. For that reason the following paragraphs cover important
properties of a separation including the explanation of how to deal with contrary goals.

The total ink coverage (maximal tone value sum): “Compromising shadow
details or quick post press”
A maximum tone value sum (TVS) or total area coverage (TAC) is part of the separation
strategy built in an ICC-profile. However that is only the case for image content that was
created that way. Control elements or technical tones might be designed in CMYK directly
and might exhibit a TVS of 400 %. A typical example is the registration mark. That shows
already that the simple presence of image content above a certain TVS-limit is not critical.
It is the combination of the TVS with the pertinent size that might result in printing and
post press processing problems. Typical problems are ink setting, blocking or the longer dry-
ing time. In sheetfed offset printing the maximum tone value sum is typically about 300 %
to 330 % while for web-offset printing the TVS might be well below. Newspaper printing for
instance might use a TVS of 220 %. But it is not the plain reduction of the maximum tone
value sum. The strength of the GCR also comes into play. Two important use cases will be
mentioned to explain the details.
HINT
¬ Maximum TVS for digital printing: A limitation of the total ink limit is of great impor-
Since data will
tance for both inkjet and electrophotographic printing. However these limitations are be prepared more
part of the calibration being part of the RIP or driver hence a limitation in the layout and more for a
general printing
might not be needed. In other words a large font with 400 % ink coverage might be
process (exchange
printed without any problems since it will be appropriately reduced by the (typically space) and not
channel wise (4x1D LUT) but more and more done by means of a multi-dimensional 3D- for a dedicated
digital printing
LUT) final transformation (within the RIP or driver) that result from the calibration.
process, such
¬ Exclusive reduction of TVS: Some news printers claim to reduce the ink limit to a TVS-rule is
180 %. For typical “Info-Colour” objects, such as a pure red element, this means that not part of the
preflight profile
this can’t be printed as a solid (100 % Magenta + 100 % Yellow > 180 %). This prob-
anymore.
lems “vanishes” when the transformation will be done on a object specific level and
when it will be done appropriately, which means to set in within the gamut boundaries
but not at the edges. A pure red therefore stays a pure red but the majority of the col-
ours will be re-separated with tone value combinations below the chosen ink limitation
(TVS). However, as soon as only one (DeviceLink) transformation is used for the entire
document (for raster and graphics) a TVS-limit below 200% is not appropriate. That
is the case for flattened PDFs, since here often pixel images (raster) result from this
process. A different handling would result in colour differences at the intersections.
Schematic visualization of the separation process

The prescribed properties of the separation and the re-separation respectively are visual-
ized in Figure 2.15. The starting point of the separation is the (gamut mapped) CIELAB
colour coordinate. As said it is required that the colour to be separated must be within the
gamut of the pertinent printing condition. Two governing factors contribute to the separa-
tion algorithm or strategy. On the one hand there is the channel specificity and on the other
hand there are the use controlled aims. For CMYK based printing processes the result of a
separation are the CMYK1 tone values. In digital printing it is very common to re-separate
the incoming (most for offset printing prepared) data to address both the rendering intent
of the user and the aims and channel specificity of the final or actual printing process. This
results in CMYK 2. The direct specification of CMYK tone values by the creative person or
the designer can also be understood as a separation. A common example for re-separation
is the image retouching of CMYK images to be printed for a new printing condition.

2. Basics
CIELAB
Channel Specificity Separation Aims
✔ CMYK1 ✔ ?
Re-Separation CMYK2
Interaction Processing Steps
Fig. 2.15: Schematic sketch of a separation. The origin is the CIELAB colour that needs to be inside the printable
gamut of the printing condition of interest.
Recommendation for the field

As outlined the publishing industry moves ahead toward a process independent preparation
of image content. That transition from an early binding to a late binding results in image
databases that are stored in profiled RGB (preferably ECI-RGB v2). That means they are
media neutral, i. e. not separated for a given printing process. However due to the channel
specificity of printing processes nowadays, such as offset printing and many digital print-
ing processes, it is still required to prepare technical tones (“Info-Colours”) in CMYK. In
particular, black text or spot colours printed as an individual colorant (“CMYK+Spot“) are
good examples.
Retouching the pixel images in the RGB format should be accomplished by an activated
softproof using a well established exchange space such as ISOCoated V2 (eci). That allows
the colours to be checked for a potential rendering at a later stage. In addition the usage of
RGB based raster data allows for the application of one separation strategy at the service
provider instead of many different ones in case of the process specific way (“early binding”).
For that reason it is advisable to not retouch the images in the CMYK mode anymore.
The usage of PDF/X compliant documents, where the separation will be done when creating
the PDF (“Intermediate Binding“), in combination with a contract proof or a validation print
facilitates the predictability of the designers creative intent.

2.5.2 Usage of DeviceLink (DVL) transformation
From conventional ICC-Colour management to DVL-transformations

Separating black text (e. g. defined as R=G=B=0 or K=100) by means of conventional ICC
output profiles typically results in composed greys. Channel specificity of typical offset
printing processes refers to a lack of perfect registration between the printing units. Fine
structures such as text or lines that are composed of more than one colorant (channel)
might end up showing colourful halos at the edges of the elements.
Using different separation strategies for gradients that are either defined as a graphical
element by means of a smooth shade or as pixel image might lead to dazzling effects. Us-
ing different separation mechanisms also raises problems when two elements which are
placed exactly next to each other - intended to match visually - are affected. The different
separation will come into place when colour management settings differ between images
and graphics, e. g. when graphics are interpreted as “Info-Colours” and images as “Image-
Colours”.
The main problem outlined here relates to the basic concept of the three dimensional PCS
(profile connection space) that transforms all incoming colours to CIELAB or CIEXYZ and
hence all separation specific information is lost. The following transformation from the
PCS to the destination colour space cannot differentiate between a CIELAB=50,0,0 being
a 50 % black text or a CIELAB=50,0,0 of a pixel in a pictorial image. These examples show
that additional types of transformation are needed which transform colours from CMYK to
CMYK by recognizing the channel information. For these kind of tailored source to destina-
tion transformation the ICC has defined so called DeviceLink (DVL) profiles, see also chapter
2.4. It must be noted that the same result can be achieved with conventional source and
destination profiles when a smart CMM (colour matching module) is used which computes
the DeviceLink transformation on the fly. It is also important to note that a DVL-profile
does not need to be compliant to the ICC specification. However in these cases proprietary
colour servers are needed. Typical examples where the usage of DVL-profiles are useful are
described in the following paragraphs:
1. Converting old image content:

Legacy image content is often stored as CMYK. They were often carefully prepared for a
printing condition by means of meeting practical separation aims such as avoiding black
tone values for skin colours. In order to maintain this channel specificity a DVL-trans-
formation is needed. Using suitable DVL-profiles old image content can be automatically
re-separated for up-to-date printing conditions including a harmonization of differently
separated images.
2. Optimize gamut mapping:

Before ICC V.4 there was no information of a reference medium or gamut of the PCS.
Hence profile creators for printer profiles must assume almost all kinds of colours to be
nicely mapped into the defined printer gamut. With ICC V.4 there is the perceptual refer-
ence medium gamut (PRMG, see chapter 2.4) that helps to minimize ambiguity in this case.
However, creating DVL-profiles for a defined set of source and destination profile allows
for an optimized gamut mapping since the source colour gamut is known. Yet DVL-profiles
providing a transformation from a typical image database colour space such as Adobe-RGB
towards well established printing conditions such as FOGRA51 without the need of addi-
tional gamut mapping adjustments are available.

2. Basics
3. Optional separation adjustments (optimization)

P R AC T I C E
Separating images for a general printing condition or an exchange space such as PSO
Unless the colour
Coated v3 (ECI) will be done without a strong grey component replacement (CGR) in order accuracy with
to leave “headroom” for potential re-separation and adjustments for the print operator. respect to the
defined reference
However, if the final printing condition is known and the data is not subject for further
printing condition
data exchange, a stronger GCR can be applied to save ink, stabilize the grey reproduction is not significantly
or reduce drying times. compromised it
is not typical in
However any re-separation (of the customer data), in particular when live transparency is
digital print-
involved, might lead to unwanted results and should therefore be checked by means of a ing (contrary to
contract proof or a validation print. offset printing)
to negotiate with
the customer.
Using DeviceLink profiles requires the same assessment of its quality as for conventional
profiles. Due to its great functionality, whereby it finally contains only one rendering intent,
the testing criteria and tolerances greatly depend on the pertinent use cases as well as the
involved source and destination colour spaces. The latter one is important in a twofold
fashion. First, the final printing condition is often not known when creating the document.
Second, the delivered RGB image content is not defined by means of tagged ICC-profiles.
Here the print service provider must estimate the most likely source colour space and hence
the DVL-profile to be used. In light of the different perspectives and use cases a generalized
overview will be proposed that helps to identify the appropriate test criteria.
Separating prepress from press - still appropriate?

For conventional printing and in particular offset printing it was appropriate and useful to
separate between prepress and press by means of responsibilities and typical requirements.
The interface was clearly identifiable as films, i. e. halftones colour planes. Since there are
no films in digital printing and the amount of film based workflows in the offset printing
world is decreasing, the question is whether to maintain a separation between prepress
and press.
It turned out that a separation is still useful and helps to understand different use cases
with corresponding responsibilities and requirements. However the demarcation line now
can be found by asking the question if the print data will be further used and repurposed or
E XC H A N G E ?
not. The background was already described before namely the different separation charac-
It is envisioned
teristic for image data that is subject for multiple output conversions and print data that is to have a small
prepared for a defined printing process and subject for subsequent deletion. number of “uni-
fied” (agreed
In the first case the head room for both gamut size and GCR-amount should be as high as
upon) process
possible. With respect to the printing condition (PC), the well established printing condition independent
FOGRA51, i. e. offset printing according to ISO 12647-2:2013 on premium coated stock, is char.-data sets.
Currently ICC and
taking the role as the exchange colour space. This is “the one eyed in the island of blinds”
Fogra work on
and hence a reasonable estimation for a print service provider active in digital printing. In creating a large
other regions, such as North America or Japan, printing conditions similar to the ones de- gamut colour
space that can be
fined in ISO 12647-2 are used (“GraCol2006” or “JapanColor 2001 coated”). With respect to
used for printing
separation a moderate GCR has been used when building the ICC output profile “PSOCoated conditions with a
V3 (ECI)” based on FOGRA51. In order to reflect the most relevant channel specificity, here larger gamut than
FOGRA39.
a maximum TVS of 300 % is already built into the “default” PSO Coated V3 profile.

The second case reflects all circumstances where print service providers receives print data
that can be deleted right after printing. That means that all the beforementioned precau-
tions are not relevant and the separation can focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the
actual printing condition (APC). The most important transformations are a stronger GCR
and a TVS reduction.
Both cases provide an easy relation to creation or prepress on the one side and print on
the other. Figure 2.16 provides a general workflow diagram or flow chart that follows that
E XPERT
paradigm by means of three different use cases namely:
More information
1. Data preparation (gamut mapping & separation) on how to scru-
2. Process conversion tinize DeviceLink
transformations
3. Optional separation adjustments
including test
forms and evalua-
The workflow starts at the top left and ends with the print output on the actual printing tion programs can
be found on the
condition (APC).
Fogra webpage:
www.fogra.
Prepress Files will be used for different output processes Press Files won't be further re-purposed or re-targeted
org/en/fogra-
Start workflow Process- Process- research/prepress/
conversion conversion
completed/
Object 2 2
PDF
CT/LW
No No
Actual Printing
Condition
(APC)
Yes Fits with

prepared Object Modification
for a PC Exchange Fits wanted? Print
space*?
CT/LW APC? Yes No
No Yes Yes
Modification
wanted? No
Convert to Optional
CMYK separation adjustments
Options:
1 Yes 3 Adjustments
¬ Harmonization
Optional
¬ GCR
separation adjustments
¬ Save Ink
3 Options:
Reduce tone value sum
¬ Separation adjustments
¬ Harmonization
*Exchange space: Perfectly matching APC
Fig. 2.16: Flow chart of a generalized workflow that illustrates the separation between prepress and press in a
post film based workflow world. Three important use cases are depicted whereas the concrete test criteria can be
found in the reserach project (Fogra Nr. 10.049). CT: Continuous tone; LW: Line Work.

2. Basics
2.5.3 Overprinting and Transparency - Roadblocks for daily production

The interaction of PDF-graphic elements
A variety of data formats and structures are used for the creation of this type of material,
but with two prevalent kinds of underlying data structures. These are vector-based data
for the encoding of line art and textual information and raster-based data for the encod-
ing of image information, including previously rasterized line art and textual information.
For more information about the graphic elements, their overprinting characteristics and
the PDF transparency model the reader should consult the PDF specification. However the
complexity of this topic is addressed by ISO 15970-7, specifying the use of the Portable
Document Format (PDF) Version 1.6 for the dissemination of digital data intended for print
reproduction by means of PDF/X-4, by simply saying:
“Amongst other things, transformations between colour spaces affect colour
reproduction, overprints, trapping, transparency and smooth shading.”
The PostScript and PDF bible intensifies this by saying:
“Using typical layout applications it is almost impossible to gain an understand-
ing of the complex interaction of the different elements by means of their final
visual appearance. So it should be possible for the user to identify how the colour
management settings affect the appearance of an individual object ...“
Practical tips for dealing with overprinting objects

The overprint characteristics or rules determine the final appearance of objects being placed
on a page. These rules are governed by many factors such as the colour space encoding and
it’s polarity (additive or subtractive) as well as the content of each channel. For instance
the overprinting rules of DeviceGray and DeviceCMYK differ when overprint mode (OPM)
is set to 1. In that state DeviceGray will continue to knock out all of the CMYK channels of
any underlying element, whereas an element defined in DeviceCMYK (other than an image
or smooth shading) will only knock out of underlying elements in those process colorants
where the colour value in the overprinting element is not zero. So the effect of a colour
transformation such as a DeviceLink transformation (on a object by object level, e. g. to save
ink) might significantly affect the appearance of a element if a channel changes it value
from zero to a non-zero value. In order to avoid such problems a few hints should be given:
¬ Visual check by means of the Acrobat overprint preview
¬ To report overprinting objects by means of a preflight check
TIP
How to deal with objects using live transparency
For information
The need to handle transparency and transparency effects (such as drop shadows) for im- on designing with
ages, text, and line art is standard practice in high-end prepress environments. With Acro- transparency and
software-specific
bat 5 (PDF version 1.4) Adobe introduced in 2001 the notion of transparency. Transparent
controls, see “A
objects do not necessarily obey a strict opaque painting model but may blend (composite) Designer’s Guide
in interesting ways with other overlapping objects. The new transparency model allows you to Transparency
for Print Output”
to optimize certain existing workflow practices. For instance, you are probably using Adobe
at www.adobe.
Photoshop to add drop shadows to type and vignettes to images. With a tool such as Il- com/designcenter
lustrator 9.x, you can apply effects like these directly to the affected objects. In addition,
the effects remain “live” so that when type is edited, for example, the applied drop shadow
changes with it.
Like any new technology, however, the upgraded transparency capability also exposes dif-
ferent and sometimes unfamiliar results across applications and file formats that might
compromise the blind data exchange.

The rising problems related to transparency are caused by layouts that are becoming more
and more complex. A given object shall be composited with a backdrop. Ordinarily, the
backdrop consists of the stack of all objects that have been specified previously. During the
compositing of an object with its backdrop, the colour at each point shall be computed us-
ing a specified blend mode, which is a function of both the object’s colour and the backdrop
colour. The 16 blend modes determine how colours interact; different blend modes may be
used to achieve a variety of useful effects. The Altona Test Suite covers an extensive over-
view of the different blend modes by means of a systematic arrangement of the important
colour spaces. TIP
Depending on the used RIP software of the print service provider it might be possible that ATS 2.0 Techni-
cal Page checks
life transparency is not supported or simply not understood. For this reason, PostScript
all important
(desktop) printers, Adobe PostScript Level 2 high-end printers, and most Adobe PostScript 3 blend modes and
high-end production devices and RIPs cannot accept and process “live” transparency infor- thus allows for a
exhaustive check
mation on the fly. To print correctly, all transparent objects in a graphic must, at some point of your workflow
in every workflow, be flattened. Flattening converts the objects from a device-independent capabilities.
format into a format that is visually equivalent but does not contain transparency; this for-
mat can be represented in PostScript. At its simplest, the process of flattening converts all
the overlapping elements in a stack of transparent objects into a format that captures the
look of the original transparency for printing including the integrity (e. g. text stays text)
of the artwork.
Applying colour transformations such as DeviceLink transformations before the flattening
process the final transparency effect might be totally different, particularly when blend
modes are used that are case sensitive. For instance a replacement of the OutputIntent pro-
file by means of an alternative ICC profile that is based on the same characterization data
set might lead to a somehow different separation and hence to different blending effects.
This example is also checked by the Output Intent indicator being part of the ATS Technical
V.2. Another problem might be the colour transformation that is applied differently for ras-
ter and vector objects. Especially after a flattening process vector objects might be raster-
ized that lead to different colours for objects being placed next to each other. Therefore it
is recommend to apply a DVL-transformation consistently to both vector and raster objects.
Practical tips and general guidelines for reliable creation and output of transparent docu-
ments can be found in chapter 3.
It should be clear that Fogra recommends to use technology that allows for a native in-
terpretation of transparency rather to use technology to “downgrade” your documents.
However since a lot of service providers need time for the transition, chapter 3 offers two
workflows (V1.4 and V2) that addresses both use cases.
Altona Test Suite 2.0 - „Technical Page 2“

In addition to targeting features introduced in PDF/X-4 such as transparency, OpenType
fonts, optional content (also known as layers), page sizes beyond 5 by 5 meters, JPEG2000
compression and more, the Altona Test Suite 2.0 Technical Page also extends a number of
tests that would have already applied to PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3, for example more extensive
coverage for smooth shades or PostScript and TrueType fonts than was available in Altona
Test Suite 1.0 through 1.2. The Technical Page of the Altona Test Suite 2.0 aims to address
the needs of all parties involved in the production and processing of PDF/X-4 files. The
test page contains a sequence of patches where each patch allows a relatively easy and
straightforward assessment of the quality of output generated from a PDF/X-4 file.
The test form alongside a detailed documentation can be found at the ECI webpage
www.eci.org.

2. Basics
Altona Test Suite 2.0 · Technical Page · template for evaluation – Please mark your findings (X))
Very small de- Deviations that Clearly Some or all of
viations, but still may or may not unacceptable the patch not
Patch No issues acceptable be acceptable deviations rendered at all Remarks

A B C D
E F G H
K L M N
P Q R Altona Test Suite 2.0
Technical Page
template
S T VWX Z
Fig. 2.22: Overview of the test areas A to Z used by the ATS technical V2. It is intended that the letters I, J, O, U and Y are missing.

2. Basics

2.5.4 PDF and PDF/X

PDF was developed and specified by Adobe Systems Incorporated beginning in 1993 and
continuing until 2007 when this ISO standard was first prepared. The Adobe Systems ver-
sion PDF 1.7 is the basis for ISO 32000 Part 1. This document is ISO 32000 Part 2 which is
a self contained replacement for Part 1 and specifies PDF 2.0.
The goal of PDF is to enable users to exchange and view electronic documents easily and
reliably, independent of the environment in which they were created or the environment in
which they are viewed or printed. At the core of PDF is an advanced imaging model derived
from the PostScript® page description language. This PDF Imaging Model enables the de-
scription of text and graphics in a device-independent and resolution-independent manner
at a complete, precise and professional level. Unlike Postscript, which is a programming
language, PDF is based on a structured binary file format that is optimized for high perfor-
mance in interactive viewing. PDF also includes objects, such as annotations and hypertext
links, that are not part of the page content itself but are useful for interactive viewing and
document interchange. PDF files can be created natively in PDF form, converted from other
electronic formats and since it supports a wide range of image and compression technolo-
gies, is a suitable format for documents digitized from paper, microform, or other hard copy
formats. Since its introduction in 1993, aided by the explosive growth of the Internet, PDF
has become widely used for the electronic exchange of documents in the graphic arts.
ISO 15930-x - The PDF/X-family

In order to achieve a level of exchange that avoids any ambiguity in interpretation of the
file, a limited set of PDF objects that are permitted to be used is identified and restrictions
to the use, or form of use, of those objects, and/or keys within those objects are added.
The various parts of ISO 15930 define a number of conformance levels intended to address
different requirements; all define data formats and their usage to permit the predictable
dissemination of a compound entity to one or more locations. Hint:
In order to maximize consistency the exchange needs to be restricted to CMYK (and spot The English term
“trapping” (as used
colour) data, whilst in others environments it is more appropriate to convey it as colour-
in the PSD trapped
managed, CMYK, gray, RGB, and/or spot colour, or to use. key) is prone to be
Based on the different conformance levels ranging from PDF/X-1a to PDF/X-5 two levels misunderstand.
Reason for that is
can be considered to be most appropriate for nowadays high quality printing namely: the the ink trap
¬ PDF/X-1a for classical workflows using CMYK and Spots (ISO 15930-4) is also termed
trapping. Contour
¬ PDF/X-4 for modern workflows that allow native transparency and colour management
trapping and ink
(ISO 15930-7) trapping should
not be confused.
PDF/X-4:2008 versus 2010
Adobe uses the publication years of the pertinent ISO standards to reflect the pertinent
standard when exporting PDF files in InDesign. Indeed for PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3 there
are two part of ISO 15930 namely
¬ PDF/X-1a:2001 defined in ISO 15930-1
¬ PDF/X-1a:2003 defined in ISO 15930-4
¬ PDF/X-3:2002 defined in ISO 15930-3
¬ PDF/X-3:2003 defined in ISO 15930-6
However for PDF/X-4 the 2010 revision has replaced the 2008 one. Therefore PDF/X-4
doesn’t need an additional publication year in its designation.

2. Basics
Extending PDF/X-standards by job specific requirements

Whilst the PDF/X standard provides a basis for the basic checks for print ready documents
there are a some additional parameters that can’t be defined in ISO 15930 but which are
important for sector specific printing. In order to express such a set of additional, print
sector specific requirements the so called PDF/X-Plus Standard has been evolved. Typical
requirements are:
¬ Minimal image resolution,
¬ Maximum Total ink coverage (TVS),
¬ Minimal width of hair lines,
¬ Overprinting objects,
¬ Number of spot colours,
¬ The usage of suitable output intents
Long story short, PDF/X relates to general print-ready requirements whilst PDF/X-Plus re-
flect sector specific requirements such as the PDFX-ready preflight profiles that are fully
supported by Fogra and recommended by the PSD.

2.5.5 Device or simulation mode? – The importance of the correct data

driving
Contrary to standardized offset printing, digital printing uses two fundamental types of
transformations. Data prepared for given standardized conditions can be used for both
printing and proof making. In other words, due to the similar solid coloration within one
printing condition (paper type) the reproduction of technical tones will be very consistent.
For instance a red gradient, created by using only Yellow and Magenta, results in a similar
appearance across similar papers, printing machines and printing inks. That implies the
appropriate RIP-correction by means of four 1-dimensional curves. This kind of transfor-
mation is characterized by „pure“ reproductions. In order to specifically allow for such a
reproduction the so-called “device mode transformation” has been defined in ISO 15311. It
defines a transformation of device colour values (tone values), where each colour channel is
transformed independently of the colour value of other channels. For an n-channel device,
n single-dimension transforms are applied some of which may be identity transforms. This
is sometimes called native or calibration mode.
A channel does not necessarily correspond to a colorant. For example a printer with cyan,
magenta, yellow, black, light cyan and light magenta inks (CMYKcm) might be driven with
3 (typically RGB) or 4 (typically CMYK) channels where a single channel (C, for example) is
mapped to more than one colorant (cyan and light cyan). The concrete mapping between
the channels and the colorant might not always be accessible to the user interface or the
front end.
This way of data transformation, i. e. using gradation curves, typically won‘t result in a
proof-to-print match when digital printing comes into play. That relates to the fundamental
differences with respect to the used printing inks, substrates and imaging processes. In
particular the printing inks severely defer from those defined for offset (ISO 2846-1). That
effect is visualized in Figure 2.17.
Fig. 2.17: Simulation of the resulting colour appearance, when offset data is used for output „1:1“, i. e. based on
four 1-dimensional curves (“Device Mode Transform“) on different digital printing systems. Source: CGS

2. Basics
In addition the device mode transformation allows for dedicated diagnosing of digital print-
ing machine capabilities – which are independent of the printing condition to be matched.
Such capabilities comprise the achievable resolution or image sharpness, the homogeneity
of the individual colour channels or the analysis of the tone value reproduction values.
Since a categorization of these plethora is far from being practical, de-facto printing con-
ditions (known as exchange spaces) such as FOGRA51 will be used as the reference. That
relates to a requirement typically in the realm of the lite production printing to “match
offset“.
In order to solve that problem, data transformations of device colour values are needed that
aim to closely match the intended or reference printing condition. That means that pure
colours, also known as technical tones, might be printed with a mixture of the colorants
used in the individual digital printing system. This multi-dimensional transformation (cLUT)
is called “simulation mode transform”, since it tries to reproduce the reference as closely
as possible. While this method typically satisfies the colorimetrical requirements it causes
impressions of noise, which is mostly not in accordance with the users expectation. This
also refers to black text, which should be printed with the black colorant only and not with
a mixture of colorants, as this can cause coloured fringing.
Colorimetrical Match while keeping pure colours - An oxymoron?

Depending on the used screening method, colour transformations that lead into spot col-
ours being reproduced as tint values or “pure” colours being “contaminated” with second-
ary colours might result in customer complaints despite the fact that a colour match is
achieved. This problem relates to screening methods in combination with the underlying
imaging process that makes use of large halftones, which are visible to the naked eye. They
will be perceived as graininess or noise, especially pronounced in the reproduction of skin
colours.
Those structural limitations of the printing process face the print service provider to make a
decision off between the required colour accuracy and a high level of channel preservation
(“keep purities”). While there are mechanisms in place in many PDF RIPs to allow channel
preservation at the time the PDF is processed for output, there are presently no mecha-
nisms which allow the PDF content creator to specify channel preservation at the time of
PDF creation when a colour managed workflow is desired.
The print service provider is advised to judge the colour coordinates of the primary and
secondary colours both for the actual printing system and the reference printing condition.
The more the used primary colours of the respective printing system differ from those of
the reference, the greater this discrepancy is. Thus a spiderweb-diagram could be used to
visualize this. The optimal result requires some testing by means of the setting for the re-
targeting transformation. That is described in chapter 5.

2.5.6 Detail sharpness - Confusing resolution and addressability

It is obvious that resolution or resolving power is an important aspect of image quality. But
did you ever wonder why black type is easier to read than grey type? They both have the
same spatial resolution. Discussing the resolution of printed matter or a printing system
therefore needs prior agreement and understanding of the used terms. Resolution can be
defined as a measure of the ability of an input device to record, or an output device to re-
produce the fine detail of an image. Although this is a correct definition, the contrast must
also be taking into consideration if detail sharpness is of concern.
Many conventional printing processes can only print a constant layer of ink. So the maxi-
mum resolution can be achieved when primary colours are printed with the native ad-
dressability, e. g. 2540 dpi (=1000/cm) for offset printing. A cyan line or black text have
a minimum line width of 10 µm. As soon as continuous tones of one ink (or colours using
more than one colorant) are required a screening process is needed to use the spatial reso-
lution to mimic different tone levels. Hence halftone cells, that are much bigger than the
minimum line width, are needed to “shape” the requested tone level. For a screen frequency
of 60/cm (150 dpi) a halftone cell is 1/60 cm=167 µm and that means the halftone dots
reduce the perceived resolution. Just take a magnifier glass and compare a 100 K line with
a line of CMYK=20,30,60,20.
Printing processes, especially inkjet or toner based ones, are able to print more than one
layer of ink. This is called multi-level printing (instead of binary level printing). Halftone
cells can become much smaller again in order to “shape” the required tonal levels. In order
to print many tonal steps, which is a key requirement of a high overall image quality, both
the spatial and the density resolution interact and determine the final print quality. For
raster images it is therefore possible that a 300 dpi (spatial resolution) can print images as
sharp as an offset print that needs 2540 dpi. This is doable since the density resolution is
much higher. Typical grey scale inkjet heads can print 3 to 6 different drops and therefore
density levels. However, for line art such as fine lines or a bar code the restricted spatial
resolution still applies. Hint:
This emphasize the importance of the correct data interpretation. On the one hand the Due to perfor-
mance reasons the
interpretation of the print elements among each other (aka RIP resolution) and on the other
RIP-resolution is
hand the imaging resolution (aka addressability). often smaller than
the imaging reso-
lution. However it
Resolution of print data: is advisable to use
The required resolution of print elements (raster) depends on the following factors: reasonable ratio
between them. For
¬ Type of application and demanded quality (e. g. High End fine art versus a flyer)
proofing devices
¬ Intended viewing distance: the RIP resolution
¬ The optimal viewing/reading distance is typically as long as the diagonal of the is typically 720 dpi
and the printing
media format of the printed product resolution 144 dpi..
¬ A banner comprising a diagonal of 3,5 m will be typically viewed from 3,5 m - in
order to perceive it as an entire image (like the first row in the cinema). That relates
to image resolution that might be significantly lower than the often used 300 dpi.
¬ However the minimum viewing distance is the governing factor that needs to be
taken into consideration when preflighting data for large format printing. If the
reading distance (typically 40 to 60 cm) is of importance, then the normal preflight
rule of thumb is recommended (to use 300 dpi). Here digitally printed wall papers
are a good example for large format application requiring a high resolution.
That’s why the intended viewing distance needs to be communicated between the
print buyer and the service provider.

2. Basics
¬ ISO candidate 15311-3 provides three predefined viewing distances namely 50 cm

(normal: reading distance), 1 m (POP, Point of purchase) and 1,5 m (banner). In addi-
tion the knowledge of the intended viewing distance allows a reasonable evaluation
of other print quality attributes such as graininess.
¬ Modern preflighting tools allow for using variables. Here the use can input the scal-
ing factor and the intended viewing distance and the software uses the correspond-
ing minimum resolution.
¬ Substrate and printing process:
¬ Some large format printers have a low addressability of about 300 dpi (and only
binary printing heads). That means that huge data won’t automatically result in bet-
ter image quality.
¬ Mesh like substrates also reduce the apparent resolution
¬ Difference between relative (effective) and actual (intrinsic) resolution:
¬ The actual resolution is the intrinsic resolution of a print element defined as dots per
unit length, e. g.:
– dpi = dots per inch (1” = 2,54 cm)
– ppi = pixel per inch (typically used for resolution of print elements)
– lpi = lines per inch (typically used for defining the screen frequency e. g. 150 lpi)
¬ The actual resolution becomes more meaningful if the final scaling factor and the
intended viewing distance is known. Incorporating the scaling results in the effec-
tive resolution. An image with a intrinsic resolution of 300 ppi (but scaled about
200 %) as an effective resolution of 150 ppi.
As prescribed the final detail sharpness is influenced by more factors such as the print speed,
the number of passes (in case of inkjet printing with a sleight), potential mis-registration,
heating settings (for solvent printers) or the printing direction (uni- or bidirectional). These
factors constitute the print mode which is a paramount part of the so called “combination”.
Fig. 2.18: The typical viewing distance can be derived from the diagonal of the final product. Typical viewing
distances are: Reading distance (50 cm), Point of purchase (1 m) and Large format applications (> 1,5 m).

Application Image- ppi for 1:1 ppi for 1:10 File size
diagonal (scaling) per qm
Large Format Poster prints 1 – 2 m 100 – 150 1.000 – 1.500 15 – 33 MB
(normal viewing distance) 2 – 5 m 60 – 75 600 – 750 5 – 8 MB
> 5 m 45 450 3 MB
Large format banner or signs 2 – 5 m 50 – 60 500 – 600 4 – 5 MB
(large viewing distance) > 5 m 30 – 40 300 – 400 1,5 – 2,5 MB
Large format High End ab 1 m 150 – 300 1.500 – 3.000 33 – 133 MB
(Reading distance)
more to come
Tab. 2.6: Recommendations for minimum image resolution of print elements for typical applications.

2. Basics

Evaluating print image quality
2.6 Evaluating print image quality
A large number of measurement methods are available to describe attributes of print image
quality. Many of these provide a measure of particular image quality attributes, often us-
ing completely different numerical scales. With few exceptions, such tools provide no clear
correlation with visual perception in order to establish the visual significance of a meas-
ured difference. Some of these methods have been developed without reference to digital
marking technologies, so they allow for device independent measurement of image quality
attributes. These evaluations are complex, subject to perception variations amongst indi-
viduals and multiple parameter considerations. ISO 15311 is intended to provide a basis for
practical, objective means of communication, describing basic image quality parameters.
Identify and evaluate image quality

The evaluation of print image quality is an active field of research. However by using a
dedicated set of quality measures and related aim values and tolerances there are meth-
ods available that will be used in that standard to achieve and reflect industrial printing
practice. Whilst some attributes can be evaluated and qualify/codified without a specific
reference (such as the mottling or graininess) other requirements need dedicated references
(beside aim values and corresponding tolerances). The colorimetric aim values of the image
content are an example for the latter one. Print image quality should be separated from im-
age permanence or durability requirements, which are important for the final product but
not primarily related to the perceived image right after printing.
ISO 15311 is process independent, in line with the move in the printing and publishing
industries to use electronic data for content storage and data exchange throughout the
print production process, from concept development to finishing. The economics of digital
content creation and production preclude upstream data preparation for all intended print-
ing conditions, including analogue and digital processes. The final output conditions for
print products, ranging from printed cups to large format banners, are often not known at
the time of creation. Prior definition of expected image and product quality can be based
on specific print image quality criteria. These criteria address colour rendition, homogeneity
(uniformity), resolution, artefacts, in addition to permanence aspects such as light fastness
or rub resistance.
The central point is the human perception

The final judge about the image quality is the human observer. And all metrics have to be
evaluated against the visual perception. In other words image quality is the sum of the
weighted perception of human observers to one or more visual stimuli. Evaluation image
quality strongly depends on the presence of an (physical) original. The nature of graphic
arts workflow can be summarized as so called full reference workflows. Here the original is
defined by means of a contract proof (see ISO 12647-7), validation print (see ISO 12647-8)
or a softproof (see ISO 14861) which has been approved by the creator (print buyer). The
print service provider needs to make sure that the chosen reference is technical achievable
for the selected application.
Zero reference workflows, such as printing a photo book, are more complex to handle since
the reproduction must be compared against a mental reference. This includes the identi-
fication of users preference and will not be covered here. Strictly speaking the usage of
off-press proofs are “reduced reference” scenarios since only the colorimetrical accuracy
is defined but not the screening, paper structure and haptic or potential bronzing. Here an
on-press proof is needed.

2. Basics
Print image quality requirements in the graphics art industry

Going from image quality to print image quality should be discussed in the following para-
graph. Instead of using a coherent print image quality system the graphic arts industry
has been pragmatically concentrated on using a selection of individual quality attributes
that is understood and measurable. Basically it can be said that the print image quality is
determined by three different categories namely colour reproduction, detail sharpness and
homogeneity. Die Tab. 2.7 summarizes established print quality attributes and groups them
accordingly.
Category Quality criteria Typical Evaluation
Colour ¬ Total area coverage ¬ Colour measurements of
reproduc- ¬ Colorimetrical and densitometrical deviations control bars and test charts
tion ¬ Print curves
¬ Colour gamut
¬ Agreement of solid coloration and tone value
increase according to ISO 12647-2
Detail ¬ Addressability ¬ Siemens star (visual)
sharpness ¬ Tone value reproduction limits ¬ Control bar (visual)
¬ Tone value differences ¬ Crop marks (visual and
¬ Mis-registration: “image-to-image”, “image-to- instrumental)
edge” or “frontside-to-backside ¬ Line blurriness and ragged-
ness
Homoge- ¬ Uniformity across the forma ¬ Density profiles
neity ¬ Uniformity across the print run ¬ Instrumental (9 Point-meas-
¬ Streaks (stripes) in uniform areas urement according to ISO
12647-7
¬ M-Score according to ISO
15311-1
Tab. 2.7: Typical print related attributes and their corresponding category.

Evaluation of the perceptual resolution (L-Score)

The evaluation of perceived image quality in prints is an active field of research. Defini-
tions of measurements of print quality attributes that correlate with visual perception by
technology-independent means, even across many printing technologies, is under current
scrutiny. It is influenced by a number of different quality attributes that are, for conveni-
ence only, categorized into colour and surface finish, homogeneity, perceptual resolution
and artefacts.
ISO 29112 says that printer resolution, a quantification of the ability of a digital printing
system to depict fine spatial detail, is a perceptually complex entity with no single, simple, L-Score:
objective measure. It further defines 5 print quality characteristics namely: native address- In this case the
RIT Contrast-
ability, effective addressability, edge blurriness, edge raggedness, and the printing system Resolution Target
modulation transfer function (MTF) that somehow contribute to the perceived resolution. is used to measure
the L-Score.
However previous research at Fogra indicated, that a test target comprising a reasonable
amount of patches, each of which contains spatial patterns (e. g. concentric circles) of vary-
ing line width and contrast, provides a very high correlation with the perceived resolution.
Based on an existing test target (RIT Contrast-Resolution Test Target) an abridged method
for determining the perceptual resolution termed “L-Score” of printed matter was devel-
oped and will be proposed for further analysis and inclusion of ISO 15311 to be part of the
system check evaluation. Further studies are needed to extend the scope toward different
colour centres both along the grey axis and within the colour space and a case (patch)
depending evaluation of non-standard aliasing pattern. Since the evaluation requires im-
age processing the method can’t easily be provided as an Excel spreadsheet. However it is
planed to provide an executable file that allows testing the L-Score.
Defining resolution
The majority of means to define resolution dates back to the photography and optics area.
Here the resolution is defined as follows: Two parallel lines, with equal widths, being sepa-
rated by a blank space of the same width are resolved if they can be seen as being different,
see Fig. 2.18. The resolving power will then be defined as the inverse, e.g. in linepairs or cyles
per mm. If the viewing distance is also incorporated the resolution can then be defined as
cycles per visual degree (field of view). The normal eye can separated a black-white linepair
being separated by a visual angle of 0.025°. For coloured (“low contrast”) line pairs the
value is higher, hence the resolution worse.
That principle is embodied in the RIT contrast resolution target. The resolving power is
better for the black and white (100 % and 0 %) than for dark grey and light grey (80 % and
20 %).

2. Basics
More information can

be found in Fogra-
Extra Nr. 7
Fig. 2.19: Definition of the resolving power originating from photopraphic and optical applications. The Siemens
star is often used as a visual control elelement to be judged for that resolution where the rays are not resolved
anymore.
Image, Edge and Line-sharpness

The attributes described in this section are believed contribute to resolution perception.
They are part of the so called system check hence to be evaluated for an entire system
rather then for each individual print job.
Line width
Minimum line width is a measure of the ability of a digital printing system to print fine de-
tail. Where this measure is reported the minimal width of the line measured normal to the
line from edge threshold to edge threshold as defined in ISO/IEC DTS 24790 shall be used.
EXAMPLE Minimum line width: 0.12 mm (K), 0.15mm (CMY).
NOTE This metric can be used to define the (inter) colour bleed.
Native addressability
This measure is often called ‘resolution’ which in most cases is very misleading as it does
not usually correlate well with perceived resolution or image sharpness. This measure
should not be reported as an image quality metric. If this measure is reported the native
addressability, which is the inverse of the minimum pitch between adjacent spots that can
be independently controlled and produced by the printer, shall be reported as define in
defined in ISO/IEC DTS 29112.
EXAMPLE Native addressability: 2360 lines per mm.
Effective addressability
The effective addressability is a measure of a digital printing system’s ability to produce
sharp images. When effective addressability is reported the method defined in ISO/IEC DTS
29112 should be used.
EXAMPLE Effective addressability: 2360 lines per mm.

Raggedness
Raggedness is a measure of a digital printing system’s ability to print elements with straight
edges or smooth curves such as text characters. The appearance of geometric distortion of
an edge from its ideal position is called raggedness. A ragged edge appears rough or wavy
rather than smooth or straight necessary define the permissible amount of streaking.
Where raggedness is reported, the standard deviation of the residuals from a line fitted
to the edge threshold shall be measured using the method defined in ISO/IEC DTS 24790.
EXAMPLE Raggedness: 0.062 mm.
Blurriness
Blurriness (inverse of sharpness) is a measure of prints from a digital printing system being
hazy or indistinct in outline. Where blurriness is reported a noticeable transition of black-
ness from background to character should be measured using the method defined in ISO/
IEC DTS 24790.
EXAMPLE Blurriness: 0.2 mm.
Evaluation of homogeneity
Homogeneity (uniformity), refers to the subjective impression of colour uniformity across a
large image that is intended to have a uniform colour. Colour uniformity refers to all types
of colour variation: lightness, hue, saturation or derivatives of these measures separately
or in combination. All types of colour variation are taken into account including, but not
restricted to: 1D, 2D, periodic, aperiodic, localized, large-scale, and small-scale variation,
separately or in combination such as streaks, bands, gradients, mottle, and moiré.
The reference is always the tone value (e. g. CMYK or RGB) defined in the original data set.
Basically all forms of inhomogeneity can be separated to be either periodic or aperiodic.
1-dimensional non-periodic patterns are called streaks while the appearance of 1-dimen-
sional, periodical bands within an area that should be homogeneous is called banding. Non-
periodical appearance of macroscopic inhomogeneities are often called mottle or unwanted
reflectance variations.
ISO/CD 15311 defines the following metrics to be used for the system check:
¬ Streakiness
¬ Graininess as defined in ISO/DTS 24790
¬ Graininess as defined by the P-Score
¬ Mottle as defined in ISO/DTS 24790
¬ Mottle as defined by the M-Score
¬ Inking variation across the format and in the printing direction

2. Basics

Important printing technologies
2.7 Important printing technologies
2.7.1 Introduction
The following sections explain the basics of the two most important digital printing tech-
nologies. This is inkjet printing and electrophotography. The focus lies in the basic under-
standing to better understand process control approaches and not an in-depth understand-
ing of the pertinent technology. For this purpose the relevant literature should be consulted.
2.7.2 Inkjet Printing
Basics of inkjet printing

The basic principle of inkjet printing is simple: a print head transfers small ink droplets (dots)
through a nozzle onto the substrate to be printed. In most cases, the printer controls two
motions in the process: the lateral motion of the print head and the vertical motion of the
print media.
A special feature of inkjet printing is the contact less transfer of the ink to the material,
which also makes it possible to print on uneven, structured surfaces.
The two main techniques are Bubble Jet (thermal inkjet) and Piezo Inkjet. Both techniques
are used in large format systems with widths of up to five meters and in small desktop
inkjet printers.
Examples:
HP OfficeJet 6500 Epson Stylus Pro GS 6000
Bubble Inkjet (thermal)

The water-based ink is heated up very quickly to about 400°C by the heating element in
the print head. The resulting vapor bubble shoots ink droplets from the nozzle onto the
print media. The droplet size is physically preset and thus non-variable. The effects of heat
on bubble jet print heads bring about faster wear and therefore they have to be replaced
frequently. In the case of small desktop printers, this problem is solved by the complete (and
costly) replacement of the print head and ink cartridge. This technology can be used only
for water-based inks

2. Basics
Bubble Inkjet
nt Heizelement
Tinte
Tinte
Düse
zum Vorrats-
behälter
Druckmedium Druckmedium
z.B. Papier, Folie z.B. Papier, Folie
+ −
Tinte
Tinte
Düse
nachströmende
Dampfblase
Tinte
Fig. 2.20: Bubble Inkjet (Thermic)
Piezo Inkjet
These printers make use of the piezo ceramic property to deform under voltage variation:
an electrical pulse changes the shape of the piezo element. This change in shape creates a
pressure pulse in the ink channel, which leads to the ejection of an ink droplet at the nozzle.
The size of the ejected droplet can be controlled very precisely by means of the electrical
pulse (variable dot size). Piezo print heads are theoretically indestructible because they are
not exposed Piezo
to anyInkjet
thermal load. Bubble Inkjet
Piezo-Element Heizelement
Tinte Tinte
Tinte
Düse Düse
zum Vorrats- zum Vorrats-
behälter behälter
Ruheposition
Druckmedium Druckmedium
z.B. Papier, Folie z.B. Papier, Folie
+ + −
Tinte Tinte
Tinte
Düse
nachströmende
Dampfblase
− Tinte
Stromimpuls
Fig. 2.21: Piezo Inkjet
Ink systems
Using the bubble inkjet (thermal inkjet) and piezo inkjet printing technologies different
printing materials are printed on with different inks:
¬ Water-based inks
¬ Solvent-based inks (solvent or eco-solvent)
¬ UV-curable inks
¬ Latex inks
¬ Dye-sub inks

Their differences and use cases as well as the corresponding pros and cons will be explained
now.
Water-based dye inks:

Colour completely dissolved in water
Thermal print heads only work with water Figuratively speaking: “sugar water“
based inks. + Brilliant colour reproduction due to
Piezo technology is used for all other inks closed surface
– Low UV resistance
Schematic representation: – Non-waterproof
Bubble Inkjet
(thermal)
Water-based pigment inks:

Piezo Inkjet Colorant particles are dispersed in water
Figuratively speaking: “sand in water”
+ Acceptable water resistance
+ Acceptable UV resistance
– Less brilliant, duller impression due to large
particles that do not yield a smooth layer
– Smaller color space than dye inks
The ink systems differ in size (printing width), quality and application due to their proper-
ties:

2. Basics
Very high quality (in terms of color space and resolution) can be
achieved with water-based ink systems – ideal for art reproduc-
tion, proofing and indoor applications in general as well as for
closer viewing distances. However, water-based inks only bond
with specially coated surfaces really well and are only suitable
for outdoor use to a limited degree. In turn, the printers are easy to handle and in addition
to machine shops are often also used in offices.
Printing widths: 61 cm to 152.4 cm
Principal use: Fine art, posters, indoor banners
+ Large colour space

+ Simple processing, no health risk
+ Reasonably priced
– Low UV resistance
– Low water resistance (outdoor use is limited)
– Only print media with special coating
If prints need to be especially durable and are used outdoors,

solvent or real-solvent inks, i. e. solvent-based, are used. These
inks dissolve the substrate and bond with the print media, which
means that solvent prints are very durable. The drying process is
carried out with a heater (pre, main and post heating). However,
a health risk is involved with solvent inks and they cannot be used in rooms without special
ventilation equipment
Printing widths: 137.2 cm to 500 cm
Principal use: Tarpaulins for outdoor use, car wrapping, signs
+ Extremely durable (UV-resistant, water-resistant, scratch-resistant)

+ Suitable for outdoor use
+ High print speed
+ Low drying time
– Relatively expensive printers
– Protective measures required when handling
– Can only be used with a ventilation system
– Inks are hazardous to health

Eco-solvent or mild-solvent printers solve the emission problem

in part: the inks are far less harmful to health and the environ-
ment but have similar drying properties and durability.
Printing widths: 75 cm to 260 cm
Principal use: Tarpaulins for outdoor use, car wrapping, wallpapers, flags, signs, stickers
+ Very to extremely durable (UV-resistant, water-resistant, scratch-resistant)
+ Suitable for indoor and outdoor use
+ High print speed
+ Low drying time
– Less harmful to health than (real) solvent
UV printers are appropriate for any application which involves

the printing of a variety of substrates (also uncoated). The inks
are cured and fixed with a special UV light. Both flexible roll
materials and single sheets, but also rigid print media and even
glass can be printed on. Appropriate protective measures are
needed when processing harmful UV inks.
Printing widths: 137.2 cm to 500 cm
Principal use: Flat plate printing (rigid materials), textiles (roll printing)
+ Extremely durable (UV-resistant, water-resistant, scratch-resistant)

+ Also on rigid and uncoated print media
+ No drying time
– Protective measures are required when handling (gloves, etc.), otherwise harmful to health
– Inherent odor of the inks
Water-based HP latex inks are still relatively new on the market.

They are supposedly comparable with solvent inks in terms of
quality and durability, but are less harmful to health and the en-
vironment. They do not contain real rubber, but consist of an
aqueous polymer dispersion.
Printing widths: 51.4 to 264 cm
Principal use: Indoor and outdoor applications
+ Simple processing, no health risk

+ Very to extremely durable
+ No drying time
– Limited choice of materials (because the ink must be fixed under heat)
– Only one printer manufacturer (HP)

2. Basics
Dye-sub printers work according to the thermal sublimation

principle in which the water-based (and therefore non-toxic) ink
is intensely heated and thus converted to a gaseous state abrupt-
ly (sublimation). The colour does not form a layer on the print
material when applied, but bonds completely with the substrate.
Textiles are thus lightfast and washable. Through-printing can be achieved on thin materi-
als, which means that the image is visible on both sides.
Printing widths: 137 cm to 320 cm
Principal use: Flags, textile banners, decor, fashion, interior design
+ Extremely durable
+ High colour brilliance
+ Through-printing is possible (image is also visible on the reverse side)
+ The inks are not harmful to health
– Limited range of print media (textiles, polyester)
– Print media shrinkage during the printing process

Media compatibility:
Specific media currently exists for each ink system with two exceptions:
¬ For solvent/eco-solvent, UV-curable and latex ink systems, the same print media can
be used in some cases (intersection 1).
¬ For latex, UV-curable and dye-sub ink systems, the same media range can be used in
some cases (intersection 2)
Print service providers are therefore advised to carefully check for media compatibility or
lack thereof.
Intersection 1:
Solvent/Ecosolvent
UV-curable Intersection 2:
Latex UV-curable
Latex
DyeSub
2.7.3 Electrophotographic Printing (Xerography)

A very sophisticated overview can be found in the following reference: It is focused on
OCE technologies but it provides a very good overview and technical insight into dry toner
technology.
Hoffmann-Falk, M.
Digital Printing
Poing, 2005, ISBN: 3-00-001081-5
Please inform the author about other informative references to be added here.

3.

Introduction
3 Basics for data preparation

3.1 Introduction
In times of conventional printing the responsibilities of data preparation were clearly ad-
dressed. The prepress department was responsible for the film creation (mostly 4 for CMYK)
and the printing department was asked to transfer the halftones to the substrate in a reli-
able fashion. With the advent of digital printing those boundaries have been blurred. Print
service providers often have to process data of unknown origin and quality. That mostly
refers to rich PDF documents with objects (line work or raster) that are neither tagged with
ICC source profiles nor separated for the actual printing conditions. In light of that situation
print service providers are required to take responsibility for the preparation of the data. In
order to allow for a defined level of predictability it should also be possible for the designer
to visualize the final print product. Here the reference printing conditions come into play.
These are ICC profiles (based on defined characterization data such as FOGRA51) which
serve as interface for data creation and printing, see Fig. 3.1
Default!
 
PSOCoatedV3
= FOGRA51
No Yes
Printing Condition known?

RGB Actual Print
e.g.
Reference Toner, Inkjet,
AdobeRGB Data LFP, etc
Process
preparation conversion
for a defined
from the reference
reference printing Proof (proof) toward the
conditions
Designer Designer actual printing
Printer Printer
condition
Prepress Prepress
Brandowner Photographer
Brandowner Photographer Ink Kitchen Ink Kitchen
tnirP ot foorP
hctaM
formulates
formulates
receives
receives
receives
receives
receives
receives
receives
receives
designs
delivers
delivers
designs
delivers
delivers
wishes
wishes
prints
prints
Fig. 3.1: Schema for determining the exchange space. The key question is the whether the actual printing condi-
tion, i.e. the used substrate and machine for the current job, is known. If this is the case, a reference printing
condition resembling the actual printing condition is used. If no information about the actual printing is available
it is recommended to use FOGRA51, i.e. PSO Coated V3.
Fig. 3.1 illustrates the print data workflow. The designer chooses from a set of exchange
spaces (ICC profiles based on reference printing conditions). Based on print-ready PDF/X
files reflecting the printing condition, a contract proof or a validation print can be created.
This print serves both as a reference for the intended output preview and as the reference
for the printer to rate the quality of the final print (with tolerance bands termed A, B or C).
In case nothing is known about actual printing, it is recommended to use PSOCoated V3 as
the default exchange space. The following sub-chapters are structured as follows:
¬ Overview of important reference printing conditions and exchange spaces.
¬ Designer guidelines for generating print-ready artwork (PDFXready Workflow V.2.4).
¬ Printer guidelines for optimized PDF handling.
¬ Migration from FOGRA39 to FOGRA51.

3. Basics for data preparation

The Output-Intent: From printing conditions to exchange spaces
3.2 The Output-Intent: From printing conditions to

exchange spaces
A printing condition is a set of primary process parameters which describe the conditions
associated with a specific printed output, associated with colorimetrical and/or densito-
metrical aim values. For the purpose of colour management in digital printing application, a
printing condition is fully characterized by giving the relationship between the CMYK digital
input values (as stipulated in ISO 12642-2) and the corresponding measured colorimetric
values. FOGRA51, for instance, is such a printing condition. While an offset printer might be
interested in the associated process control information such as TVI-tables, black backing
values or wet densities this information is not required for digital printing.
However since offset printing conditions represent the majority of standardized commerical
printing they serve as legacy data and may be used as reference printing condition also for Note:
digital printing applications. All Fogra char-
The following table shows the popular characterization data: acterization data
can be found:
Char.-file Printing process Profile name Substrate Notes http://www.fogra.
FOGRA53 none Fogra Large Gamut Ex- Premium Coated planned to org/en/fogra-
change Space Universal be released standardization/
soon
FOGRA52 Sheet fed offset PSOuncoated_v3_ PS5 (OBA rich, * ISO 12647-
FOGRA52.icc uncoated) 2:2013
FOGRA51 Sheet fed offset PSOcoated_v3.icc PS1 = former PT1/2 * ISO 12647-
(OBA rich, premium 2:2013
coated)
FOGRA50 Sheet fed offset PSO_Coated_v2_300_ PT1/2 (premium based on
+ Glossy OPP Glossy_laminate_eci.icc coated) FOGRA39
FOGRA49 Sheet fed offset PSO_Coated_v2_300_ PT1/2 (premium based on
+ Matt OPP Matte_laminate_eci.icc coated) FOGRA39
FOGRA48 Web offset PSO_INP_Paper_eci.icc INP (improved news
heatset print paper)
FOGRA47 Sheet fed offset PSO_Uncoated_ISO12647_ PT4 (uncoated) replaces
eci.icc FOGRA29
FOGRA46 Web offset PSO_LWC_ PT3
heatset Standard_eci.icc (LWC web offset)
FOGRA45 Web offset PSO_LWC_ Improved LWC paper replaces
heatset Improved_eci.icc FOGRA28
FOGRA44 Sheet fed offset PSO_Uncoated_NPscreen_ PT4 (uncoated)
(non-periodic) ISO12647_eci.icc
FOGRA43 Sheet fed offset PSO_Coated_NPscreen_ PT1/2 (premium
(non-periodic) ISO12647_eci.icc / coated)
PSO_Coated_300_
NPscreen_ISO12647_eci.
icc
FOGRA42 Web offset PSO_SNP_paper_eci.icc Standard news
heatset printing paper
FOGRA41 Web offset PSO_MFC_paper_ MFC (machine
heatset eci.icc finished coated)
FOGRA40 Web offset SC_paper_eci.icc SC (super caland-
heatset ered)
FOGRA39 Sheet fed offset ISOcoated_v2_eci.icc / PT1/2 (premium replaces
ISOcoated_v2_300_eci.icc coated) FOGRA27
Tab. 3.1: Overview over the Fogra characterization datasets.

The PDF/X-ready Output intent rules

Any PDF/X-file is characterized by a so called Output-Intent, that defines which printing
conditions the document is prepared and therefore intended for. Print elements may be
exchanged either as output device code values or as colorimetrically defined data. However,
both types of data, if present in print elements in a PDF/X file, shall be prepared for the single
characterized printing condition identified in the output intent prior to exchange. The Out-
put-Intent allows e. g. the newspaper printer to identify if the print elements have been pre-
pared correctly. It should be noted that the Output-Intent does not trigger any colour trans-
formation; it only characterize the available objects in an unambiguous fashion. In contrast
device dependent colour definitions often lead to proprietary, automatic transformations
With respect to the correct interpretation of the Output-Intent there are two different
points. On the one hand it is important to know that different ICC-profiles are attributed
to the same characterization data-set. For instance the output profiles ISOCoated V2, ISO
Coated V2 300, ISOCoated V2 (BAS) and CoatedFOGRA39 are all based on FOGRA39. That
means that they are identical with regard to the CMYK to CIELAB transformations but dif-
ferent in regard to CIELAB to CMYK transformation namely the Gamut-Mapping as well as
the black generation (including the maximum tone value sum, TVS). Image data that is pre-
pared (separated) with different ICC profiles, which are all based on the same characteriza-
tion data-set, can be problematic when it is collectively imposed on a large sheet. Those
problems refer mostly to offset printing when printers see different „reactions“ within the
image (ranging from no change to huge changes) when they change the inking of one
printing ink.
On the other hand problems arise when Output-Intents are used that resemble complete-
ly different output processes, i. e. printing conditions. Here it is extremely important to
identify these cases in order to take corrective actions. The PDFXready-rules, part of the
PDF/Xready preflight profiles, are carefully designed to address both problems. The fol-
lowing pages summarize the most important information. If not defined otherwise, Fogra Note:
recommends the usage of the ICC profiles provided by the ECI (www.eci.org). Formally there are
no ICC-profiles
from ISO. Based
Sheet-Fed Offset on coated and uncoated stock (selection) on concerns and
¬ PSOcoated_v3.icc - NEW subsequent discus-
sions within some
¬ PSOuncoated_v3_FOGRA52.icc - NEW standard groups
¬ ISOcoated_v2_eci.icc ECI decided not
to use the term
¬ ISOcoated_v2_eci_300.icc
„ISO“ anymore. The
¬ PSO Uncoated ISO12647 (ECI) acronym “PSO“
¬ ISOuncoatedyellowish.icc was used instead in
combination with
¬ PSO_Coated_300_NPscreen_ISO12647_eci.icc information about
¬ PSO_Coated_NPscreen_ISO12647_eci.icc the used substrate
and screening. For
¬ PSO_Uncoated_NPscreen_ISO12647_eci.icc
digital printing the
process parameters
More profiles can be found in the 2016 PDFXready guideline. are less impor-
tant but provides
guidedance for
ICC-profiles not mentioned here the gamut check
with the intended
An unknown ICC-profile being used in the Output Intent is an indication for either an erro-
output process.
neous PDF creation or an individual printing condition. In any case check the delivered data.
Additional communication between provider and receiver is recommended.

The Output-Intent: From printing conditions to exchange spaces
Summary
A central piece of PDF/X is the Output Intent. It characterizes the intended printing condi-
tion and allows for an easy identification of the creators intent.
In general the usage of the profiles provided by the ECI (European Color Initiative) namely
ISO Coated v2 300%, PSO Uncoated ISO 12647 (ECI), PSO LWC Improved (ECI) and ISO
Newspaper 26v4 provided by WAN-IFRA is recommended. Other profiles will result in pre-
flight messages and indicate potential problems while creating or repurposing the data.
The mentioned PDFX-ready rules helps to identify the correct Output Intent and how to
check if a supplied profile can be used or not. However it is not clear how a print service
provider should react when receiving inappropriate Output Intent. That is part of the fol-
lowing sections.


Designer guidelines for generating print-ready artwork (PDFXready Workflow V2.4)
3.3 Designer guidelines for generating print-ready artwork

(PDFXready Workflow V2.4)
Fogra has been an active member of PDFX-ready for many years This helped to ensure that
industry-accepted guidelines and recommendations could be published and coordinated.
Thus it was possible to incorporate the “PDFX V2-ready” guideline completely into the this
handbook. Certainly the language and the ordering has been slightly changed, however that
does not detract from the excellent content.
The following pages cover guidelines both for designer and prepress companies (termed
“Creator”) as well as the print service providers (termed “Output”). In particular the latter
has to deal with data that is not adequately prepared for printing. These pages help to deal
with that situation.
PDF-Processing – Yesterday, today and tomorrow

As the printing and publishing industry changes, so does the way of handling PDF-files. The Note:
multi-channel publishing paradigm is replacing the conventional way of data preparation If you are inter-
for a specific printing condition. The evolution is embedded into changing publishing pro- ested in PDF/X-
ready RGB V2-
cesses aiming for media neutrality and cross media data preparation. Workflow please
In the last decade, where PDF has become the standard in prepress, the pertinent applica- go directly to
tions have learnt to accept and work with PDF files. While presenting this PDFX-ready V2 the PDFX-ready
homepage.
Workflow, PDFX-ready finally says “good bye” to PostScript as the “driver” of the printing
industry. On the contrary, PDFX-ready V2 uses native handling of PDF objects. This results
in a lot of benefits that will be described in this guideline.
PDFX-ready RGB V2 represents the first time a set of provisions that allows for media
neutral RGB-data. However this is currently restricted to pixel based data, also known as
raster. Technical tones and vector graphics (also known as linework) must still be prepared
and placed by means of appropriate CMYK tone values. A true media neutral document
description is not yet achieved, since the linework must be prepared for each individual
printing condition. Therefore PDFX-ready RGB V2 is a proposal for the industry to start with
the media neutral paradigm. Media neutral image storage and archiving is current practice.
PDFX-ready recommends clearly to utilize this practice in a controlled fashion without
separating raster images for a set of printing conditions. Future applications indicate me-
dia neutral documents instead of media neutral images will be dealt with. Modern output
channels such as eSignage and tablets require that both linework and raster are provided
in RGB, hence media neutral.
PDFX-ready V2.4 settings are still based on ISOcoatedV2 as the exchange space.
It is planned to use PSO Coated V3 in the next update. The V2.4 preflight profile includes
PSOCoated V3 already. Still, you can use PSOCoated V3 right away by making your own
preset (until V2.5 is published).

RGB- CMYK-Layout RGB- CMYK-Layout RGB- RGB-Layout

Raster Sheet-fed offset coated Raster Sheet-fed offset coated Raster media neutral
CMYK-Layout CMYK-Layout
Sheet-fed offset uncoated Sheet-fed offset uncoated
Newspaper Newspaper
Web offset Web offset
PDFX-ready V1 PDFX-ready V2 Future?
CMYK- CMYK- RGB- RGB-

PDF/X-1a CMYK Raster Raster Raster PDF/X-4 RGB Raster
Sheet Fed Coated media neutral
Output condition: Text/Vector Text/Vector Text/Vector Output condition: Text/Vector
CMYK A A A RGB/CMYK A
CMYK CMYK CMYK RGB
PDF/X-4 CMYK PDF/X-4 CMYK+RGB
Coated Offset (Sheet Coated Offset (Sheet
Fed) Fed)
Output condition: Output condition:
Processing using Native PDF processing Native PDF-processing and

PostScript-Elements output specific rendering
optional optional
PDF- PDF-
correction correction
Fig. 3.2: Overview of the different types of guidelines, which covers the pertinent technologies and approaches.
Summarized as: Yesterday (PDFX-ready 1.3), Today (PDFX-ready V2 CMYK) and Tomorrow (???).

Workflow-Overview
Image Layout D PDF-Creation PDF-Check PDF-Processing
H
Process- Layout- I PDF-
specific Design Optimization
A E PDF/X-1a J
medien- Layout- PDF-

neutral export Output
B K
Graphic
H
PDF/X-4 CMYK
Layout-
Process-
Design
specific
C F
Layout-
PDF/X-4 CMYK+RGB
export
Fig. 3.3: Overview of the different steps of the production chain. PDF/X-4-CMYK+RGB is currently subject for
field testing and not recommended for default usage.
This overview shows different steps along the production chain by illustrating typical ways
of PDF/X-workflows:
¬ Image Retouching – media-neutral or process specific
¬ Graphic creation – process specific
¬ Layout creation – media-neutral or process specific
¬ Layout export – process specific or media neutral PDF-creation
¬ PDF/X-Files using the «flavours» PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-4 CMYK and PDF/X-4 RGB
¬ PDF-Check
¬ PDF-Optimization and output
More information can be found on the given sections (A, B, C etc).
Colour Management
The term «Binding» is related to the workflow step at which the data conversion (e. g. RGB
-> CMYK) towards the intended printing condition happens. With respect to the typical
graphic arts workflow there are 3 types:
¬ Early Binding
¬ Intermediate Binding
¬ Late Binding
The following guidelines are restricted to pixel based images, i. e. raster.
Early Binding
The image material will be converted into CMYK right after the retouching phase using the
graphics editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. The user has full control of the conver-
sion by means of the appropriate gamut mapping and separation strategy. This is basically
determined by the used profile and selected rendering intent.

Intermediate Binding
The images are retouched and remain unseparated (media neutral), e. g. by using the RGB-
format. Those RGB-images will then be placed in the layout application. During the PDF
creation all images will be converted to the output condition (ICC-profile representing the
output intent). The user controls the conversion by means of the basic application settings,
adjusting the document colour settings as well as the used export settings.
Late Binding
The media-neutral image content (RGB) will be placed and outputted as is by tagging the
individual source profiles. At the final output or rendering the conversion into the output
condition happens. Here the conversion is governed by the settings of the output system.
Media neutral data preparation with PDF/X - a contradiction?

Both PDFX-ready workflows PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-4 CMYK are designated as process spe-
cific ways of data exchange. That is because the content is fully prepared for the output
intent. The PDF document only contains print elements encoded as CMYK, Gray or spots.
All of this means the RGB images are either converted to CMYK at the PDF export from
the layout application (Intermediate Binding) or earlier at the content creation by using a
graphics editing program (Early Binding).
To convert images at the beginning of the workflow can be considered the conventional
or conservative approach. Although you have full control of your separation you will wind
up with different versions for each individual printing condition you prepare the data for.
In order to convert images to CMYK the following recommendations should be used as

default settings:
¬ Relative colorimetrical rendering intent (optional use of blackpoint compensation)
¬ Embed the source (RGB-) profile
¬ Make sure the right destination profile is selected
Fogra recommends to use Intermediate Binding. By going that way you can use one image
file that serves as a master. This helps to reduce errors in particular those related to picking
the wrong version of an image.
Early Binding should be used when:

¬ Corrections (Retouching) is required in CMYK
¬ Conversion must be done with different settings
¬ A destination profile is used that performs a dedicated black generation or separation
in general while reflecting the same underlying printing condition. That is typically the
case for excel charts or textile reproductions.
When using Intermediate Binding care must be taken to apply the correct colour settings,
document profiles and export settings or styles.
Intermediate Binding has the advantage that RGB imagery will be converted to the right
output profile. In addition there won’t be any need to hold and maintain different versions
or copies that are needed for the manifold output processes. When using intermediate
binding, you might also benefit from changing the output intent at PDF creation when
needed. However, linework must be re-separated since it is prepared for one specific print-
ing condition. See also chapter 3.4 for more information on setting up a colour server to
do so.

on
ommendati
Fogra-Rec
Early Binding Intermediate Binding Late Binding
Photoshop – Image retouching in RGB
Photoshop –
Photoshop –
conversion Save as RGB-image
into CMYK
Layouting – Document design
Images – CMYK, Images – RGB, Images – RGB,

Layout – CMYK Layout – CMYK Layout – CMYK
PDF-Export –
PDF-Export – PDF-Export –
1:1
Conversion 1:1
into CMYK
PDF/X-File
Images – CMYK, Images – CMYK, Images – RGB,

Layout – CMYK Layout – CMYK Layout – CMYK
PDF-Output –
PDF-Output PDF-Output Conversion
into CMYK

PDFX-ready Example Page

The PDFX-ready test page as shown below is your guardian angel for this PDFX-ready
Hint:
Guideline. It shows the advantages of the PDFX-ready-Workflows V2.
You can download
the example page
at the PDFX-
PDFX-ready V2… ready homepage.
Detailed informa-
u v tion about the
Colours
individual patches
can be found at the
Blend-Modes
following pages.
Process
Alpha-chanels
Spot
… process live transparency without causing headaches.
drop shadow
… conveys the quality of your images into your PDF.
w x RGB RGB RGB RGB V2 y RGB V2

(Device) (ICC-based) (ICC-based)
A
CMYK CMYK CMYK

A
Grau Grau Grau

A
… communicates CMYK without compromises. … makes you savvy for handling media neutral data. … makes you fit for future multi channel publishing
Images: Visual PRINT Reference © VSD www.pdfx-ready.ch
Fig. 3.4: Visualization of the PDF/X-ready V2 Example page. It is a helpful tool for testing the your workflow.
Please download it from the PDFX-ready or the Fogra homepage. This test page does not replace the PDFX-ready
certification. It also won’t replace test pages provided from other organizations. It is an additional tool for test-
ing and demonstration.
You can use the test page to:

¬ review the benefits related to the usage of the PDFX-ready-guidelines.
¬ make notes about the fundamental parts of PDF creation and processing.
¬ check your workflow by means of seeing how subtle details of this file might be ren-
dered at your output system.
This guide uses the following symbols:
The check mark indicates that a result is OK.
The red «X» shows an error or a significant problem that leads to problems.
Warnings are depicted by the yellow acclamation mark. These depend on you and
your individual situation.
Information is marked by the blue «i». It represents additional provisions and guid-
ance.

3.3.1 Which PDFX-workflow to pick?

What is flattening?
Imagine a complex
PDFX-ready offers two different workflows: V1 and V2. Since V1 is based on the «classic» composition of
PDF/X-1a approach, V2 uses PDF/X-4 and therefore allows means for state of the art PDF graphics and vectors
and images includ-
creation and processing including life transparency and media neutral artwork. ing smooth shades,
The PDFX-ready-Workflows are guidelines for checking PDF documents. Although drop shadows and
fancy blend modes.
PDFX-ready provides settings and recommendations for the creation of layouts (InDesign,
Flattening means
QuarkXPress), there are always many ways that lead to a “good” PDF. What counts is the achieving the same
quality of the final PDF against the PDFX-ready-Preflight rules. visual appearance by
using Quark 4.
What is characteristic of the PDFX-ready-Workflows and how do you pick the right one?
It depends on the level of sophistication and equipment of your print service provider, also
known as output partner.
Creator
«How is my output-partner equipped?»
«My partner uses modern equip-

ment and I would like to ex-
change state of the art data.»
«I don›t know my partner neither the

used equipments. I prefer to use
either PDFX-ready V1.4 Classic on
mmendati
as well as PDFX-ready V2 CMYK.» Fogra-Reco
PDFX-ready V2
PDF/X-Standard: PDF/X-4:2010
«My partner is using a PostScript-RIP or PDF-Version: 1.6
a RIP, that is only able to process flat-
tened PDF documents. My partner ex-
plicitly wishes PDF documents with flat- «My partner uses modern equipment and
tened transparencies» CMYK I would like to send media neutral art-
work. Sender and receiver have negotiat-
ed and tested that way of file exchange.»
Live Transparency
PDFX-ready V1 CMYK + Spots PDFX-ready V2

PDF/X-Standard: PDF/X-1a:2001 PDF/X-Standard:
PDF-Version: 1.4 PDF/X-4:2010
PDF-Version: 1.6
Classic CMYK+RGB
Flattened Transparency Live Transparency
CMYK + Spots
CMYK + Spots
+ media neutral images
Print Output
Fig. 3.5: Three PDF/X-ready workflows. Using „PDF/X-ready V.2 CMYK+RGB“ requires a high level of sophistica-
tion of all parties. It is planned to include this in a later version of the PSD.

Why PDFX-ready V2?

The PDFX-ready V2-settings reflect the PDF/X-4-standard and the PDF/X-Plus-specifica-
tion prepared by the Ghent Workgroup (GWG). They have been extensively revised in order
to reflect state of the art needs of current PDF workflows. What are the key aspects of
PDFX-ready V2 and why should you update?
Live-Transparency
When using PDFX-ready V2, live transparency does not need to be flattened. Live transpar-
encies are explicitly allowed in PDFX-ready V2. This leads to a number of advantages when
creating and processing PDF documents:
¬ PDF-creation is faster and more reliable, since there is no flattening process.

¬ The resulting PDF documents have a smaller file size, since the flatting process often
ends with complex compositions of (opaque) objects.
¬ Increasing quality of the PDF files by means of:
¬ Preserved text (which often will be converted to paths (outlines) or into raster
images).
¬ Gradients will be encoded natively as smooth shades instead of images or older
mechanisms.
¬ Vector objects will be preserved as vector and not (as it is sometimes the case)
raster.
¬ Artefacts (e. g. fine white lines), that might result from the flattening process
can be avoided.
¬ The rendering of the PDF document will be enhanced: There are no visualization errors
anymore such as fine lines that disappear when zooming in. This is also important
when creating interactive PDFs, which are used for screen viewing (Internet, tablets or
e-readers), since not all PDFs are destined for print.
¬ PDF files can be edited more easily, since the objects appear in the same way they are
layouted and composed (in contrast to being split into many pieces).
¬ PDF files can be more easily converted to different output conditions. In addition spot
colours can be fixed if the transparency is live. Once flattened, spot colours involved in
transparency cannot be altered.
Archivability
PDF documents that comply with PDF/X4 basically comply with PDF/A-2. PDF/A-2 is a
standard for long-term archiving. Using PDFX-ready V2 allows you to prepare data that is
“future-oriented” by means of the requirements of tomorrows digital archives.
Stringent Font-enbedding
PDF/X-4 defines more stringent rules for embedding fonts and single characters and glyphs.
This helps to reduce potential problems when processing PDFs, for instance at the imposi-
tion stage.

Layers in PDF
PDF/X-4 allows for layers. These optical content groups permit the dissemination of multi-
language PDF documents as well as non-printing content such as die-cutting.
16 Bit
Using PDF/X-4 you can save image data encoded with 16-Bit. A bit-depth of 16 (per chan-
nel) allows for a higher accuracy of colour values and the following transformations. How-
ever in order to benefit from a 16-Bit workflow all parts must work together. It is still
common to use a 8-Bit encoding (255 different tone levels). It must be said the a unified
16-Bit workflow system is not realistic in the near future since many programs struggle to
fully support it.
JPEG2000-Compression
PDF/X-4 allows image data to be saved in the JPEG2000 format. Comparable to 16-Bit
handling many programs and authoring tools have problems fully supporting JPEG2000
encoding image data. In case this is foreseeable it is advised to use PDFX-ready V1, which
disallows JPEG2000 and therefore uses alternative compression techniques.


Process specific image preparation Recipe
1. PDFX-ready provides Photoshop colour settings. You can download the csf-files at
www.pdfx-ready.ch. You can also use these files to synchronize the colour settings all CS
A
Simply Rip out
applications by using Adobe Bridge.
2. In order to prepare images for a specific printing condition it is recommended to do the

retouching in RGB.
3. The final appearance can be visualized by using the softproof (Proof Setup) of Photo-

shop. Simply go to View -> Proof Setup -> CMYK-Working Space for the selected output
condition or Custom for individual settings. Then there are no nasty surprises after the
conversion.
4. After finishing the retouching the conversion to CMYK can be applied there. Please use
Edit -> Convert to Profile in order to find the best settings. This step is not standardized.
While the recommend ICC profiles often result in satisfactory separations different profiles
(representing the same printing condition) might also be used.
5. Save the final CMYK-image by using one of the typical file formats (TIFF, PSD or JPG).
Please note to include the used ICC profile when saving the image file. When preparing
images in a process specific way each printing condition require a separate image that has
been prepared for the pertinent process. It is recommended to store the original RGB-file
as the basis for additional separations. If you have to prepare data for different output pro-
cesses this method result in a lot of redundancy including a higher risk for potential errors.
A more flexible solution is to let the layout application do the RGB-CMYK-conversion. (see
page 24) or a tailored CMYK-CMYK-Devicelink transformation (Section J).

Media neutral image preparation Recipe
This recommendation is based on a media relative conversion with black point compensa-
tion (bpc) throughout the workflow.
B
Simply Rip out
1. PDFX-ready provides Photoshop colour settings. You can download the csf-files at
www.pdfx-ready.ch. You can also use these files to synchronize the colour settings all CS
2. In most situations it is recommend to convert all RGB colour space to a well defined
working space. PDFX-ready recommends the eciRGBv2 working space. Please select Edit ->
Convert to Profile, to do the conversion as shown.
Black Point Compensation (BPC)

In addition to the “relative colorimetrical” rendering intent, black point compensation
allows for better shadow details. For the perceptual rendering intent, bpc has (mostly)
no effect.
Background: Black point compensation is a method developed by Adobe and is available
in Adobe applications. In 2015, ISO 18619 was published. It defines the mapping but it
will need some time until industry recognition.

3. The retouching should be done on a calibrated and profiled monitor, in RGB colour space.
In case a specific printing condition is on your radar you can activate the softproof preview
by clicking View -> Proof Setup -> Custom. This allows you to preview how critical (e. g.
saturated) colours will be later separated. PDFX-ready recommends to use the CMYK work-
ing space “ISO Coated V2 300% (ECI)”.
4. Save the final RGB-file by using one of the typical file formats (TIFF, PSD or JPG). Please
note to include the RGB profile. This image now serves as a master both for print (offset
printing on coated or uncoated art, newspaper printing etc) and non-print (e. g. Web, Tablet)
output conditions. This media neutral archiving founds the basis for future multi-channel
publishing workflows. The needed conversion to the intended CMYK-colour space is done
either by the Layout application (G, H) or by the PDF-colour server to be used by the sender
or receiver (J, K).

Process specific preparation of graphics Recipe
1. PDFX-ready provides Illustrator colour settings. You can download the csf-files at
www.pdfx-ready.ch. You can also use these files to synchronize the colour settings of all CS
C
Simply Rip out
Fig. 3.6: Recommended colour settings.
2. Prepare the linework in Adobe Illustrator by using the CMYK working space.
Using the following logo graphics you will find some useful hints to do prepare the vector
data correctly.

3. Save the graphic by using the AI-format. Please try to avoid EPS-files, since they don’t
support live transparencies.
Overprint Preview
InDesign, Illustrator and Acrobat offer a so called “overprint preview”. It allows you to
visualize the effect when the present overprint settings will be honored. Please select:
View -> Overprint Preview

Please use appropriate CMYK values. That me- Always use the gradient provided by Illustrator – for Black and grey tones should always be defined by
ans to honor typical print properties. Don´t use opaque and transparent vignettes. They allow for a pure black, i.e. only K. Black objects encoded as RGB
RGB-values. This will cause Illustrator to perform a high print quality at the output side. often result in an unwanted composed grey (4C).
transformation, that is mostly not appropriate.
Illustrator
Illustrator converts it to:
converts it to:
As long as you use the AI-format transparent objects,

drop shadows or gradients when including transparency
Prepare spot colours as such (no process colour) will not cause any problems. Using EPS-files a flattening Please note the correct
process is required, that tries to maintain the appearance overprint settings.
by not using live transparencies. However QuarkXPress
is not able to interpret transparent objebts correctly.
For this scenario the EPS format is recommended.
Fig. 3.8: Hints for the practical preparation of graphics also known as technical tones by means of the program
Adobe Illustrator.

Configurating layout applications – New documents

Using images with tagged ICC profiles is not new, but it is not common knowledge that
this mechanism is also provided by layout documents. Modern layout programs require two
profiles: one for CMYK and one for RGB objects. Both profiles will be used for newly created
documents. They are defined in the basic colour settings. But what are the implications for
a CMYK-based print workflow?
¬ The RGB-profile will always be employed when RGB-objects without an attached pro-
file are used (DeviceRGB). That scenario should not be used by professionals therefore
it can be ignored.
¬ The CMYK-profile defines the source and destination colour space for all placed CMYK
elements (DeviceCMYK), assuming the PDFX-ready settings are in place (see bottom).
The InDesign settings are depicted below while the QuarkXPress settings can be found
on the next page. This requires that all imported CMYK elements (both linework and
artwork) must be prepared for the intended printing condition represented by the
CMYK-profile. CMYK objects with tagged profiles will be handled according to the
PDFX-specs as DeviceCMYK. Images prepared for different printing conditions must
be converted to the intended printing condition before placing them in the layout. By
doing this, unwanted CMYK-CMYK transformations can be avoided.
The PDFX-ready-export settings for InDesign honour the document profiles. That allows for
a generic PDF-export setting for all kind of output conditions since the destination profile
(Output Intent) will be defined by the document colour space. In case of CMYK-based out-
put all RGB-based elements will be converted to CMYK. Combining the document with the
export settings underlines the importance of consistent colour handling of both artwork
and linework.
In QuarkXPress offers no link between the document setup and the PDF export. That’s why
it is extremely important to select the PDF output style that fits to the present document
setup as well as the prepared data being used.
PDF/X-Output Intent
Any PDF/X-file contains a so called output intent. It indicates for which printing condi-
tion the objects within the document have been prepared for. The Output Intent must be
selected when creating the PDF-file.

InDesign as of CS4 Recipe
PDFX-ready provides InDesign colour settings. You can download the csf-files at www.
pdfx-ready.ch. You can also use these files to synchronize the colour settings all CS applica-
E
Simply Rip out
tions by using Adobe Bridge.

These colour settings represent the basic settings for all new documents.
Fig. 3.9: Recommended Colour Settings

QuarkXPress as of version 9 Recipe
PDFX-ready provides source setups for QuarkXPress as of version 9 . You can download the
files at www.pdfx-ready.ch. Those settings will be imported by means of a «mother docu-
F
Simply Rip out
ment» after which they should be applied in the source setup window. Details can be found
at the PDFX-ready webpage.
Based on the source setup the basic colour settings will be defined. They form the basis for
all new documents both for RGB- and CMYK-elements
Fig. 3.10: Recommended Colour Settings

Configuration layout application – Old documents

For new documents the basic colour settings are used (assuming the usage of the PDFX-
ready settings), so you don’t have to bother about them. However, for old or existing docu-
ments other rules apply. Here the profiles stored within the document will be used. In order
to fix them a manual correction towards the PDFX-ready settings is needed.
InDesign as of CS4
Open the existing document and click on Edit -> “Assign Profiles...”. Here you have to
change the RGB and the CMYK profiles to the PDFX-ready working spaces. This leads to
an adjustment of the document colour settings. Regardless, you have to take care that the
present elements are indeed representing the newly assigned profiles or printing conditions,
otherwise errors are unavoidable. This step is particularly important when using InDesign
since the document CMYK-colour space (working space) will be used for the PDF export. A
print ready PDF file therefore relies on the consistent usage of imported graphics and im-
ages that fit to the selected output condition (Output Intent).

QuarkXPress as of version 9
In XPress you must alter the settings defined in the source setup. Please go to QuarkXPress
-> Preferences -> Print Layout -> Color Manager. Then you must go to “Source Setup” to
change to the appropriate PDFX-Output Style (these must be installed beforehand). The
consistent use of the print elements being prepared for the intended output conditions is
also of utmost importance for XPress.

Preflighting while layouting

PDFX-ready also provides default settings for the Live-Preflight of InDesign. This allows an
abridged check of the data integrity already while designing and layouting the document.
The PDFX-settings assure that the most important aspects of your document are correct
and consistent.
The Live-Preflight does not replace the scrutiny of the final PDF! Don’t forget to run the
PDFX-preflight profiles after creating your PDF files.
Due to the somehow restricted functionality of the current live preflight, it can’t be com-
pared to the fully fledged «normal» preflight profiles. They typically check for different
criteria. Because of that the live preflight can be thought of as providing additional infor-
mation during the layout phase. It helps you to detect problems even faster.
However the live preflight does not allow for a weighting of the different instances by
means of information, warning and error. No source of problem or error is an individual
criteria ultimately resulting in print problems. Many reported errors have informative or
warning characters and are therefore subject for individual, job specific assessment.
Furthermore additional problems might occur when exporting the PDF since later conver-
sions such as flattening or colour conversion might change the intended appearance. Please
carefully check the final PDF.
You can download the Live-Preflight-profiles for InDesign with an installation file at
www.pdfx-ready.ch.
Fig. 3.13: Visualizing of the four PDFX-ready profiles to be used for life preflight during the layout-process (Adobe
InDesign).
At the bottom of the window the number of occurrences will be displayed:

The results will be reported in the info section. Double clicking will select the error in the
document.
Fig. 3.14: Results of a so called Live-Preflight in Adobe InDesign

Design a layout Recipe
For the design of the layout there are two different approaches: D
Simply Rip out
¬ Process specific (optimized or prepared for given printing conditions): All images must
be separated for the defined output intent. At the same time this printing condition
reflects the document-CMYK colour space.
¬ Media neutral (optimized for viewing the image on a monitor instead of a concrete
print): Images not separated, i. e. media neutrally defined in RGB will be placed, while
the layout application or the following workflow step is responsible for the PDF crea-
tion including the conversion to CMYK.
All other print elements shall be prepared in CMYK. Always use the CMYK values that fit to
the intended output condition. If you are not sure make a hard or a softproof. Workflows,
which are using media relative (RGB) linework, are currently considered risky and impracti-
cle. The layout itself therefore is still process or media specific.
The test layout on the right illustrates examples for both strategies.
What are optimal values?

The question as to which extent a separation is appropriate for a given printing process
basically depends on the screening used as well as the colorimetrical and print related
properties of used printing process. Typical examples are the registration accuracy, the
tonal range, the size of the hairlines, smallest reproducible dots the screening frequency
or the maximum tone values sum (TVS).
If those properties are carefully addressed when preparing print documents the resulting
tone values are termed «optimal values». Typical recommendations are:
¬ To only use K for black text
¬ To avoid tone values below approx. 10% (since they might not be reproduced in a
reliable fashion).
¬ To select a black generation strategy that uses more black which is less prone to
deviations along the print run (e. g. CMYK=0,0,0,50 instead of CMYK=45,36,36,0)

Use optimal values (incl. blacks and greys) Define needed spot colours as spot colours. Place images either  or media neutral by using RGB, as described on
for all objects. Refrain from using RGB valu-  process specific, as described on page 12, with page 13. The conversion into the appropriate
es – the resulting values are based on gene- print elements prepared for the selected output CMYK profile will be done while creating or pro-
ric conversions and far from optimal! process cess the PDF.
Place all graphics as «pure» CMYK-objects (+ spot

n
mmendatio
colours) as described on page 14.
Fogra-Reco
resultierende
Umwandlung
Fig. 3.15: Practical hints for the process specific way of making a layout in Adobe InDesign

Optimize layouts with transparency

In cases where it is not possible to use live transparencies you can use the PDFX-ready V1-
Workflow. However, PDFX-ready recommends to optimize the layout before flattening the
transparent objects. This assures the best possible flattening result.
Some of these optimizations are also useful for for PDFX-ready V2 workflow. The quality of
the resulting PDF documents will be increased, and they are less prone to processing errors
downstream.
Adjust object stacking

Reducing or resolving transparencies can be conducted in both in InDesign and QuarkX-
Press and is always done from the foreground to the background. Therefore the stacking
sequence of the overlapping objects plays an important role. In order to avoid unnecessary
transformations, e. g. of text, transparent objects should be arranged backwards. Converse-
ly, non-transparent (opaque) objects should be brought to the front. Using additional layers
might be helpful in separating objects with and without transparency and checking for the
right stacking order.
TIP
When using the
output preview
there is the so
called object
inspector. It allows
you to identify the
individual ordering
of all objects. This
helps to identify the
correct structure.
Text in the foreground
Text-displayer-sandwiches
A classical layout situation is to link an image with the text frame. In order to optimise this
line up for a transparency reduction you might want to build a “sandwich”. At the back-
ground there is the empty frame with the drop shadow. The next object is the text, followed
by the image frame with displaying character. In the end it looks the same, but the text
preserves it character as a text object without a transformation.

Avoid overlapping frames

In many instances the flattening process is not governed by the content of the frame but by
the frame itself! Therefore conversions can be found even though image content does not
overlap or “touch” visually. Please pay attention to avoid overlapping frames.
Recognizing both techniques – adjusting object stacking and avoiding overlapping frames –
you can avoid most of the problems that are related to the flattening of live transparencies.
Text with shadow
Text without shadow
Transparency and Colour management

With the advent of transparencies colour management got an additional dimension: There
are layout constellations by means for overlapping elements encoded in different colour
spaces that must be resolved. A good example is the RGB-image that is overlapped by
a CMYK-based drop shadow. For the overlapping area a decision must be made: RGB or
CMYK?
Shadow 100% K
CMYK
triggers a conversion
RGB
An RGB-based image is overlapped by a CMYK based shadow. Here the image will be con-
verted.

The decision is governed by the so called transparency blend space. When using InDesign
the chosen blend space affects the entire page while QuarkXPress only incorporates those
objects that are part of the individual transparency group.
In InDesign you can select the transparency blend space by clicking Edit -> Transparency
Blend Space either as Document-CMYK or -RGB.
Fogra recommends to use Document-CMYK. In QuarkXPress the blend space will be defined
by the PDF output style. All PDFX-ready settings define it as CMYK. Also, in cases when
there is no flattening (and the final PDF is version 1.4 or higher), the definition of the trans-
parency blend space might be of importance. That is the case for later flattening processes
or colour conversions.
Spot colours and transparency

Layouts using transparencies should only use spot colours when they are subject for ac-
tual printing (that is admittedly the case in general). Since flattened spot colours can’t be
resolved to CMYK, those conversions should be done when layouting the document. PDF-
documents using live-transparency clearly benefit here since spot colours stay as is and can
be easily rendered at the time of the final output.

PDF/X-Creation
Many concepts and settings intermingle to finally result a PDF/X compliant file. The rec-
ommended settings therefore represent a wise balance between the highest quality and
maximum security in order to achieve a consistent result. The following pages contain basic
concepts and guidelines for high quality PDF/X creation both for Quark XPress and Adobe
InDesign. They include an explanation about the implicit and explicit implications.
Marks and Bleeds

All printer marks such as crop or registration marks are used only for visualization. In order
to interpret the geometric information correctly modern imposition tools rely on the boxes
that are encoded in the PDF file. The TrimBox, for instance, defines the intended dimensions
of the finished page after trimming. PDF-X-ready follows the “less is more” principle and
includes only the crop mark and page information.
Hint:
PDF Export Settings In order to esti-
1. Compression - Downsampling: mate the correct
image resolution
Downsampling determines the effective resolution to which the selected objects are recal-
please have a look
culated. The effective resolution is governed by the intrinsic resolution of an image and the at the examples
scaling applied within the layout application. For example, a 600 ppi image scaled to 50% provided in chapter
2 (2.5.5). They
has an effective resolution of 1200 dpi. The downsampling is triggered by the threshold incorporate scal-
that indicated when to enable downsampling. PDFX-ready workflows has downsampling ing and intended
viewing distance,
disabled by default. This is based on the finding that high quality images might suffer from
which are needed
a non appropriate downsampling operation. Certainly the resulting documents require more to understand the
memory. PDFX-ready recommends to prepare images for their effective resolution. This al- entire picture.
lows for images with high detail sharpness to have a moderate file size. Optionally you can
enable downsampling, when required.

A good approximation for the needed image resolution can be determined as followed:
Res. = line width (screening) x 2.54 x quality factor
The quality- or safety factor is typically set to 1.5 for newspaper application and 2 for
commercial printing. For non-periodic screens the resolution might be higher. As a rule
of thumb the resolution should be higher for high-contrast images than for low-contrast.
2. Re-Calculation method
There are different methods to perform the downsampling. The best quality is typically
achieved by using the bicubic downsampling.
3. Re-Calculation threshold
It makes no sense to downsample a image from 304 ppi to 300 ppi. In order to utilize the Hint:
downsampling in a useful fashion you can define the resolution at which the downsam- The value “304
pling starts. For images above that threshold value the recalculation applies. It therefore dpi” is based on
a non metric
allows for a buffer, also known as head room, to avoid unnecessary downsampling. Since
calculation of the
PDFX-ready recommends disabling downsampling this parameter is obsolete. However, if screening resolu-
you plan to use downsampling it is recommended to use a number that equals twice the tion. A screening
resolution with
value to be downsampled. In other words, if you want to set a image resolution of 300 ppi 60/cm relates to
you should define 600 ppi. That procedure avoids inappropriate subsampling. QuarkXPress 60*2.54=152.2 lpi
(lines per inch).
does not offer such a mechanism. Therefore it is recommended to set the downsampling
If you apply the
value to 600 ppi. This assures that images comprising an intrinsic resolution under 600 ppi safety factor 2 ....
won’t be touched.
Hint:
4. Compression LZW is the acro-
Not compressing images when creating a PDF is a waste of memory. The type of compres- nym for the inven-
tors of the lossless
sion depends on both the individual preferences and some technical requirements. PDF/X-4 compression;
offers two kinds of lossless compression, namely ZIP and JPEG2000. In case of the con- Abraham Lempel,
Jacob Ziv,
ventional JPEG compression there are a range of lossy compressions. Due to current per- Terry Welch.
formance restrictions by using JPEG2000 (see box) PDFX-ready recommends the usage

of JPEG with maximum quality. Here InDesign uses a mechanism that analyses the image
content in order to select the optimal compression schema. Less contrasty images typically
are compressed using the JPEG algorithm while contrasty images are compressed with the
lossless ZIP method. Especially in the latter case technical tones (e. g. screenshots) benefits.
ZIP compression on the other hand won’t result in a blurring appearance around text (also
known as a “halo”), hence the legibility will be increased.
Colour settings for PDF export

PDFX-ready export settings for InDesign use the selected document profile as the output
intent, i. e. the destination profile. This allows for a generic list of settings for PDF creation
that does not depend on a fix output profile. This is the case since InDesign uses the docu-
ment profile instead of a profile defined in the output settings. When the output profile is
CMYK all placed RGB-elements will be converted to CMYK at the time of export. At the
same time the document profile will be used as the output profile. QuarkXPress does not
offer to use the document profile as the output intent. You must be cautious using the
document profile when exporting the PDF.
Threshold for font embedding

This value defines the percentage of characters effectively used in the document to be em-
bedded as a subset. Since that function is only applicable for PostScript-Type-1-fonts and
nowadays mostly OpenType fonts are used (and they will always be embedded), this value is
of secondary importance and should be set to 100%.

InDesign: Export as PDF/X for PDFX-ready V1 and V2 CMYK
PDFX-ready V2 PDF-Export from InDesign

The PDF-file format as of version 1.4 allows for objects that are not defined in PostScript
Recipe
(that means printing a PS or EPS file and using Distiller to create the PDF file). In order to
not compromise the quality it is recommended to use the direct PDF export. In this case it G
is not needed to flatten documents. Hence PDFX-ready settings only cover export settings Simply Rip out
and no Distiller settings anymore.
The PDF/X-Standard
The PDFX-ready V2-specification is based on the PDF/X-4-standard. Currently only Adobe
CS products (as of CS 4) provide a PDF/X-4 support. InDesign allows here for a direct
PDF/X-4 compliant output.
PDFX-ready V2 CMYK-PDF-export settings are mostly based on the PDFX-ready V1-PDF-

export settings. They differ in two important aspects namely:
¬ Conformance Level: PDF/X-4
¬ Compatible: PDF 1.4 or PDF 1.6 (as of InDesign CS 5.5)
Using both PDFX-ready workflows V1 and V2 all print elements will be converted and stored
as CMYK. Here elements already encoded as CMYK stay unchanged. However while the
transparencies will be flattened when exporting PDF with the V1-settings they stay “Live”
when using PDFX-ready V2 export settings. These settings are suitable for early binding as
well as for intermediate binding.

Transparency-Blend-Space
PDFX-ready V2 CMYK does not allow RGB based transparency blend spaces. CMYK blend
spaces that differ from the document colour space will be changed to the “document colour
space” when creating the PDF. Since this procedure is not considered to be a colour conver-
sion, this mismatch will result in an error message (see screenshot below).
The modification of the transparency blending space might lead to a different appearance.
In that case PDFX-ready recommends correcting the data. If that is not possible, the re-
ceived (uncorrected) PDF should be visually checked by means of a soft or hard copy proof.
Attention!
You will not receive a warning when placing PDF documents that use RGB based transpar-
ency blending spaces into InDesign. Instead it uses the actually used blending space. A
warning won’t show up before creating the PDF at the export phase.
For that reason please check the PDF files before placing them with respect to the used
transparency blending spaces. In Acrobat 9/X Pro you can identify the used transparency
blending space by using the flattener preview (“Page-Level Transparency Blending Color
Space”). Here you can alter them.

QuarkXPress: Export as PDF/X CMYK Recipe
The PDF/X-Standard
H
Simply Rip out
The PDFX-ready V2-specification is based on the PDF/X-4-standard. The current version of

Quark XPress does not support a direct, PDF/X-4 compliant, PDF export. Contentwise it al-
lows compliance with all normative PDFX-ready V2 requirements. Therefore a PDF exported
from QuarkXPress can be converted to comply with PDFX-ready V2 requirements by means
of Acrobat PDF-preflight (fixups).
PDFX-ready V2 PDF-Export settings in QuarkXPress

The PDF-file format as of version 1.4 allows for objects that are not defined in PostScript
(that means printing a PS or EPS-file and using Distiller to create the PDF file). The current
version of Quark XPress uses PostScript “under the hood”.
However, the used method results in PDF files that contain live transparencies that are
capable of complying with the following PDF/X-4 requirements.
The only drawback is related the imported transparencies. Here it must be stated that Quark
XPress is unable to interpret live transparencies as part of PDF or AI documents.
These objects will be flattened by XPress, which might lead to a reduced quality. Therefore
PDFX-ready recommends:
¬ to save the PDF document as a PDF/X-1a document (here no transparencies are al-
lowed) and
¬ to save Illustrator-graphics in EPS format. This forces Adobe Illustrator to flatten the
transparencies, which typically results in higher quality documents compared to Quark
XPress. The transparency effects will be preserved as long as Illustrator is used.

PDFX-ready V2 CMYK-PDF-export settings are mostly based on the established PDFX-

ready V1-PDF-export settings. They differ in two aspects namely:
¬ Preflight: No standard, since there is no support for PDF/X-4
¬ Transparency: Native export
When creating the PDF both by using PDFX-ready V1 or PDFX-ready V2 CMYK, all placed
elements will be converted to the CMYK-profile that is defined in the colour settings. Ele-
ments that are already defined in CMYK stay the same. While the export according to
PDFX-ready V1 results in a flattened document, live-transparencies will be preserved when
using the PDFX-ready V2 export settings. These export settings are suitable for early bind-
ing and Intermediate Binding workflows.
Converting QuarkXPress-PDF into PDF/X-4

Since the PDF created by XPress is not a valid PDF/X-file, it must be “finetuned” by means
of an additional Acrobat Preflight fixup profile. Convert the PDF into PDF/X by using the
fixup profiles provided by PDFX-ready at www.pdfxready.ch. In case your are using an out-
put condition that is not covered right now, you can easily modify an existing profile that
suits your needs. Please note that the PDFX-ready profiles do not change the colour values.
Hence all elements must be correctly prepared for the intended output condition.

3.3.2 Inspecting PDF: Preflight Recipe
Inspecting the final PDF file (Preflight) is an essential part of a PDF workflow. The settings
I
Simply Rip out
provided by PDFX-ready for preparing and creating print-ready PDF documents should be
considered guidelines that could be used and altered when needed.
Basically there are three levels of preflight: Checking data and flagging problems while
you work in the layouting phase (see C), before you send the PDF documents to the service
provider and when receiving PDF documents for the final output.
The PDFX-ready preflight profiles should be run without any error messages. You can down-
load the profiles together with installation instructions at www.pdfx-ready.ch. Hint:
The installation
PDF-Preflight in three steps details can be
found next to the
Step 1: Download and install preflight profile. You can easily install the PDFX-ready preflight preflight profiles at
profiles - illustrated here for Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro – by importing them or via Drag & Drop. www.pdfx-ready.
ch.

Step 2: Analysing the PDF/X-file. In this case the profile “! PDFX-ready sheet fed Classic
V1.4 (X-1a)” is used.
Step 3: Results: The file has passed the preflight as check by “! PDFX-ready sheet fed Classic
V1.3 (X-1a)”.

Can I edit the preflight profiles to suit my needs?

Sure thing! The checks represent a starting basis. In all cases it is OK to add more stringent
requirements, but it is not OK to loosen the requirements. It is also OK to increase the image
resolution if needed or add individual rules reflecting your “house standard”.
It is not recommended to weaken existing checks or to delete them at all. This might lead to
significant problems such as a service provider who rejects the PDF documents.
How to weigh the preflight results

Simply use three groups:
¬ “Errors” refer to K.-O.-criteria which might lead to reduced quality and potential prob-
lems at a later processing stage.
¬ “Warnings” alert you to double-check the findings on an individual basis. This can help
you discover errors.
¬ “Information” are hints that are not directly related to the final print product.
PDF that show “errors” are not in conformance with the PDFX-ready spec. However, PDF-
files that only show “warnings” and/or “information” can be considered print ready.


Printer guidelines for optimized PDF handling
3.4 Printer guidelines for optimized PDF handling Recipe
J
3.4.1 Creating print-ready PDF-files Simply Rip out
What are the reasons for a print service provider to convert colours? Recipe
¬ Process conversion: The main reason for doing a process conversion was illustrated on
the last two pages – colours defined by the PDF won’t match with the actual print- K
Simply Rip out
ing condition. In order to achieve the desired appearance the data must be converted.
However, when Output Intent and actual printing condition match there might be a
need for a conversion.
¬ Modify total ink coverage: Reducing the total ink coverage (tone value sum), say from
330 % to 280 %, or even less, might help to increase print stability. Typically there is
less potential for blocking, and faster drying.
¬ Ink Saving: In particular for higher run length an ink saving file conversion might help
to reduce ink costs. Using a separation that is tailored for the pertinent printing condi-
tion usually helps to improve print quality and increases process stability.
While the process conversion toward a different output condition can be done by the data
creator, modifications such as total ink coverage reduction or ink saving algorithms are to
be done by the print service provider.
Conventional ICC-based approaches, e. g. done in Adobe Photoshop, are not capable of per-
forming colour conversions for complex documents that contain images, text and vectors.
In fact, state of the art colour servers are needed to perform the needed CMYK-to-CMYK-
conversions. Here dedicated DeviceLink-profiles do the work under the hood. What is so
special about these profiles and how do they work?
Re-Purposing and Re-Targeting

Preparing print-ready data requires the knowledge of the intended printing condition in-
cluding all pros and cons. When the Output Intent is missing or wrong there are two as-
pects to be taken into consideration. In case of colorimetrically characterized image data
a preparation for the actual printing condition is doable. However when tone values (used
as „technical tones“ or „Info Colour“) without any colorimetrical description are used there
are some pitfalls.
Often print service providers are required to create or produce PDF/X compliant data. With-
out a colorimetrical description of the print elements (e. g. by means of appropriate source
profiles) and without the knowledge of the intended printing condition there is no unam-
biguous way forward. A practical work-around is using suitable source profiles (by means
of empirical findings and educated guesses) and de-facto printing conditions established
in the pertinent market sector. Such a de-facto printing condition is FOGRA51, i. e. offset-
printing according to ISO 12647-2:2013 on coated stock using a screening according to
60/cm. Untagged CMYK-print elements are therefore interpreted as if they have been pre-
pared for FOGRA51 (or the recommended ICC-profile, being PSO Coated V3 (ECI)).
Since digital printing conditions barely reflect FOGRA51 fully, a dedicated device link trans-
formation can be established that will transform the data from FOGRA51 (reference) to
an actual (digital) printing condition. Going from the „reference“ to the „actual“ printing
condition there are two different types of transformation. The first is called „re-targeting“.

This transformations tries to achieve the intended colorimetry as good as possible and could
be considered as proofing-like. It basically reflects similar gamuts and an absolute or media
relative colorimetrical transformation. The second transformation is called „re-purposing“.
Its purpose is to re-render the document appearance to the new (actual) printing condi-
tions to its best extent. This is very much appearance and preference based and therefore
subject to the different vendors implementation including gamut expansion. The selection
of the suitable transformation depends on the customers requirements. In light of the pre-
dictability of the image content, re-targeting transformations are recommended since they
allow either for ‘printing the expected’ or indicating the need to change the actual printing
condition. Re-purposing transformations can be successfully used in some applications, but
theie use should be communicated to the data provider.
The guideline uses different symbols:
The tick shows, that a process, a result etc is O. K.
The red “X” shows an “error” or a criterion which inevitably will lead to problems.
If a “warning”, as indicated by the yellow warning sign, is to be treated as prob-

lematic or not depends on your decision.
An “information”, marked by the blue information symbol, shows additional expla-

nation and only seldomly leads to real problems.

„What happens when“ – Recommendations when Output Intent and actual

printing conditions don‘t match
File: Actual
Output
X/1-a
X/4 CMYK
Output-Intent Output 1:1 Offset coated
ISO Coated v2
300% (ECI)
X/1-a
X/4 CMYK
Process conversion Sheet-fed offset
Output-Intent using NP-screen;
ISO Coated v2 required
uncoated or
300% (ECI) newspaper
printing
Appropriate action: Convert the entire document by means

of a colour server using dedicated ICC-profiles (to preser-
ve channels or black text), if needed create a new proof
Appropriate action: Contact data creator and re-
quest properly separated data
Inapropriate action:
Ignore Output-Intent, Output data 1:1
Inapropriate action: Convert entire document by means
of conventional ICC profiles that lack to preserve channels
(pure colours and black text will be «contaminated»)
File: Actual
Output
X/1-a
X/4 CMYK
Output-Intent FOGRA39- Coated Offset
ISO Coated v2 dataset
BasICColor, Adobe
No file conversion needed, since PDF/X-Output In-

tent and actual printing condition matches
X/1-a
X/4 CMYK
PSD ProcessStandard Digital

Appropriate action: Convert the entire document by means 133
Appropriate action: Output data 1:1 (Visual match bet-
BasICColor, Adobe
No file conversion needed, since PDF/X-Output In-

tent and actual printing condition matches
X/1-a
X/4 CMYK
Appropriate action: Convert the entire document by means

Appropriate action: Output data 1:1 (Visual match bet-
ween proof and print will be compromized
X/1-a
X/4 CMYK
Output-Intent Process conversion Coated Offset
QuarkGeneric, required
SWOP...

Potential action: Ignore Output-Intent,
Output data 1:1. However a preflight check, a proof approval
and customer information shall be conducted before.
Inapropriate action: Convert entire document by me-
ans of ICC profiles that lack to preserve channels (pure
colours and black text will be «contaminated»)
Fig. 3.16: Overview of appropriate and not appropriate file conversion

A typical colour workflow is depicted in Figure 3.17. First sRGB or AdobeRGB-data is pre-
pared for the printing condition FOGRA39 that serves as the reference. The aforementioned
transformations „re-targeting“ and „re-purposing“ are illustrated for the subsequent trans-
formation from the reference to the actual printing condition.
Reference Actual Print
RGB CMYK1 CMYK2

e.g. e.g.
AdobeRGB ISO 12647-2
FOGRA39 Proof to or Digital
(1998)
Gamut Print Match
Mapping + Re-Targeting
Separation Re-Profiling
ISOCoatedV2_bas ISOCoatedV2
Gamut Mapping
strongly depends on
Profile builder and
user preferences!
sRGB CoatedFOGRA39
Fig. 3.17: Illustration of the different ICC-profiles that are based on FOGRA39 but result in different separations.
Since there is currently no standardized or agreed upon way of mapping colours for this purpose the preparation
steps represent an artistic intent and are subject of the creative work. However creators are able to view the final
result as a soft proof, Contract Proof or Validation Print.

From ISO Coated V2 … … to «ISO Newspaper».
45% Cyan
ICC-conventional 33% Magenta
33% Yellow
87% Black
I am text DeviceLink-based
0% Cyan
0% Magenta
0% Yellow
Fills, text or drop shadows defined as 100% black 100% Black
Converting colours by means of source- and destination profiles results in colorimetrical correct
colours, but the separations are not appropriate for most printing processes. A proper made Device-
Link-profile, however, goes directly from CMYK to CMYK and performs the required separation.
0% Cyan 20% Cyan

0% Magenta ICC-conventional 11% Magenta
0% Yellow 12% Yellow
80% Black 64% Black
0% Cyan
0% Magenta
DeviceLink-based
0% Yellow
65% Black
Here the DeviceLink-profile is created in way to only compensate for differences in tone value in-
crease (dot gain) – it preserves the channels i.e. the purity.
50% Cyan 38% Cyan

0% Yellow 2% Yellow
0% Black 6% Black
37% Cyan
6% Magenta
DeviceLink-based 0% Yellow
0% Black
“Pure” colours might be converted to tone value combinations in the range from 1- to 9%, which are
considered unwanted or contaminated. This is particularly problematic for skin tones.
15% Cyan 4% Cyan

80% Yellow 58% Yellow
10% Black 18% Black
10% Cyan
100% Magenta
DeviceLink-based
74% Yellow
7% Black
Also for CMYK source colours, which are typical for separated images, DeviceLink-profiles might
help to increase the separation quality. The example here might lead to smoother gradients.
Fig. 3.18: Example conversions showed for both conventional ICC (top view) and DeviceLink-based (bottom). The
concrete values have been taken for the re-separation from FOGRA39, i. e. ISOCoated V2 (ECI) towards IFRA26
(newspaper printing) .
PDFX-ready V2-Processing
PDF/X-1a, which is bases on PDF 1.4, is a data format that can be converted to PostScript
without any problems. This holds true for the other way around. All PDF-workflow sys-
tems, that use a “Configurable PostScript Interpreter” (CPSI) convert the entire document
to PostScript before processing at the RIP. Processing such PDF/X-1a- (or PDF-1.4-) files
is, in light of the high number of PostScript based workflow systems in use, therefore not
difficult. Quality-wise differences are usually seen by PDF-to-PostScript- and PostScript-
to-PDF-conversion programs.
Since the usages of live transparency, as introduced with PDF-Version 1.4, more and more
problems are observed when processing the PDF documents with PostScript based RIPs. The
biggest issue is the correct rendering of objects using live transparency. Since PostScript
does not know any live transparency, the CPSI-based system must reproduce the visual
appearance as closely as possible by facilitating its opaque imaging model. That process is
termed “Flattening”. Only PDF based workflow systems can natively handle live transpar-
ency, which avoids any flattening. This technology allows the creation of high quality im-
ages that are needed for the imaging process, without intermediate steps.

Splitting compositions into many pieces or converting parts of a text to outlines or a bitmap
should be considered outdated.
PDF/X-4 is based on Adobe PDF-version 1.6 and allows live transparency, optional content,
16-Bit-images and state of the art compression. In short, you can say that a native PDF
rendering engine is needed to correctly process and output PDF/X-4-files. This technology
is certainly backwards compatible and therefore able to render PDF 1.3 files. Investing into
this technology allows you to consume all kinds of PDF files.
Some notes for the transition:

¬ PDF-Creation: A PDF/X-4 file that contains live transparency requires the direct PDF
export. PDFX-ready provides updated settings for typical applications that offer a PDF
export.
¬ Proofing: A contract proof made from a PDF/X-4-file using live transparency requires
a native PDF rendering engine, otherwise the proofing system is forced to flatten the
transparency, which might lead to the described problems. All major proofing manufac-
turers provide a native PDF-renderer. It is important that this functionality is enabled
and that the PDF is not printed by using the printer-menu.
¬ Trapping: Object level based trapping within a PDF file requires dedicated software
that has access to the effective colour (or density) of each object. In case of transpar-
ency this not possible, since the final colour value depends on the objects underneath
Typical trapping software is not able to perform such a calculation. Some trapping
solutions therefore flatten the PDF before starting the trapping process. This process,
however, is not advisable since known flattening issues might occur. PDFX-ready
recommends to preserve live transparency while trapping. Objects that are part of
one transparency group will be trapped as usual. Thus the blend mode, defined by the
transparency group, is valid for the created traps.
¬ Colour conversion: Changing colour values of individual objects might lead to prob-
lems, since DeviceLink-profiles will be applied to an object disregarding of potential
transparency effects. In rare cases colour transformations might wind up with huge
colour differences. The reason for this is that the colour transformation is carried out
on an object-by-object level. Blending objects by means of transparency, however,
represents the interaction of all objects involved. Furthermore, it can happen that the
transparency effect results in a heavy darkening of the object colour. Although an im-
age has no part with more than 300% ink coverage, after the described colour conver-
sion it can be converted to have ink coverage values of about 350%.
In those cases there are currently three solutions:

¬ use a different transparency effect, that results in a similar appearance.
¬ flatten the relevant page
¬ apply a colour transformation after rendering of the document. The downside
here is that placed control wedges will also be converted, which is typically not
desired.

¬ Imposition: As for PDF/X-1a-files the output condition must match the document
colour space. Current layout applications ignore the output intent and perform only
one transformation at the final rendering of the RGB data to CMYK (instead of two).
Certainly a layout program using conventional ICC colour management is the most un-
suitable tool to perform a page level colour transformation. However, a warning would
be highly appreciated. As long as there is no warning, the user is advised to check the
placed documents in a manual fashion.
¬ Knock-Out and Overprint: Here the same rules apply as stipulated by PDF/X-1a. Over-
print settings should he honored, unless there are important reasons not to do so. Such
reasons might be:
¬ the presence of white text with enabled overprinting
¬ the presence of opaque spot colours, that would contaminate overprinting black
¬ the presence of metallic or neon spot colours
It is important both for visual inspection and proofing that overprinting will be evaluated.
Working with live transparency has some clear benefits, since transparency and overprint
preview can be displayed independently. Flattened PDF files, displayed without the over-
print preview, will often be rendered incorrectly.
PDFX-ready V2-process conversion workflow

In order to properly render the PDF/X content for the final output device you need:
¬ Either a RIP, that allows for native PDF-rendering (such as the Adobe PDF Print Engine
or Harlequin 9) or a mechanism that performs a flattening followed by a required
colour conversion.
¬ PDFX-ready recommends to invest in technology that can natively render increasingly
complex designs. Only by using such a technology you can run a consistent and true
end-to-end native PDF workflow.
What do practical and reliable processing strategies for PDFX-ready V2 CMYK and RGB
look like?

PDFX-ready V2 CMYK
PDF/X-4 DeviceLink- PDF/X-4

all page conversion all page
elements elements
in CMYK in CMYK
DeviceLink-conversion in combination with complex transparency effects (in particular when using
different blend modes) might change the final appearance quite significantly from what the creator
expected. Although this conversion is doable, users should be cautious when using it. It is highly
recommended to create a contract proof or a validation print to inspect the conversion result.
Flatten
Transparency
PDF/X-4 PDF/X-1a DeviceLink- PDF/X-1a

all page all page conversion all page
elements elements elements
in CMYK in CMYK in CMYK
You can avoid this problem when converting the PDF/X-4 into PDF/X-1a before applying the Device-
Link-conversion.
DeviceLink-module
Trapping-module
PDF/X-4 Adobe Proof- CTP-

all page PDF Print Raster Raster
elements
Engine
in CMYK
The best way is to simultaneously apply trapping, colour conversion, graphics handling, font processing,
transparent data to render the entire job in a single, integrated operation (e. g. by using the Adobe PDF Print
Engine). This allows for predictability not limited to CTP-plate setters, but also for making soft- hand hard-
proofs. This integrated way is currently supported only by a few workflow and printing systems.


3.4.2 Practical recommendations for spot colour handling
Since InDesign CS6 many spot colour libraries (including Pantone libraries) using, next to
the spot colour name, CIELAB as the alternative colour space to define a backup scenario
for a given spot colour. This is no problem as long as the spot colour is printed as such,
hence an additional process colour. However for digital printing the spot colour often needs
to be converted to CMYK. In this case, using conventional ICC colour management, CMYK
tone value combination might result, which are not appropriate for printing.
For instance “PANTONE Cool Gray 5 C”, was defined as CMYK=0,0,0,29 until CS5. Using
conventional ICC profiling (ISOCoatedV2) the resulting CMYK values are CMYK= 33,25,26,5.
Whilst this is colorimetrically correct but might result in printing problems.
Before converting spot colours to process colours, it is therefore recommended to check
the alternate colour space description and to correct it. This should be communicated with
the print buyer.


Recommendations for converting Office-PDF into CMYK
3.5 Recommendations for converting Office-PDF into CMYK
The following criteria makes provisions for creating print ready data based on PDFs origi-
nating from office environments. They are intended to support service providers that have
to consume such data in order to achieve a unified reproduction across different service
providers. The destination profile (output condition) is ISOCoated v2 (ECI) reflecting the
printing condition FOGRA39. All CMYK objects and spot colours are maintained. Line art el-
ements defined in RGB will keep their vivid colour by means of a freely available DeviceLink
profile. RGB Gray gets converted to pure Black, Black text is set to overprint.
It is planned to provide a conversion for toward PSO Coated V3 (FOGRA51) soon.
Assumptions:
Office data mostly contains objects encoded as DeviceRGB and DeviceGray. Current ver-
sions might also contain ICCbasedRGB and ICCbasedGray due to the support of PDF/A. In
special cases objects are encoded as CMYK and spot colours. The colorimetrical accuracy
is not of primary concern.
Workflow:
¬ Service provider gets office-PDF
Hint:
¬ Transformations done according to the criteria below :
The ICC-based
¬ by means of a colour server creating a PDF/X-4 file or directly in the final RIP RGB-CMYK
application DeviceLink-profile
was provided by
¬ by means of a Digital Front End (e. g. FIERY, Creo or FFPS) for direct communica basICColor. You
tion with the printing press can download it
free of charge at
¬ Output:
PSD-„Side-by-Side“
Data Workflowor media relative
the Fogra home-
page.
Fogra PSD
Colour Rendering Type
FCR-Side by Side
Yes
PrintReady
[preprared FCR-MediaRelative Print
for PC?]
PCR
No
Optimize
PSD-Recommendations
PC: Printing Condition

[Output Intend]
FCR: Full Colour Reference
PCR: Partial Colour Reference Yes
Additional
Approval?
No
Fig. 3.19: Fogra PSD Data workflow schema. Remove ambiguity by applying typical industrial conversions. Use
this guidelines to either convert to PDF/X-4 or print directly.

Rules (to be applied and in the following sequence):
General:
Expert-
¬ Always Use Rendering Intent from PDF Knowledge
¬ If a page contains transparency and the blending space is undefined, set to it to sRGB
¬ Define Output Intent using the destination profile
Objects: All
Encoding: DeviceGray
How to convert: map to K-Only DeviceCMYK
Objects: All
Encoding: ICCbasedGray
How to convert: Discard Profile and map to K-Only DeviceCMYK
Objects: Images
Encoding: DeviceRGB
How to convert: Assign sRGB and convert to destination profile
Objects: Images
Encoding: ICCbasedRGB
How to convert: Keep profile and convert to destination profile
Objects: All (having R equals G equal B)
Remark: For images, this should be applied when this is true for all pixels.
Encoding: DeviceRGB and ICCbasedRGB
How to convert: Convert to K-Only DeviceCMYK
Objects: All
Encoding: Lab
How to convert: Convert to sRGB.
Objects: Line Art (including text)
Encoding: ICCbasedRGB
How to convert: Discard profile and treat as DeviceRGB
Objects: Line Art (including text)
Encoding: DeviceRGB
Apply Fogra recommend DeviceLink profile “sRGB2ISOCoatedV2.icc” for optimized colour rendering of line
arts. It can be provided free of charge to any user and vendor.
Objects: All
Encoding: DeviceCMYK
How to convert: Do not convert
Objects: All
Encoding: ICCbasedCMYK
How to convert: Discard Profile
Objects: All
Encoding: Spot
How to convert: Do not convert
Assumptions and preparation steps for unambiguous PDF/X creation
¬ If page description contain transfer curve, apply transfer curves
¬ Assure correct nesting of page geometry boxes
¬ Discard all actions (including JavaScript actions)
¬ Discard all form submission, import and reset actions
¬ Discard embedded PostScript
¬ Embed fonts
¬ Make spot colour appearance consistent
¬ Merge annotations and form fields into page content (except “post its”)
¬ Recompress LZW as ZIP
¬ If both, TrimBox and ArtBox, are defined remove ArtBox
¬ If ArtBox is defined and TrimBox is not defined, set TrimBox to ArtBox
¬ Ensure that valid creation and modification dates are present
¬ If Title entry is present ensure that is not empty
¬ Set Trapped key to „false“ if Trapped key is neither „true“ nor „false“
¬ If no TrimBox is defined set TrimBox to CropBox or, if no CropBox is defined, to MediaBox)
¬ Set minimum LineWidth to 0.14 pt (for LineWidth less or equal than 0.14 pt)
¬ For 100 % black text smaller than 12 pt and 100 % black thin lines less than 2 pt set overprint (Set OP to
true and OPM to 1)

3.5.1 Practical use case: Company callas software GmbH
1.) Apply a PSD-based Profile onto a PDF

The pdfToolbox from callas software does have a predefined profile that is based on the
PSD recommendations. The profile can be selected in the profile window in order to apply it
to a PDF file. pdfToolbox Desktop can be used as standalone application, in which case the
profile window can be opened via Tools - Profiles, or as Acrobat Plug-In, then via Plug-Ins
- pdfToolbox 7 Profiles. In order to identify a suitable profile in the total list of profiles the
search field can be used with a search term of e. g. “office”.
Hint:
The color conver-
sion with “Convert
to CMYK, Office
conversion (Coated
GRACol 2006)” and
“Convert to CMYK,
Office conversion
(ISO Coated v2
(ECI))” is based on
a simple algorithm
that makes sure
You will then see three profiles. “Convert using DeviceLink Office RGB to ISO Coated v2 that pure RGB col-
ours end up in pure
(ECI)” is based on PSD. The most important difference compared to the other two profiles
CMYK colours.
is that this profile does better keep distances between (RGB) colours of the original file. In
comparison the other two profiles create more pure CMYK colours, e. g. 100 / 0 / 0 in RGB
will be converted to exactly 0 / 100 / 100 / 0. The profile can now be selected and applied
to the PDF that is open and active in the application.
For users that want to use this profile frequently it can be put into the workspace that can
be accessed via the pdfToolbox Switchboard. There is a small flag behind the profile name
and if clicked “Workspace” can be selected. After that the Switchboard can be opened via
Tools - Switchboard and the profile shows up in the Workspace group.

2.) Display all corrections that are present in the profile

In order to view all corrections that are present in the profile or in order to modify or add
corrections, the profile can be opened in the profile editor. That is possible by clicking on
the “edit…” button behind the name of the currently selected profile. All predefined profiles
are locked and need to be unlocked in order to be edited. This is possible by using the pop
up next to the profile name in the upper area of the dialogue. Then at the right hand side of
the dialogue all editable parts of the profiles are listed and the “Fixups” part contains the
corrections of this profile.
3.) Convert PDF file in hotfolder mode using pdfToolbox Server

In order to convert PDF files in hotfolder mode pdfToolbox Server needs to be installed and
activated. If that is the case pdfToolbox Desktop has a “Server” entry in the Tools menu. If
it is used the server window opens and a server can be started. After that the options menu
behind the server entry allows the user to create a new job.
The next dialogue folders for hotfolder processing are to be defined and the profile for the
job needs to be selected. In the Profile popup it is again possible to filter for profile names
that use “office”. After saving the new job it can be started by clicking on the “Play” button
behind the profile name.

3.5.2 Practical use case: Company Color Logic GmbH
1.) Requirements for converting office generated PDF files with ColorLogic
ZePrA
To utilize the configuration, please download ColorLogic ZePrA (version 4.1.3 or later from
here: http://www.colorlogic.de/help/?p=2812) including a SmartLink license (ZePrA L
license or above). Please install and activate the license in the Registration window. The
configuration used in this description can be downloaded for free from the Fogra website
(http://www.fogra.org/psd-downloads.html).
2.) Import a configuration in ZePrA

Launch ZePrA choose Import configuration in the Tools menu.
Navigate through the normal dialog on your system, select and choose the configuration
file (Office2Print.ccf). After clicking Open, the second dialog box will confirm the
Configuration that was chosen.
After clicking OK all hotfolders will be created in the default user directory. To customize
the location of the hotfolders, choose Select for the appropriate directory to be selected.

3.) Converting data to CMYK

In the main window, a new entry will be added to the Queue section. Select the Queue,
right click and choose Open Folder. ZePrA will automatically open the Input hot folder.
Copy the file to be converted to the Input folder and ZePrA will automatically process the
file. The file will appear under pending jobs and show the progress of completion. The pro-
cessed file can be found in the Output folder. The original file is moved to the Done folder.
Power user tip: Drag-and-drop files directly to the specific Queue in ZePrA’s Main Win-
dow. The processed file will appear in the same folder of the original file.
4.) Specifics of the ZePrA configuration

This ZePrA configuration demonstrates how all color conversion are handled dynamically
and respects all embedded ICC profiles. The SmartLink module ensures that similar RGB
values (DeviceRGB or ICC based RGB) and gray objects (DeviceGray or ICC based Gray are
converted automatically to K. CMYK objects with embedded profiles are converted with the
Preserve Separation method that preserves the K channel.
This configuration allows the flexibility to be used in a variety of scenarios including the
option to change the target profile with the output profile for a specific digital printer.

3.5.3 Practical use case: Company XXX


Migrating from FOGRA39 to FOGRA51
3.6 Migrating from FOGRA39 to FOGRA51
Never change a running system?

FOGRA39 represents a well-known and established industry standard both for data ex-
change and commercial offset printing (on premium coated paper). The corresponding ICC-
profile ISOCoated V2 - or ISOCoated V2 bas from basiccolor or CoatedFOGRA39” from
Adobe – proofed to result in acceptable and state-of-the-art separations.
However, a closer look reveals that using FOGRA39 for print conformance evaluation, most
colour protocols – both using conventional and digital printing substrates – are show-
ing a big red “X”. This is mostly due to the paper white point (CIELAB (M0, wb)=95 1 -2),
which does not reflect typical paper shades containing higher amounts of optical brightener
agents (OBA). This was made obvious in proofing environments, where rigorous colour aims
need to be matched. In particular, validation printing (design proof) applications needed to
pick a special (“exotic”) substrate to meet the aims. These papers were not representative
for typical creative workflows. FOGRA51 allows for the usage of commonly used substrates
– therefore, meeting the rigorous tolerances, a high level of colour communication can be
achieved.
FOGRA51 - data separation and print conformance excellence

With the release of FOGRA51 and its corresponding ICC profile (PSO Coated V3) now both
aims can be achieved successfully. However changing “the” reference challenges both de-
signers and print service providers, and raises a lot of practical questions.
1.) How do I explain the change to non-print experts?

As with FOGRA51 all new Fogra standards are based on M1 (“real D50”) and allow both,
compliance with the latest ISO standards and a high quality of colour communication. Us-
ing FOGRA51, an outstanding proof to print match can be achieved. The FOGRA51 proofs
serve as the colour reference interface for the colour dictator in different workflows.
2.) Do I need new measurement devices?

Following the principle “to measure as you see” each print shall be measured by using
the same measurement condition that was used when creating the reference. Hence, for
measuring FOGRA51 onwards, at least one device capable of M1-measurements needs to
be present.
3.) Do I need new viewing cabinet?

You need an ISO 3664-2009 compliant viewing scenario to judge proofs and prints correct-
ly. Only then you can be assured that the right amount of UV is present and the OBA in your
proofs and production stock will be excited in the same way. Combining M1-measurement
and M1-viewing allows for outstanding colour communication. This ensures predictability
for the designer and the security for print service provider that an instrumental match also
matches visually.

4.) How big is the difference between FOGRA39 (ISOcoated_v2) and FOGRA51
(PSOcoated_v3)?
Not big, indeed. The average colour difference is barely noticeable (∆E00=1,6). Depending on
the image content it can be entirely possible that you need a closer look to tell them apart.
The same applies for the data separation with both profiles, since the gamut mapping and
separation parameters are very similar.
5.) As a designer, when and how do I change?

It is recommended to familiarize with the new profile as soon as possible. This means to
download the profiles from the ECI-webpage and the recipes and preflight tools from the
Fogra webpage. It also means to be able to create FOGRA51 based proofs either by updating
your proofing hard- and software or by asking your proofing service provider. The details of
how to implement and use the profile for image separation (in Photoshop) or layout conver-
sion (in InDesign or Quark) can be found in this chapter. The paramount factor is the com-
munication with your print partners! The rule of thumb is: If the printing condition is not
precisely known upfront, use PSOCoated V3. If it is known, use the relevant Fogra standard.
This idea is depicted in Fig. 3.20.
Default!
 
PSOCoatedV3
= FOGRA51
No Yes
Printing Condition known?

RGB Actual Print
e.g.
Reference Toner, Inkjet,
AdobeRGB Data LFP, etc
Process
preparation conversion
for a defined
from the reference
reference printing Proof (proof) toward the
conditions
Designer Designer actual printing
Printer Printer
condition
Prepress Prepress
Brandowner Photographer
Brandowner Photographer Ink Kitchen Ink Kitchen
tnirP ot foorP
hctaM
formulates
formulates
receives
receives
receives
receives
receives
receives
receives
receives
designs
delivers
delivers
designs
delivers
delivers
wishes
wishes
prints
prints
Fig. 3.20: How design and print work together. The key question is whether the final printing condition is known.
If it is not (common practice), it is recommended to use PSOCoated V3. Otherwise use the pertinent Fogra stand-
ard. It is the print service provider’s responsibility to consume the incoming data, normalize it and do the neces-
sary process conversions (colour transformations). The contract proof or validation print serves as the reference
between design and print.

Migrating from FOGRA39 to FOGRA51
6.) As a print service provider, when and how do I change?

It is recommend changing with the publication of the PSD 2016 handbook. Other than off-
set printers (who “only” have to adapt plate curves), digital printing service providers have
to check normalisation and machine profiling. Normalisation refers to making the incoming
data print-ready, hence PDF/X-1a (V.1) or X4 (V.2) with FOGRA51 as the output intent. Here
the workflow tools need to be updated and unprofiled CMYK (as is) will now be interpreted
as FOGRA51 and not FOGRA39 anymore. This includes updating the device link profiles.
Machine profiling requires to characterize (profile) your machine combinations with M1.
Incoming FOGRA39 artwork will be honoured by normalising it to FOGRA51 (e.g. by using
the ECI FOGRA39-to-FOGRA51 device link profile). The quality of the normalisation can be
tested by comparing the FOGRA39 proof of the original document with a FOGRA51 proof
of the converted document.
Following the PSD principles (“Printing the expected”) a print service provider is able to
communicate colour in a professional way. It is recommended to proactively inform the
print buyers & designers about the “new” Fogra standard. Show your colour competence!
7.) Do I have to convert “old” FOGRA39-based (CMYK) data?

It depends. For colour critical artwork it is recommended to convert the legacy data by
means of a colour server and dedicated device link transforms. In many cases you might
be quite happy when using FOGRA39 artwork in your FOGRA51 design by inspecting the
resulting FOGRA51 proof print. Redoing an old job can be done by restoring the settings
used to make the old job (if available) or more commonly to normalise the data to FOGRA51
and print accordingly.
8.) Does a print shop need a colour server software (functionality)?

Yes! Orchestrating the plethora of incoming data requires a colour server that uses static
or dynamic device link profiles. Picture by picture adjustments, e. g. made in Photoshop, are
subject for niche applications with specific focuses.
9.) How about proofing?

Making FOGRA51 proofs requires mostly software and hardware updates. In particular, an
OBA-rich proofing substrate should be used and an M1-based measurement device (either
built-in such as the ILS30 from Epson or an external measurement device). For FOGRA52
proofs an OBA-rich substrates with a matte surface is recommended.
10.) How about print conformance?

There are many reasons for checking print quality on a regular basis. Either the print buyer
requests a conformance protocol or your internal quality management policy expects qual-
ity tracking. In all cases, the PSD print check is the right solution. You can find the details in
chapter 6. Please note the new tolerances for the “A, B, C-tolerance bands”.
11.) Any other question?

Don’t hesitate to use the Digital Printing Working Group mailing list at
http://lists.fogra.org/listinfo/dpwg

4.
154 PSD ProzessStandard Digitaldruck

Practical tips for image appraisal
4 Image Appraisal
4.1 Practical tips for image appraisal
Introduction
In day to day production prints are often appraised under daylight, because daylight is well
suited to judge colours. In addition this practice also reflects a typical viewing condition
of the recipient of the print. Especially the image appraisal close to a north side window
has proven to be useful, because the mostly diffuse light there results in a uniform illu-
mination. But depending on daytime, weather or location the daylight spectra will change
significantly. Last but not least there is no daylight in the late evening or during the night.
Therefore a standardized illumination, so called norm light is needed to assure that colour
communication can be of high quality and consistent. The poet and “colour scientist” Goe-
the states “Colours are results and bearings of light” („Farben sind Taten des Lichts, Taten
und Leiden“1). For this reason for colour critical appraisal of prints light technical param-
eters influencing the light have to be considered – especially when different locations are
involved. These parameters will be discussed in this chapter. Further parameters to take
into account when planning and realizing an appropriate lighting situation like energy or
ergonomics are not discussed in detail here (see figure 4.1)
Informative and normative test aspects for colour reliable image appraisal
Lighting s ituation (D50) Softproof-Workflow Ergonomic s Energy
Device technology Field of view Backgr ound and sur r ound Device technology Dr iving Luminair es Lamp s
What d oes the p r ob e see? What d oes the ob ser ver see?
V iewing b ooth Har d war e Softwar e Calib r ation Char acter isiing Simulation Str ategies Illumination level Illumination d istr ib ution No glar e Efficiency Longevity
Light q uality Str ategies Designing the Disp lay in Softp r oof Ap p lication Quality assur ance
Quality assur ance viewing cond itions
L ight a nd s oftproof guide P S D
Fig. 4.1: Outline of the parameters discussed in this chapter to achieve a colour correct image appraisal.
There are many different uses of a norm light and as well varying user demands. To allow
to fit an individual solution for a norm light informative and normative criteria are given
Or te d es far b kr it. Ar b eitens
Allg. Insp ektion V or gehnsweise
Id entifikation d er jeweiligen Ar b eitsp lätze-AF(AP)
here. They include setup, operation and quality assurance. The test criteria are presented in
Einflussp otential Ist-Analyse
V er b esser ungsvor schläge

p r üfasp ekte für AF(AP)
Audit
Einhaltung nor mative K r iter ien
a structured, tabulated form. If a test criterion cannot be applied to a test category this is
(Siegel ja / nein? )
q uali
denoted with n.a. for “not available”.

The normative criteria are indispensable to achieve a high common industrial quality. They
are de-scribed as a prerequisite of a PSD certification. The informative criteria are never-
theless as well important. Those criteria are given informative because of a potential com-
plexity where currently no objective criteria have been elaborated or are too hard to check
to justify them to be characterized as a normative criterion. All criteria given here should
be checked independent of a PSD certification.
The list of test criteria is complemented by an additional table with corresponding test
methods, tolerances or potential suggestions for improvement.
Increasingly softproofing systems are used in the graphics art industry. For a softproofing-
system – most often including a norm light – it is needed to add use case specific criteria.
They are described at the end of this chapter.
The focus of the practice recommendations presented here lies on the appraisal of a physi-
cal sample, e. g. the comparison between a print and the OK-sheet or a proof print or the
1 Johann Wolfgang v. Goethe, Zur Farbenlehre (Preface), 1810
PSD ProzessStandard Digitaldruck 155

4. Image Appraisal
reproduction of a soft-proof. The colour accurate appraisal of a file displayed solely on a

monitor, for example for colour grading of an RGB file, is not discussed here. Although the
colour accuracy in such a case can be improved significantly when following the guidelines
presented. In addition to the criteria listed in this chapter you find further practical guide-
lines and background to setup a softproof system in the Fogra Softproof Handbook.
Lighting situation
The purpose of a viewing booth is to allow the same colour appearance when judging
prints (that means object colours) at different locations and / or times. The norm light
serves as a stable reference for colour critical image appraisal.
The requirements for a viewing booth are worldwide similar. To address the needs of the
graphics arts industry and finally to scrutinize viewing booths ISO 3664 was elaborated.
This standard gives certainty for manufacturers as well as users to evaluate a standardized
viewing booth – therefore also called norm light2.
To assess the lighting situation comprehensively (regarding the D50 illuminant) in the
printing industry a structure is suggested as follows:
¬ 1. Device technology, this means viewing booth in this context
¬ 2. Irradiation (“what does the sample ‘see’ / what has influence on the sample?“) and
¬ 3. Viewing conditions including background and surround (“What is seen by the ob-
server?“).
First informative and normative criteria for the viewing booth are presented. Then param-
eters influencing the irradiance, resulting in a certain colour rendering in the viewing plane
where the print is appraised – are considered (-> Lighting quality)
Assessing the light in the viewing plane answers the question which direct or indirect light
has influence on the colour rendering. This influence can be either positive – resulting in a
defined colour appearance or can be negative – resulting in inhomogeneities or even glare.
After a first-time test of the light situation it is important to establish means for a regular
quality assurance. Related ideas are also suggested.
Surround and background will have impact on the colour perception of an observer. In a last
step criteria to assess the objects in the viewing field are given.
2 Currently Fogra is actively working on suggestions to enhance the ISO standard. The questions addressed
include how to deal with substrates containing a fair amount of optical brighteners. In the sense of “Print-
ing the expected” current criteria can be used for substrates with a moderate amount of optical brighten-
ers (CIE*b bigger than -5).
Prerequisites of the device – viewing booth

In front of an individual and detailed inspection of a viewing booth the following criteria
can be evaluated easily following the check list. In this tabulated list – as well as the follow-
ing tables – a test number is assigned to each test criterion. For each criterion it is stated if
this will be evaluated normative or informative
Test Category Test No. Criterion Normative Informa-

tive
Conformance to 1a ISO 3664 Certification / valid for
√
ISO standard viewing condition P1
1b If a softproof system is tested: √
Viewing booth 1c ISO 3664 Certification / valid for viewing
√
features condition P2
Information 1d Journal with details regarding
a) run time lamp √
b) type of cabinet
Test options 1e Measuring device for illumination
√
measurements
Tab. 4.1: Criteria to check a viewing booth prior an individual test on location.
Assessment at the viewing plane

After the basic suitability of the viewing booth was tested in the prior step the irradiance
has to be evaluated by measuring the spectral power distribution in the viewing plane. If a
viewing booth is designed to appraise three-dimensional objects the following criteria have
to be applied in sample locations in the space in addition to the viewing plane.
To assure the high quality of the viewing booth regular quality tests are needed. Normative
and in-formative criteria are listed for both aspects.
Test of illumination
The direct light of the viewing booth and any light from other light source like ambient room
light or day light result in a combined spectrum in the viewing plane. The measurement of
the spectral power distribution allows to conclude if light not originating from the viewing
booth falling on the sample will have a significant (often negative) influence. If this is true
optimization can be derived after evaluating the informative criteria.
Test Category Test Criterion Normative Informa-

No. tive
Room- and Viewing 2a No direct day light in viewing plane
√
booth lighting
2b No influence of coloured objects (e. g.
walls, ceiling, big plants etc.) in the view- √
ing plane
2c I luminance measurement and conform-
√
ance check regarding ISO 3664 criteria
2d Assessment UV-radiation: MIuv √
Tab. 4.2: Criteria to assess the irradiation, “spectral finger print” of a viewing booth in the viewing plane.

4. Image Appraisal
Means for quality assurance in day to day production

A high quality can be maintained when regular quality tests are established.

No. tive
Conformance to ISO 3a Regular (at least every 3 months) il-
standard lumination measurement and comparison
to the results achieved after installation √
and conformance check to ISO 3664
tolerances
Visual test 3b Metameric test, e.g. using composed grey
[bvdm Graycon]
√
Comparison proof print and (reference)
print
Documentation 3c Journal (log) of all test results √
Tab. 4.3: Criteria for regular quality test of the illumination at the viewing plane.
Judging background and surround

When visually appraising an object, e.˘g. the proof print, the observer also will see the di-
rect back-ground of the object displayed. Typically this will be the surface of the table in
the norm light. Every-thing in the field of view besides the background is called ‘surround’.
In a big viewing cabinet with side walls the main or complete surround will consist of the
back plane and the side walls itself. In a smaller or open type viewing cabinet the surround
will consist of near or close distance objects in the field of view. This can be a web-offset
printing machine in a mostly dark room or a window front for example. Background and
surround have a significant influence on the colour perception of the ob-server. The field
of view can be objectively evaluated with the help of a photo from the point of view (the
aperture angle of the lens has to match the angle of the eye). A grey card and / or a calibra-
tion target for cameras will serve as the needed reference to estimate trichromatic values
deduced from the RGB data.
Designing the viewing conditions

No. tive
Glare (Dazzle) 4a No direct glare induced by light sources √
4b No glare induced by reflections in the
√
field of view from mirroring objects
Colour 4c Low chroma background and surround √
Tab. 4.4: Criteria to test the background and surround in the field of view. Objects with high chroma as well as
high contrast influence the colour appearance and are therefore to be avoided

Use case specific design of viewing condition

This section adds specific tips to test the norm light setup and possible strategies to im-
prove a criterion.
Viewing booth
Test Category Test Tips for approvement Test method /
No. tolerance
Conformance to ISO 1a und Demand ISO 3664 certificate from the n. a.
standard 1b vendor or assign one. (See e. g. http://
www.fogra.org/en/fogra-fogracert-en/
prepress/viewing-cabinet/cabinets/scruti-
ny-of-your-viewing-cabinet--according-
to-iso-3664.html)
Viewing booth 1c Retrofit a dimming option or new acquisi- n. a.
features tion of a dimmable viewing booth
Information 1d Buy a journal or create a log file, e. g. in a n. a.
spread sheet program.
Test options 1e Buy a spectro-radiometer or colorimeter n. a.
suited for light measurements
Tab. 4.5: Possible strategies to improve the performance of a viewing booth (cabinet)
Judging the viewing conditions of the viewing level

Test Category Test Tips for approvement Test method / tolerance
No.
Room- and Viewing 2a and Install anti-glare device, e. g. Visual check:
booth lighting 2b (sun) blinds Turn off the viewing cabinet.
From the viewing point no
direct light source (lamp or sun)
and no indirect light source
(mirror or mirroring surface) is
visible.
2b, 2c 1) Avoiding unwanted influence Metrological test: Check for
and of room lighting: ISO3664-compliance, e.g. with
2d a) List all variable light sourcesExcel-File (see Fogra Website)
which can be change easily: under practical use. This means
Windows, Shiners to measure the light of the
b) List all installed light viewing booth and potentially
sources: ceiling lighting, view- existing room light. Note Ra,
ing cabinet Ri, CIEuv, MIvis, (and MIuv). In
c) Switch room lighting to D50 addition measure the light of
near light the viewing booth without in-
fluence of room lighting if pos-
2) Improve D50 spectra of the sible. Comparing both measure-
viewing cabinet ments will show if room light
a) Check reflectors, diffsors and has significant influence on the
lamps in the viewing cabinet viewing booth light.
and replace as needed. Consult
the manufacturer for details.
Tab. 4.6: Details for visual and metrological tests of the irradiance in the viewing plane. Potential tips for im-
provement of a specific criterion is given. Note: MIuv can not be evaluated with most hand-held devices used in
the graphics art industry, when the UV con-tent between 300 and 380 nm is not included

4. Image Appraisal
Means for quality assurance in day to day production

No.
Conformance to ISO 3a Metrological test: Check for
standard ISO3664-conformance, e.g.
estimate with a hand-held
device and Excel-table, see
Fogra-website: http://www.
fogra.org/en/fogra-research/
prepress/completed/norm-light/
downloads-nl/downloads-
norm-light.html
Visual test 3b n. a. Visual test:
Metameric test, e.g. with
different-composed greys of
the same CIELAB value.
Comparison of (reference) print
and matching proof print. For
optimal results create a custom
ICC profile for the (reference)
print as a basis for the proof
print.
Tab. 4.7: Test details for visual and metrological quality assurance over time.
Designing the viewing conditions

No.
(Discomfort) Glare 4a and 1) List all variable light Visual test:
4b sources: From the viewing plane no
Windows, shiners, blinds deranging direct light source
2) List all installed light sources (shiner, sun) and no indirect
ceiling lights, viewing cabinet light source (mirroring surface)
3) Install anti-glare device, e. g. is visible.
(sun) blinds, sun visor, movable
walls
4) Optimise shiner positions
Colour 4c List all coloured objects in the n. a.
viewing field (e. g. walls, ceil-
ing, big plants etc.
Tab. 4.8: Details for visual tests of the viewing conditions and potential improvements.

Practical tips for Softproofing
4.2 Practical tips for Softproofing
This section builds on the practice tips for viewing cabinets. The criteria presented here
must therefore be taken into account in addition. The additional criteria covered for soft-
proofing systems include the choice, setup and operation.
Softproof workflow
More and more softproof systems are used to save time and cost – partially replacing or
supplementing hard copy proof prints. Current softproof systems achieve colour accuracy
similar to contract proof systems. This is the case when hardware and software components
fulfil specific requirements. Based on the actual system an appropriate driving has to be
established. This includes in determining the calibration target values, characterizing the
display and suited use of the softproofing application.
Last but not least the high colour accuracy of a softproof system can be only achieved with
proper maintenance and quality assurance, e. g. by validating the monitor calibration. In the
following the term ‘monitor’ is used when the hardware aspect is emphasized. In contrast
the term ‘display’ is used when the main focus is on the visual result of the softproof.
Initially normative and informative criteria to achieve the wanted high quality level are
presented. Following hints and tips are given to each criterion and potential ways for im-
provement are given.
Currently there are no criteria established to conclude if a softproof is colour reliable in the
same sense like a contract proof. Scientific and practical foundations are worked out in a
Fogra research project.
Judging device technology

The following criteria can be checked easily. Those criteria list the basic features and capa-
bilities a monitor has to deliver to become vital part of a softproofing system.
Hardware
No. tive
Monitor controls 5a Luminance √
5b White point: RGB adjustment possible √
5c Gradation adjustment √
Monitor features 5d Driving ≥ 8-Bit (continuous) √
5e Digital connection (e.g. DVI, DisplayPort,
√
HDMI)
5f Display 1:1 possible, e.g. 21“-Monitor
with a resolution of 1600 x 1200, to √
display 2 A4-Sheets in portrait format
5g Monitor measurement device and -soft-
√
ware
5h Monitor shield √
5i Up-to-date calibration certificate for
√
monitor measuring device
5j Tele-measurement device √

4. Image Appraisal

No. tive
Display properties 5k (semi-) matte screen surface √
5l Uniformity: Criteria FograCert Softproof
√
Monitor
5m Viewing angle: IPS- or VA panel type*
or Monitor PreCert (FograCert Softproof- √
ing System)
Test pictures 5n Reference print, e. g. contract proof for
√
visual fine tuning and test
Tab. 4.9: Criteria to test the fundamental suitability of monitor for softproofing system. *When new panel types
will be usable and available (e. g. OLED) the list will be updated accordingly.
Software
No. tive
Validation options 6a Characterization √
6b Calibration √
6c Apply device specific calibration data (if
√
used for calibration)
6d Colour difference formula: ΔE00 √
Test pictures 6e File for reference print √
Monitor desktop 6f Grey desktop background or desktop test
√
picture (e.g. Fogra desktop background)
Tab. 4.10: Criteria to test the fundamental suitability of calibration software, softproof application and operating
system.
Assessment of monitor driving

The monitor driving is comprised of the optional calibration to specific target values, char-
acterization of the display and determining the colour values to be displayed in the soft-
proof application. Today most softproofing systems use an approach where the monitor is
calibrated to target values (often by means of a so called hardware calibration). This allows
a straight forward and in portions standardized characterization of the display. In such a
softproofing system the target luminance, white point and gradation are often chosen ac-
cording to some ‘standard’ values. Those target values are used directly or might be basis
for visually motivated derived target values.
The calibration and characterization accuracy can be tested easily with a handheld measur-
ing device.

Calibration of the monitor

No. tive
Identifying target 7a target values for photographers workflow
√
values without a viewing cabinet
7b target values for creation or print work-
√
flows
Calibration 7c High calibration accuracy for white point,
√
luminance and gradation
Calibration result of 7d Visual assessment:
display Smooth rendering of grey ramps (native
without colour management and in soft-
proof application) √
Details in lights and shadows (in soft-
proof application)
Uniformity (if calibration has influence)
Tab. 4.11: Criteria to test the (optional) monitor calibration.
Characterizing the displayed image

No. tive
Profile accuracy 8a Average colour difference between
CIELAB value determined from the ICC- √
profile and the relevant measuring value
8b 99 % -quantile or maximum colour
difference between CIELAB value de-
√
termined from the ICC-profile and the
relevant measuring value*
Tab. 4.12: Criteria to test the accuracy of the display characterization (mostly by means of ICC monitor profiles).
*: If there is no option to calculate the 99 % quantile the maximum can be evaluated.
Simulation within the softproof application

A metrological test of the monitor calibration and characterization is a prerequisite to
achieve a colour accurate softproof. But the final visual result in the softproof application
is crucial. Therefore in the FograCert Softproofing System this is tested objectively with
the help of a laboratory tele-spectroradiometer. Instead in day to day production a visual
test comes in handy. A visual test cannot be reproduced as easily like a metrological test,
but nevertheless a visual assessment can be of great help for the individual operating a
softproofing system.

No. tive
Workflow 9a Correct setup of the softproof workflow,
either remote softproof or for data crea- √
tion (e.g. Adobe Photoshop)
9b List file formats, e.g. PDF, Tiff √
Visual test 9c Good visual match of (proof) print and
according softproof (normally with the √
relevant ICC profile)
Tab. 4.13: Criteria to test the practical softproof result.

4. Image Appraisal
Matching (proof) print under norm light and softproof

No. tive
Workflow 10a D50-similar room lighting √
10b Visually motivated dimming of the norm
√
light
Tab. 4.14: Further criteria to test the practical softproof results.
Strategies and means for quality assurance

To assure a stable softproofing system regular controls are needed. Important criteria are
listed in the following table.
No. tive
Metrological (objec- 11a Regular (at least monthly): √
tive) test 11b Validate display characterization √
11c Target luminance reached? √
11d Validate calibration √
Visual test 11e Regular (at least monthly): √
Calibration result 11f Visual assessment:
monitor Smooth rendering of grey ramps (native
proof application) √
proof application)
Documentation 11g Journal (of normative test results √
11h Journal of informative test results √
Tab. 4.15: Quality assurance: Criteria for regular checks of the light quality in the viewing plane.
Test details and possible ways to improve the setup

This section adds specific tips to test the softproof system and possible strategies to im-
prove a criterion.
Hardware
Test Category Test Tips for improvement Test method / toler-
No. ance
Monitor controls 5a and The monitor luminance and white point n. a.
5b have to be controlled via the On-
und Screen-Display (OSD) and / or by means
5c of a hardware calibration with suited
software. If gradation (~ ‘gamma’) is
calibrated it is of advantage if this can
be also controlled hard-ware wise. If a
monitor offers fewer controls the more
likely a so called software calibration can
result in visible banding – seen in data
wise smooth gradients. Laptop displays
are therefore normally not suited for
color critical work. In addition often the
viewing angle and gamut will lack.
If white point and luminance cannot be
controlled hardware wise switching the
monitor might be advisable (see http://
www.fogra.org/en/fogra-fogracert-en/
prepress/softproof-/monitor-pretest/).


No. ance
Monitor features 5d and The monitor has to offer a digital con- n. a.
5e nection with at least 8 Bits / channel for
panel, interface and video graphics card.
This assures a stable connection over
time as well the needed colour resolution
(e. g. for gradients). If not applicable the
monitor has to be exchanged for another
model.
5f A 1:1 view should be possible. Therefore a Measure display size
mini-mum size of 21“ (with 1600 x 1200 or calculate from
resolution) allows to display 2 A4 sheets known screen resolu-
portrait mode in original size is often tion and diagonal
recommended.
5g Monitor measuring device and software n. a.
have to be available. Colorimeters often
have advantages in the shadows, but can
greatly benefit from a monitor specific
calibration. Spetroradiometers normally
do not rely on a device specific calibra-
tion.
5h A monitor shield minimizes contrast n. a.
reduction (especially in shadows) and
should be used in general.
5i To assure the function of the monitor n. a.
measuring device it is recommended to
follow the manufacturer’s recommenda-
tion for maintenance (normally once a
year). Measuring devices not part of a
maintenance program from the vendor
should be compared regularly to devices
maintained. If results drift away over time
exchange the non-maintained device.
Tips for day to day checks are subject
of the current Fogra research project
10.056..
5j To assess the possible contrast reduc- n. a.
tion caused by room lighting it is helpful
to use a tele measurement device. If
a distance-measurement device is not
available the influence of the room light-
ing can be estimated with the help of a
light measurement and of the reflection
of the dark-screen-display and a contact
measurement of the softproof colour.
An excel file is available on the Fogra
website
Display properties 5k A semi matte screen surface is necessary n. a.
to avoid interfering reflections from the
room lighting for the softproof.

4. Image Appraisal

No. ance
5l A monitor has to fulfil the FograCert n. a.
uniformity criteria (see http://www.fogra.
org/dokumente/upload/ad72e_fogra_
precert_monitor.pdf). Unfortunately
currently there is no software available to
assess those criteria from an end user’s
side. The Fogra website lists all monitors
which passed this aspect of the FograCert
Softproofing System certification:
http://www.fogra.org/en/fogra-fogracert-
en/prepress/softproof-/monitor-pretest/
getestete-monitore/
5m Displays with an IPS or VA type panel* n. a.
(and similar subtypes like P-IPS, PVA or
with different names) fulfil high demands
in regards of viewing angle characteris-
tics. The Fogra website lists all monitors
which passed this aspect of the FograCert
Soft-proofing System certification:
http://www.fogra.org/en/fogra-fogracert-
en/prepress/softproof-/monitor-pretest/
getestete-monitore/
The viewing angle characteristics can be

judged with high validity by means of
visual test pictures avail-able free from
the Fogra website:
http://www.fogra.org/fogra-forschung/
medienvorstufe/10047-softproof/down-
loads/downloads-softproof.html.
Test images 5n To test the softproof quality visually a n. a.
reference print has to be available which
can also be used for a potential visual
fine-tuning.
Tab. 4.16: Criteria to test the fundamental suitability of a monitor used in a softproofing system. *When new
panel types will be usable and available (e. g. OLED) the list will be updated accordingly.

Software
No. tolerance
Validation options 6a and The calibration software shall allow n. a.
6b testing the characterization accuracy
(ICC profile accuracy) and should allow
testing calibration accuracy if applicable
(luminance, white point, gradation).
6c The validation has to make use of device n. a.
specific corrected measurement data, if
the calibration uses device specific cali-
bration routines. Normally this condition
is met when the vendor offers a valida-
tion in the calibration software itself.
External tools (e.g. UDACT) normally
cannot guarantee correct results in this
case. Therefore external validation tools
can only be used if no device specific
calibration is used!
6d The colour difference of validation tools n. a.
should be calculated with the modern
colour difference formula ΔE00 because
this will result in a high correlation of
visual and measured results. This formula
is also used for the FograCert Softproof-
ing System.
Test pictures 6e The file for the reference print has to be n. a.
available. To achieve the closest possible
match of softproof and reference print a
custom ICC profile for the used reference
print is best. This is not needed when the
reference print is very accurate, like a
high quality (~ half tolerances for media
wedge) contract proof.
Monitor desktop 6f A grey desktop background or test n. a.
pictures (e.g. Fogra desktop background)
serves as a neutral adaption point for
the observer. See http://www.fogra.org/
fogra-forschung/medienvorstufe/10047-
softproof/downloads/downloads-soft-
proof.html
Tab. 4.17: Criteria to test the fundamental suitability of calibration software, softproof application and operating
systems.

4. Image Appraisal
Monitor calibration
Test Category Test Tips for approvement Test method / toler-
No. ance
Identifying target 7a Photographers workflow without the use n. a.
values of a viewing cabinet:
Colour temperature: 5000 K – 6500 K,
Gradation: 1,8 – 2,4 or L* or sRGB,
Luminance: ‘appropriate’ for the ambient
illumination
7b Creation or print workflows: n. a.
1) Calibration to default values
Colour temperature: 5000 K
Gradation: matching to the most used
colour working space
Luminance: Illuminance in viewing plane /
Pi => 500 Lux (Viewing Condition P2, ISO
3664) ~ 160 cd/m²
2) optional visual motivated optimization
of the target white point (e.g. Compare
[simulated] substrate white point in soft-
proof to the print => Target definition:
CIExy) and / or luminance
Important note: A visual fine-adjustment
is often needed for highest quality results
for an individual observer should not be
considered a flaw.
Calibration 7c The calibration accuracy for white point, n. a.
lumi-nance and gradation should be bet-
ter than ΔE00 = 3. If this information is
not available as a rule of thumb a white
point should be inside ± 200 K, lumi-
nance inside ± 5 % and gamma (grada-
tion) of ± 0,15.
Calibration result 7d Visual assessment: n. a.
Smooth rendering of grey ramps (native
proof application)
proof application)
Different calibration options (number of
test colours, algorithms chosen) can have
influence on the result – contact the
vendor for system specific advice.
Tab. 4.18: Criteria to test the (optional) monitor calibration.
Characterizing the display

No.
Profile accuracy 8a Possible optimization: Mean ΔE00 ≤ 2
1) different profile type:
matrix/TRC or LUT-profile
2) other / more test colours
3) Maintenance / Exchange
measuring device
8b 99 % - quantile ΔE00 ≤ 4 or
maximum ΔE00 ≤ 6*
Tab. 4.19: Criteria to test the accuracy of the display characterization (mostly by means of ICC monitor profiles.
*:If there is no option to calculate the 99% quantile the maximum can be evaluated.

Simulation in the softproof application

No. tolerance
Workflow 9a 1) Follow vendor specific advice / hand n. a.
9b books
2) Attend seminars
Visual Check 9c 3) Individual workflow consultancy
Tab. 4.20: Criteria to test the practical softproof results.
Matching (proof) print under norm light and softproof

No. tolerance
Workflow 10a Exchange or installation of new ISO3664 check as estimation
cabinets (luminaires) or lamps with handheld device (see
Excel pro-gram at Fogra
website)
10b Compare brightness of soft- n. a.
proof and reference (proof)
print displayed in the norm
light -> Adjust dim level of
norm light and / or luminance
of the monitor
Tab. 4.21: Further criteria to test the practical softproof results
Strategies for quality assurance

No. tolerance
Objective checks 11a 1) Use reminder function in calibration or n. a.
11b soft-proof application
11c 2) Use extra calendar to remember test
11d dates (recurrence function)
Visual test 11e If match of softproof and print is inad- n. a.
equate check:
1) Measurement device
2) Monitor calibration
3) Software settings
Calibration result 11f If gradients are not displayed smooth: n. a.
monitor 1) Check measurement device
2) Hardware calibration allows smooth
renderings
3) In softproof applications slight band-
ings can be caused by round-off-errors.
In some calibration solutions the shadow
details can be be influenced by choosing
different options. A good compromise
of a neutral and the achievable darkest
colour has to be found.
Documentation 11g Create written journal or documentation n. a.
11h file (e. g. in a spreadsheet)
Tab. 4.22: Quality assurance: Criteria for regular checks of the light quality in the viewing plane.

5.

General schema for process control
5 Process Control
5.1 General schema for process control
Contrary to offset printing there is no unified number or sequence of process control steps
for common process control in digital printing. This is due to the plethora of different me-
dia, imaging technologies and inks to be used. Therefore the PSD provides general principles
that can be used and applied for basically all digital printing processes. The following para-
graph provides detailed recommendations and guidelines for all eight process steps. Here
the Fogra softproofing handbook serves as a successful role model. It provides a general,
vendor- and technology neutral schema, hence allows manufacturer to provide their practi-
cal solutions ordered by means of the aforementioned structure. This hierarchical schema
is depicted in Fig. 5.1.
8. Quality Assurance
RIP 7.7.Validierung
Validation
with / without colour management ✔
Optional
6. Characterization &
1:1 Profiling (z.B. ICC)
Solid Coloration [InkLimit]
5. Adjustments/Calibration Linearization
(1D or cLUT)
4. Analyze printing condition
¬
3. Select Colour Reference(s) ¬
¬
2. Identify/Check material combination
1. Maintenance according to manufacturer settings
Fig. 5.1: General principles for process control for CMYK-based digital printing processes.
Step 1: Maintenance according to manufacturer settings:

At the very beginning it is critical for a successful workflow to operate according to a set of
maintenance routines provided by the manufacturer of the printing machine. It calibrates
machine sensors and components and brings the print engine back to centre. That includes
both the consumables and the provided colour maintenance routines. The colour mainte-
nance tools might be optimized for certain stocks. Depending upon print volume, the inher-
ent printing system stability and the colour criticality of the customer, it is recommended
that you perform a colour maintenance check no less than once daily, usually at the begin-
ning of each shift. Colour and print volume requirements may necessitate more frequent
colour maintenance. Usage frequency and incorporation of the maintenance tools into the
print service providers daily workflow must be tailored by the requirements and the colour-
criticality of your jobs. Colour maintenance tool activities and routines cannot be consid-
ered a replacement for visual inspection of jobs for image- and colour-quality problems.

5. Process Control
Step 2: Identify / Check material combination:

The next step covers the selection of an appropriate substrate and the setup of a chosen
paper for the given printing machine. Here physical limitations play a fundamental role re-
garding printability and runability. While printability mainly refers to a permanent (durable)
colorant layer on (with the right inking level) the substrate, runability is related to the sub-
strate being able to move through a printing path at production speed in a reliable fashion.
Hint:
After successful completion of printability and runability a fine tuning of the available
The media man-
parameter needs to be taken into consideration. Such parameters are the mechanical cor- ager connects each
rections for offset and mis-registrations, required printing speeds, the mass per area of the substrate with a
number of impor-
substrate, the elasticity (e. g. for soft signage) or the print mode - just to name a few. Errors tant parameters
quite often relate to not properly set up media databases. such as screening,
ink load, ink split
Sometimes test prints are required where just the parameter of interest will be altered to
or the print mode.
find the optimal parameter combination. When performing test prints it is recommended to Since they lead to
separate between engine-oriented (controller) and RIP-oriented (software) driving. The first different colour
responses, it is ex-
is mostly provided by the manufacturer and controlled via the digital front end. A typical tremely important
example is the nozzle check or head alignment of an inkjet printer or a gradation adjust- to carefully select
and honour them.
ment (e. g. by means of a built in densitometer) of a electrophotographic printer.
RIP-based driving relates to settings that are determined upstream via the driver or other
control panels (e. g. Fiery, Creo or FFPS). Here individual test forms such as the Fogra image
quality test form can be used. In order to test the influences caused by printing and not
colour management it is important to use the device mode instead of the simulation mode.
That is often known as “ColourManagement OFF“ or “None“.
In particular for xerographic systems it is common practice to link substrates (in combina-
tion with the established parameter set) with print related aim values (e. g. densities). Using
and achieving these aim values (in combination with the associated measuring condition, Hint:
which often uses UV-Cut filter) is usually a very good starting point to establish an indi- Device mode and
simulation mode
vidual printing condition. However it can be necessary to alter this predefined (default) aim are explained in
values, see step 5. section 3.
In addition it should be noted that it is not reasonable to characterize all stocks in this
fashion. Here it is important to group similar types of substrates that share basic print
characteristics. An exemplary grouping can be done by separating coated from uncoated
substrates.
Step 3: Select colour reference(s):

The third step is directly related to the previous one since the selected substrate directly im-
pacts the gamut of the final print product, see 1.3. Before starting the following steps it is
important to consider the typical reference printing condition (gamut) to be simulated. The
same applies for the spot colours to be covered with a given printing condition. An overview
of typical exchange space is listed in chapter 3.2. When no concrete printing condition is
defined it is industrial typical to assume FOGRA51, i. e. printing according to ISO 12647-2
Hint:
on coated stock. FOGRA51 or the related ICC profile PSOCoated V3 (ECI) can be considered A CIELAB 1976
as the de-facto reference for digital printers - not only in Europe. colour difference
of ∆E *ab > 10 can
be used as an
Step 4: Analyze printing condition: indication for large
As soon as a reference printing condition is known it is now important to achieve it as good difference between
the reference and
as possible. First the default solid coloration will be checked as to how close the reference the actual gamut.
primary and secondary colours can be met. Tolerance values might help to estimate how
close the shell of the gamut - from paper white to the shadow region - can be hit with the

chosen system combination, i. e. the actual printing condition. Analyzing an actual printing
condition covers also additional aspects such as:
¬ Visual check of consistent and smooth vignettes -> used to select a suitable print mode
and the (re-)separation strategy (See. 2.1 basics of print data separation)
¬ Print run stability -> is used to establish routines for performing a remedial operation
by means of the needed warm up time or the number of sheets that needs to be taken
into consideration for profiling
¬ Coverage of spot colours
¬ The dependence on environmental factors such as temperature and relative humidity.
Hint:
Step 5: Calibration (Adjustments):
Solid coloration
Contrary to the “ISO usage”, calibration (in the context of the common usage) is the process describes the
of adjusting a printing system such that it produces a solid coloration and tone reproduc- CIELAB values of
the primary and
tion that are believed to be correct. ISO 13655 defines calibration as a set of operations secondary colours.
that establish, under specified conditions, the relationship between values of quantities Density values are
deprecated for
indicated by a measuring instrument or measuring system, or values represented by a ma-
this purpose. They
terial measure or a reference material, and the corresponding values realized by standards. might be extremely
The different calibration methods used in the field do vary quite a lot among digital printing helpful for a sensi-
tive diagnosing
solutions. For that reason only the analogy with the over- and under-inking to be used in of an underlying
offset printing will be used here. It is valid both for inkjet and electrophotographic printing process variation
and indicates which colours might be achievable when more or less ink is deposited to the
substrate.
One of the principles upon which PSD is based is that electronic tools exist that allow
electronic data to be adjusted such that any digital printing processes, that can achieve a
specified outer gamut, can produce the within gamut image colours specified by the appro-
priate reference characterization data. This allows printing aims to be process independent.
If the available settings however do not allow for reaching the intended ink limit, all further
steps can be ignored. Once the intended aim values have been achieved and colorimetrically
confirmed, it is certainly possible to use the resulting (colour blind) densities to establish a
remediation operation. Those process control aims are easy means for the printer to restore
Hint:
the printing condition to its established aim values. It is recommended
After the solid coloration has been fixed it is time for the linearization. The primary aim of a to use the random
linearization is to setup the colour output by means of the primary colours in a known and layout of the test
charts. In addition
optimal way. The interpretation of “optimal” certainly varies from manufacturer to manu- the patch size
facturer. Hence some calibration routines linearize a printing system with respect to the should be large
enough to allow
density or tone values, other prefer the relative lightness CIEL* or equal ∆E-steps going from for a high degree
paper to the solid. The concrete choice of the linearization is of secondary concern since it of repeatability.
will be covered and compensated by the following characterization and profiling step. The Patch sizes below
6x6 mm should be
linearization must not be restricted to four 1-dimensional tone curves (TRC). Furthermore avoided, unless a
a multi-dimensional colour look-up table (CLUT) can also be used to allow for a known scanning technique
is used to com-
behaviour extending the 4x1D approach. pensate for this.
The rougher the
Step 6: Characterization & Profiling: substrate the big-
ger the patch size
The aim of characterization and the following profiling is to create a new custom desti- and of course the
nation profile. Custom Destination Profiles can be created for each machine to fine tune inherent (effective)
measurement
the colour output of your press and improve colour matching between machines. It also aperture.
improves colour consistency over time.

5. Process Control
The procedure starts with the printing of CMYK-based test charts such as ECI 2002 (1485 To remember
patches) or IT.8/7-4 (1617 patches). Here the layout of the test cart must be compatible Average,averageand
with the instrument in use. RGB-based output devices can be used in the same fashion. average .....
However vendor specific test charts need to be used.

Multi-ink printing systems such as HexaChrome which require a non-CMYK or RGB-based
separation are currently not covered by the PSD. Multi-ink systems that can be controlled
via RGB- or CMYK are considered the “normal” output systems, since the separation of the
CMYK or RGB into the available process colours is done in a predefined way.
The test charts will be measurement colorimetrically, mostly with a chart reader or a scan-
ning measurement device. The software program takes the readings and creates a set of Hint:
measurement (characterization) data. The resulting tristimulus values (and more often the Using the device
spectral reflection factors) are reported in a way that can be interpreted by the receiving mode transform
(1:1) an erroneous
software (e.g. for profiling, analyzing or visualizing). printer (destina-
A number of International Standards used by the graphic technology community require tion) profile won’t
the reporting of measured and/or computed data. Several of these standards, e.g. the ISO be found since
it won’t be used
12642 series and ISO 13655, contain suggested formats for the data to be exchanged. in that “bypass”
These have used the ASCII keyword value pair approach and have been widely used by some mode.
However: The us-
industry segments. ISO 28178 is intended to support all existing and future graphic arts age of composed
standards that require the exchange of measured, computed, or process control data and / process grey
the associated metadata necessary for its proper interpretation. patches that are
derived from a
It is important to select the measurement condition appropriately, see 2.3.1., in order to as- reference charac-
sure to match the measurement mode of the reference printing condition to be simulated. terization data set
such as FOGRA39
Based on the findings of step 4 many prints should be measured, averaged, smoothed and is not appropriate,
scrutinized with respect to outliers. Here the pertinent drying time needs to be taken into since the actual
consideration. . Programs that allow for a detailed inspection and optimization of the meas- printing condition
might comprise a
urement data should be used, if possible. They do check for redundant patches in order to slightly different
estimate the within sheet uniformity or lack thereof. grey balance.
Profile creation
Based on the established printing condition a colour transformation will be created that
either maps from a known source colour space into that actual printing condition or by
means of a ICC output profile. The first one is a so called DeviceLink profile that maps from
e.g. FOGRA39 or FOGRA51 directly to the actual printing condition. When setting up this Hint:
transformation two important settings needs to be sorted out namely the gamut mapping In step 4 you can
and the black separation strategy. More information on this can be found in chapter 2.5.1. find out if channel
preservation is
There are template or wizard based profiling systems that incorporate the created destina-
possible, at least
tion profile directly into the workflow. In other circumstances the user is required to put for the primaries,
the created profile in the right folder including a RIP update. As indicated in Figure 5.1 this when comparing
the hue angles in
profiling step can be iterated. Such a step is usually recommended since it increases the the corresponding
colour accuracy. spider web dia-
gram. DeviceLink
profile with “pure
Step 7: Validation (with and without colour management): primaries” can be
The following validation or diagnosis steps do help to inspect two different aspects: used to test the
result. See also
¬ The stability of the printing system and the specific printing condition („1:1“) 2.5.1.
¬ The interplay of colour transformations and the before mentioned printing stability.

The first represents any kind of changes or drifts from the original settings. The device
mode transform (1:1) means that only 1-dimensional transforms are applied also known as
channels preservation. Practically you can check this by visually checking “pure” vignettes
for potential “contamination”.
By using the device mode transformation for checking print related issues and the simula-
tion mode transformation for additional colour transformations a clear problem identifi-
cation is possible. Once both validation methods are in place, existing software tools for Hint:
The follow-
comparing aim and current values can be used for diagnosis. The selection of the aim values ing paragraph
surely differs with respect to the used procedure. Also additional warning tolerances (traf- outlines minimum
fic light symbol: green, orange and red) might be used. requirements for
the quality report
The Fogra Media Wedge CMYK V.3 is recommended for both validation methods. (protocol)
The inspection of the final colour output relies on two things. A stable printing condition
that is adequately characterized and a colour management on top that performs high qual-
ity colour mappings. It allows to check if the customer expectation has been met. Since the
colour characteristics of the reference and actual printing conditions often differ, combin-
ing different inks might be necessary. This leads to the “contamination” of “pure” colours or
gradients, which can easily be checked by visual inspection.
Step 8: Quality Assurance

In the last step the achieved colour accuracy and consistency is to be monitored for a num-
ber of machines across different printing sites - over time. For achieving this, a destination
profile is tailored not to one specific machine but to a number of printing machines sharing
similar printing behaviour. Each of these machines will then be adjusted to meet the aver-
age printing condition, where this average “profile” is usually not a maximum gamut one
but slightly reduced to allow for better adjustment from the different press behaviours. Hint:
The time-based tracking of the press characteristics, both before and after calibration, is PSD-certified
a helpful tool for a unified quality management system. More and more programs able to companies need to
send such a proto-
perform such kind of conformance evaluation are web-based systems, which increase ac- col to Fogra on a
cessibility for the print service provider. Here the reporting is not limited to the validation monthly basis.
or monitoring results. They can also be used to deduce corrective actions.
Summary:
The described process steps build the foundation for a guide for process control of digital
Hint:
printing upon the following principles:
When establishing
¬ To establish actual printing conditions that ought to allow for the maximization of the a printing condi-
capabilites of an individual press or printer. tion the device
mode transform
¬ To determine simple, objective and visually-based means for maintenance such as should be used for
density values, which allow for a sensitive monitoring and adjustment of the colori- the process steps
1 to 5. The printer
metrically defined printing condition (characterized by the destination profile).
profile created in
¬ To provide modular and vendor neutral principles that can be used by manufacturers to step 6 must be in-
structure their content. corporated into the
RIP-settings. That
¬ To separate between print-based and colour-management-based errors. is needed since
¬ To periodically track the quality of the print quality (drift analysis). otherwise the ad-
ditional test charts
to be printed won’t
be affected by the
created profile.

5. Process Control
It is important to note that the term “quality” as it is used within the PSD does not refer to
an absolute level of a print image attribute such as stripes (or lack thereof). It is used as the
degree of closeness as to which a reference or aim has been met.
Finally the importance of the driving should be highlighted. Whilst some of the process
steps are not affected by the chose data path (e. g. over- and under-inking) there are other
operations that strongly depend on the chosen driving by means of the individual RIP- and/
or Front End settings.

Requirements for the quality report
5.2 Requirements for the quality report
Checking the stability of a printing system should be done in a regular manner by printing,
measuring and evaluation a test chart or control strip compliant to ISO 12647-7. These
Hint:
requirements refer to:
We recommend
¬ Solid tones of the chromatic primaries and their secondaries C,M,Y,R,G,B (6 patches); to use the Fogra
¬ Mid- and shadow tones of the chromatic primaries and their secondaries C,M,Y,R,G,B MediaWedge
CMYK V.3. It is
(12 patches); an internation-
¬ A first half-tone step scale composed of the primary colour K only including the solid ally known and
recognized control
(e.g. 6 patches);
strip - measurable
¬ A second half-tone scale composed of the primaries C, M, Y such that it roughly rep- with almost all
licates the colours of the first scale (bullet c) for an average printing condition (“grey programs
balance”) (same number of patches as for bullet c);

¬ A selection of critical tertiary colours such as flesh tones, brown, aubergine, violet (e.g.
15 patches);
¬ The simulated print substrate colour of the production printing condition (1 patch).
The aim or reference values could be twofold. It could be either established reference char-
acterization data sets such as FOGRA39 or FOGRA51. In this case the system is check both
for correct printing and colour management. Aim values could also be individual (material
and/or machine specific) values established, representing the internal “house standard“.
Category: Normative: (shall) Informative (should):

Colour Substrate (∆E (Paper))
Primaries (max ∆E (CMYK)) Primaries ("vendor/user optimized"

-proprietary - score value in %)
Secondaries ("vendor/user optimized"
Tertiaries ("vendor/user optimized"
Grey balance (max ∆Ch (composed Grey balance ("vendor/user optimized"
grey)) -proprietary - score value in %)
Total (total quality score in %)
Additional information
Resolution: — mis-registration ("vendor/user opti-
mized" -proprietary - score value in %
or other figures )
Homogeneity — Deviation of process colours (within
(within wedge) and/or across sheet depending on the
position of the wedge) [only if dou-
blet’s are present]

5. Process Control
Category: Normative: (shall) Informative (should):

Meta-Data Colour difference formulae Process Control information for error
analysis (pip change, paper change,
new linearization etc)
Combination (printer, print mode, Time after printer (wet, dry etc)
print speed, reference printing condi-
tion)
¬ Measuring mode (M0, M1, M2 Additional information:
M3) ¬ Vendor
¬ Substrate name ¬ Thickness/opacity
¬ Mass per area ¬ Gloss
¬ OBA amount (∆B or ∆CIEb*)
¬ Operator name
¬ Time&date of last profiling
¬ Time&date of last printer calibra-
tion
Backing (wb, bb or sb)
Time and Date of printing
Tab. 5.1: Overview of the required information for the quality report.
In case there are proprietary, vendor specific evaluations (score values) it is not required to
publish the concrete way of calculation. However it is recommended, since otherwise it is
not possible to reasonably compare different score indices.

Process control guidelines
5.3 Process control guidelines
5.3.1 General hints
— follow —

5. Process Control

5.3.2 Process Control Solutions provided by: Barbieri
Barbieri spectrophotometer with enabled DOC „Digital Output Control“ mode can be used
to measure and evaluate the Fogra mediawedge.
Please note: Because of the measurement aperture, some measurement instruments sup-
port only the evaluation of the “Fogra Mediawedge v3.0 LFP”.
Creating a new job in the Barbieri Gateway Software

Please select the operation mode “Digital Output Control” in your Barbieri Gateway meas-
uring software and create a new job for your selected printer – media combination. In the
course of creating a MediaWedge v3.0 LFP job, you can find different presets (templates)
in the “Fogra PSD” folder. These templates were created for different fields of application
and vary in their settings like media relative, Side-by-Side and the different Fogra quality
levels. The reference used to compare with the measurement can be a prior measurement
or a characterization data set like FOGRA39.
DOC (Digital Output Control)

Barbieri DOC deals with process control in the sector of large format printing and makes
it possible to compare colour values of an actual measurement to prior defined reference
values. In this way, colour differences can be detected immediately, a loss of production
can be reduced and a maximum of quality can be achieved and documented.
Next to perform process control directly on the printer using the innovative SpectroPad
and its special build-in DOC software, DOC is also available for Spectro LFP and Spectro
Swing in combination with the Barbieri Gateway measurement software.
Measuring Fogra mediawedge using the SpectroPad

To measure your prior in Gateway created job wireless with the SpectroPad please transfer
your job file to the measurement device. Measuring in wireless mode has the advantage to
work directly on your printer and to see your DOC results immediately after the measure-
ment on the touch display of the SpectroPad.

5. Process Control
All measurements and reports can be synchronized with your Computer by Wi-Fi or USB
and you have the possibility to review them anytime in your Barbieri Gateway Software.
Measuring Fogra mediawedge using Spectro LFP or Spectro Swing

The measurement of DOC jobs is performed directly in your Barbieri Gateway Software.
Please select your prior created job and double-check the job settings. The job is been
measured automatically afterwards and a DOC Report will be created. These reports are
saved in your Barbieri Gateway Software as PDF files and can be reviewed anytime.
All measurements and reports can be synchronized with your Computer by Wi-Fi or USB
and you have the possibility to review them anytime in your Barbieri Gateway Software.

5.3.3 Process Control Solutions provided by: Caldera
Print Standard Verifier

Caldera’s Process Standard Verifier is a tool used to punctually check if the printing process
conforms to specific industry standards like Fogra PSD Absolute and Media Relative.
It provides an answer to the ever rising requests for certifications from the digital printing
business.
Print Standard Verifier process in three steps

The process, made easier by EasyMedia’s wizard, is done in only 3 steps as long as calibra-
tion and profiling has already been completed:
¬ Choice of the standards and control chart printing
¬ Target measurement in EasyMedia using a correctly calibrated spectrophotometer.
¬ Then the results are clearly displayed. They are easily recognizable using the following
color codes:
Green logo = the printed area is conform and the printing process can most
likely pass a certification. Print Standard Verifier also gives you the level achieved by your
printing process: A, B or C depending on the quality reached.

5. Process Control
Orange logo = some of the conditions are fulfilled while others are not too far
off. However it is not good enough to successfully pass the certification. Some param-
eters can most likely be changed in EasyMedia to improve the results. Hint:
Be careful, the
standards control
option is not a
Red logo = the certification will never be a success. Results are too far off from certification. The
the requirements. printing pro-
cess can only be
The results are displayed swatch by swatch so the user knows on which points of the stand- certified by an ac-
credited technician
ard the process failed and can try to correct them. from the Fogra
For further information about the supported standards and complete results information, organization.
please visit our dedicated webpage: www.caldera.com/standards
Checking the print configuration at any time

In order to help you perform day to day print configuration checks, Caldera allows you to Hint:
add the Fogra MediaWedge at the end of your jobs. The target is then printed at the end of To help monitor-
ing of the printing
the job and can directly be measured and interpreted in the Print Standard Verifier tool to process, results
let you know if your process is still conform or not. can be downloaded
in XML, PDF (com-
Performing regular checks of the printing process is necessary to monitor it and ensure that plete and light) and
it still follows the standards requirements over longer periods of time. HTML.

5.3.4 Process Control Solutions provided by: XXX

6.

Introduction
6 Evaluation of print products In brief

Two printing
gamuts are similar
6.1 Introduction when you talk
about colour differ-
ences instead of
Reproducing images and documents normally aims for a pleasing reproduction against a different colours.
virtual reference (or whatever the print buyer has in her/his mind). This involves a creative
process that needs to be done before process control and quality assurance of print related
workflows start. When preparing data for a given printing condition, defined by a reference
characterization data set, the pros and cons of that printing condition need to be taken
into consideration together with the customer expectations and preferences. After the data Hint:
is defined by means of an output referred (print related) colour space (and an appropriate What is well
defined image
reference such as a softproof, a contract proof or a validation print) it is up to the print
content?
service provider to print the expected. The evaluation of print conformance as defined in Image data that
the PSD always applies a full reference schema, i. e. it will be measured how close a given is output referred
is well defined
reference has been met. since it defines
In case that a print service provider has to process data which is not prepared for a printing colour by means
of an print related
condition, such as RGB image content, they are urged to take the responsibility to perform
output. In other
this ambiguous step. In that case the print service provider should inform the print buyer words most of the
about that process, since it might involve a significant image difference. It is recommended RGB-based image
data is picture or
to use modern ways of visualization for that purpose, such as softproofs within the web- scene referred and
shop or a URL to a lowres version of the ripped data. This might also help to raise customer therefore not well
defined.
satisfaction. Meeting the requirements of “pretty reproductions” can therefore only be ac-
complished when the print buyer has a chance to inspect the final print product. In cases
where this way of approval, from a visual representation of the ripped data all the way to
a contract proof, was not chosen, it is an indication that quality is not of primary concern.
Here the service provider might consult the provisions outlined for the conversion of Office
PSD- Data Workflow
PDF documents in chapter 3. The described schema is illustrated in Figure 6.1.
Fogra PSD
Colour Rendering Type
FCR-Side by Side
Yes
PrintReady
[preprared FCR-MediaRelative Print
for PC?]
PCR
No
Optimize
PSD-Recommendations
PC: Printing Condition

[Output Intend]
FCR: Full Colour Reference
PCR: Partial Colour Reference Yes
Additional
Approval?
No
Fig. 6.1: Schematic workflow of the colour reference to be choosen according to PSD. Incoming data will be
checked whether it is print-ready or not. After an optimization according to chapter 3 and an optional but
recommended approval the reference printing condition (e.g. FOGRA51) can be matched either media relatively
or absolutely (Side-by-Side).

6. Evaluation of print products

From colour to the printed image
6.2 From colour to the printed image
Conformity of print products is most restricted toward the accuracy to which the colours
have been reproduced. Prior definition of expected image and product quality can be based
on specific print image quality criteria. These criteria address colour rendition, homogeneity
(uniformity), resolution, and artefacts, in addition to permanence aspects such as light fast-
ness or rub resistance. These four (five) categories are the pillars of the process independent
evaluation of printed matter.
Certainly, colour accuracy plays a dominant role. In chapter 2.6 it was shown that the es-
tablished way of colour reproduction and viewing does not reflect typical uses cases well.
Hence the colour reproduction according to PSD will be extended by taking the following
aspects, which are also part of ISO 15311, into consideration:
¬ Evaluation of print image quality based on process independent image quality attrib-
utes. Print quality attributes are categorized into colour and surface finish, homogene-
ity, resolution and artefacts, plus permanence requirements.
¬ Consideration of different colour reproduction/viewing types, namely: Side-by-Side and
media relative.
¬ Facing the different needs of different market sectors by providing alternative toler-
ance bands termed A, B and C.
This additional information requires prior agreement and negotiation between the print
buyer and the service provider. Therefore an exemplary job sheet is provided in section 1.3.


System-Check and Print-Check
6.3 System-Check and Print-Check
Evaluating print products quickly results in the finding that it is impossible to address dif-
ferent use cases with only one set of requirements. In light of different market requirements
Hint:
different requirements will be stipulated both for the manufacturer’s needs to rigorously
In the area of proof
test full systems and the printer’s needs to test their individual print job: or validation print
creation, the three
levels (manufac-
Manufacturer: To check if an entire system, comprising of representative machine and turer, creator and
material parameters, meets the criteria set out for one of three quality types for typical user) have been
established. The
industrial printing machines or system applications (System Check). The system check is
PSD-certification
not part of PSD. Please consult the DPWG mailing list to stay up to date. corresponds to a so
called site-certi-
fication whereas
Printers/Print buyers: To check if a specific combination meets the defined requirements the system check
for a typical industrial print job (Print Check or PSD Print Check) refers to a manu-
facturer system
certification and
The PSD only requires the print check and not the system check! the print check
refers to a user/job
level evaluation.
Each print check shall comprise of:
OK-Sheet
¬ Colour Accuracy (to be done by measuring the Fogra Media Wedge V.3)
¬ Uniformity (to be done by visual assessment)
¬ Mis-registration (to be done by visual assessment)
Print Run evaluation
The results of the visual assessment should be reported in the job sheet or within the online
reporting and quality tracking system.


Image Appraisal: Side-by-Side and media relative
6.4 Image Appraisal: Side-by-Side and media relative
Concrete methods for evaluating colour rendering between an original and a reproduction
are known since the publication of the 1931 CIE standard observer - hence for more than
Hint:
80 years. They are referring to an image appraisal that assumes a simultaneous viewing
While the quality
of both the original and the reproduction - positioned juxtaposed. This way of appraisal of the established
is called “Side-by-Side”. The plethora of devices and substrates in digital printing and the reproduction
method (side-by-
corresponding variety of use cases challenge this concept of colour reproduction/viewing. side) results from
The most prominent nature of the absolute reproduction is the paper simulation, which is the simultaneous
comparison of two
needed to compensate for the different paper shades. Such a paper simulation, however, is
adjacent prints
often not needed for many use cases or applications. Just the contrary, often print prod- under norm light,
ucts with a paper simulation are refused by the print buyer. That is the case since the print the media relative
approach is con-
product won’t be seen directly next to the original in a “Side-by-Side” fashion. Hence print ducted as follows:
service providers are faced or demanded to switch off the paper simulation. The established ¬ Test person sees
reference (proof,
“PSO-like” evaluation would most likely result in non conformance due to the colour dif-
softproof or Vali-
ference in the paper colour. dation Print)
For this reason, an old-fashion method, e. g. known from densitometry, will be used, which ¬ Test person takes
a break while
normalizes or adapts for the paper colour. This approach is simplified by considering colours the reference is
relatively to white. Allowance is made for the fact that observers tend to perceive not in removed.
¬ Test person sees
isolation but with reference to a framework provided by the environment. Such a frame-
the reproduction
work is often the (unprinted) substrate. The media relative approach is intended for those (by itself) and
applications where the final print product is subject for individual viewing or observation. It compares the
quality with their
assumes that the observer fully adapts to the individual substrate, which is practically the memory.
case for most non-colour media. While keeping a certain level of predictability this media
relative reproduction (and evaluation) is not applicable without limits. For instance it makes
no sense to render from FOGRA51 (“premium coated offset”) to IFRA26 (“newspaper print-
ing”). For that reason there are detailed requirements for the source and destination gamut
to make sure that both gamuts are similar in size and shape.
In case image content needs to be reproduced on a gamut that is substantially smaller

than the reference, large colour differences can be expected. These depend on the used
gamut mapping algorithm and the actual gamut differences. If gamut mapping algo-
rithms originating from different vendors are used, the reproduction might show signifi-
cant differences. That is practically termed “not consistent”.
This fact calls for another approach which allows for consistent rendering across dif-
ferent gamuts. Such an approach is termed “common appearance” and still an active
field of research. It is planned to incorporate such an approach as soon there is enough
substantiation for a practical, vendor neutral implementation.


Colour accuracy for production printing
6.5 Colour accuracy for production printing

Hint:
The following tolerances are part of the PSD PrintCheck. It is necessary that the Fogra It is recommended
to use both visual
MediaWedge V3 is present. In cases where imposition does not allow for a control wedge, a images and test el-
dedicated testform (e. g. the Fogra Image Quality testform or the process control test form ements for the test
form prepared in
including customer specific images and control elements) should be printed prior and after
CMYK. The Fogra
the print run, undergoing the same data transformation as the pertinent image data. testform can be
used to get some
ideas.
Spot colours:
Spot colours typically occur in three different ways. The most prominent way is the usage
of a solid, e. g. 100% Fogra-Red. The second occurrence is the usage as tint values, e. g.
50% Fogra-Red. The most complex way is the usage of spot colours that overprint with
other process or spot colours (e. g.: 30 % Fogra-Red on top of 80 % „Warm Grey“ and 25 %
Cyan). Hint:
ProcessStandard Digital (PSD) currently only covers the first occurrence, namely the usage Simulating spot
of spot colours as solids. It is important for the colour communication to agree on the refer- colours with
process colours
ence to be used. It is recommended to use either a physical sample or the colour definition often requires
as part of a PDF/X file (colorants dictionary entry). the usage of tints
Here it is not of primary concern if the spot colour is reproduced by means of a separate instead of solids.
Depending on the
colorant or by overprinting of the process colours. However, for process control reasons it used screening
plays a vital role due to screening effects and risk of higher variation within the print run. this might result in
unwanted uniform-
ity problems. In
Accuracy of evaluation addition the inter-
When evaluating prints it is important to take the correct rounding into consideration. The play of 2 or more
colorants is prone
basic rule is that the measurements shall be rounded to the precision of the given tolerance. to higher variations
Two examples are given in the following tables: than using only
one ink.
Rounding Value ∆E*ab Tolerance: ∆E*ab≤ 3 - Result
Not rounded - wrong 3.451 Wrongly rounded, outside tolerance
Rounded to two decimals 3.45 Wrongly rounded, outside tolerance
- wrong
Rounded to one decimals 3.5 Wrongly rounded, outside tolerance
- wrong
Rounded to zero decimals 3 Rounded correctly, compliant (within tolerances)
(integer) - right
Tab. 6.1: Example for how to round measurements. Since the tolerance is an integer the rounding shall be done
with zero decimals.
Rounding Value ∆E*ab Tolerance: ∆E*ab≤ 3.0 - Result
Not rounded - wrong 3.451 Wrongly rounded, outside tolerance
Rounded to two decimals 3.45 Wrongly rounded, outside tolerance
- wrong
Rounded to one decimals 3.5 Rounded correctly, outside tolerance
- right
Rounded to zero decimals 3 Wrongly rounded, but erroneously within
(integer) - wrong tolerances
Tab. 6.2: Example for how to round the measurements in order to assess conformity. The measurement value
must be rounded to one decimal (as defined by the tolerance). In this case there is no compliance.

6.5.1 OK-Sheet: Side-by-Side Evaluation
The deviation tolerances are derived from comparing the OK-print with the corresponding Hint:
values of the reference printing condition. It could be thought of as the ability of a printing New tolerances
for side-by-side
system to be successfully calibrated as demonstrated by the colour difference between the and media relative
“first” sheet (OK-sheet) and the reference characterization data set. Table 6.3 lists the tol- evaluation!
erances for the three tolerance bands A, B and C for the practical evaluation (print check).
The new tolerances
The PSD Print Check colour accuracy evaluation is limited to the Fogra Media Wedge V3.0. shall be denoted
An extended scrutiny, e.g. based on large test charts, is subject for the system check. “PSD 2016”
and the old ones
“PSD 2011”.
Patch in digital Quality Type C Quality Type B Quality Type A
printing form
Substrate ∆E 00
*
< 3.5 ∆E 00
*
< 3.5 ∆E 00
*
< 3.5
All patches Average ∆E 00
*
< 5.5 Average ∆E 00
*
*
< 2.5
95% Quantile ∆E 00
*
< 6.5 95% Quantile ∆E 00
*
< 5.5 95% Quantile ∆E 00
*
< 4.5
Grey Balance Maximum ∆C h ≤ 5.5b Maximum ∆C h ≤ 4.5b Maximum ∆C h ≤ 3.5b
patches*
* ∆C h is explained in chapter 2.3.
Tab. 6.3: Deviation tolerances for Side-by-Side reproductions.
The reproduction of spot colours shall meet the requirements stipulated in Table 6.4.
Quality Type C Quality Type B Quality Type A

Maximum colour ∆E 00
*
< 5.5 ∆E 00
*
< 3.5 ∆E 00
*
< 2.5
difference
Tab. 6.4: CIEDE2000 tolerances for spot colours.
It is recommended to check the spot colours coverage of the typical production printing
combinations in order to identify and use a combination that allows for an appropriate spot
colour match.
Note: Spot colours are typically distinguished between “process ink emulation” and “real
spot colours” using an additional ink. The latter one often results in a more uniform re-
production since there are no screening effects. Spot colours not within the gamut of the
chosen printing combination are handled the same way as CMYK content which lies out
of gamut. The benefit of using “real spot colours” will automatically become obvious when
saturated spot colours ought to be reproduced to a high degree, i. e. comprising a small
colour difference.

Colour accuracy for production printing
6.5.2 OK-Sheet: Media Relative Evaluation
The control strip shall be the Fogra Media Wedge CMYK V.3. The media-relative evaluation
is only applicable for actual printing gamuts similar in size and shape to the gamut of the
Hint:
reference printing condition, see Table 6.5. In order to evaluate the gamut difference the
Use the free
following 10 patches need to be measured for both the reference and the actual printing Excel spread-sheet:
condition: www.fogra.org/
en/fogra-stand-
¬ Process colour black for the reference (Ref_K100) and actual (Act_K100), ardization/digital-
¬ Composed Grey for the reference (Ref_CMY100) and actual (Act_CMY100) and printing-2-48/
digital-printing-
¬ Overprints of the chromatic process colours for the reference (Ref_CK100, Ref_MK100,
standardization.
Ref_YK100) and actual (Act_CK100, Act_MK100, Act_YK100). html
Based on the minimum CIEL* lightness values for the reference (Ref_Min_CIEL_Dark) and
the actual printing condition (Act_Min_CIEL_Dark) it will be checked if the shadow parts
are comparable. In order to compare the highlight areas, the CIEL* lightness difference of
the measurements of the substrate patch of the reference (Ref_paper) and the actual print-
ing condition (Act_paper) will be computed.
Black point difference White Point difference

Tolerance |Act_Min_CIEL_Dark, ∆E*00 (Ref_paper, Act_paper) < 6.5 (5.5)
Quality A Ref_Min_CIEL_Dark| < 3.5
Quality B Ref_Min_CIEL_Dark| < 10.5
Quality C Ref_Min_CIEL_Dark| < 15.5
Tab. 6.5: CIELAB tolerances for gamut differences to check if media-relative is applicable. The colour differ-
ences for the white colour are very similar when using ∆E*ab or CIEDE2000. The CIEDE2000 tolerances shall take
precedence. CIELAB 1976 colour differences are given in brackets.
Only if the criteria of Table 6.5 have been met, the media relative evaluation shall be con-
ducted. For the PSD print check evaluation, the 72 patches of the Fogra Media Wedge V3.0
shall be used. The colour differences shall agree with Table 6.6.
Patches in digital Quality Type C Quality Type B Quality Type A Hint:

printing form Media relative
All Patches Average ∆E 00
*
*
*
< 2.5 CIELAB-colour
95% Quantile ∆E 00<8.5 95% Quantile ∆E 00<6.5 95% Quantile ∆E 00
* * *
<4.5 values can be
detected easily
Grey Balance Maximum ∆C h ≤ 4.5 Maximum ∆C h ≤ 3.5 Maximum ∆C h ≤ 2.5 when the paper has
patches a CIELAB value of
* ∆C h is explained in chapter 2.3. 100,0,0.
Tab. 6.6: Deviation tolerances for media-relative reproductions.
There is no media-relative evaluation for the reproduction of spot colours.

6.5.3 Stability within the run (production variation)
Contrary to deviation tolerances which define the difference between an OK-sheet and
tabulated data, the variation tolerances refer to the differences within one print run. In ISO
12647-2 and hence PSO the variation tolerances are evaluated by taking the OK-sheet (or
set-up sheet) as the reference. Print buyers look for consistent colour printed in different
locations and at different times. The best way to achieve within-run colour consistency is
to use the average value of the print run, and not the OK sheet, as the reference. The toler-
ances are depicted in Table 6.7.
In addition the variation tolerance, i.e. the ability of a printing system to maintain consist-
ency between the same colour patches printed in the same locations on the sheet over the
press run, is assessed by checking that at least 70% of the randomly picked sheets are in
conformance to the deviation tolerances. In order to evaluate a print run at least 20 sam-
ples must be randomly selected. The following patches needs to be taken into consideration.
¬ Primary and secondary colours („CMYKRGB“)
¬ Midtones (40 % to 50 %) of primary colours („50 % CMYK“)

CMYKRGB, max (95 % quantile max (95 % quantile max (95 % quantile
50 % CMYK ∆E 00
*
) < 5.5 ∆E 00
*
) < 3.5 ∆E 00
*
) < 1.5
Tab. 6.7: CIEDE2000 tolerances of primary and secondary colour solids and primary colour mid-tones – between
any print sample and the average of the 20 samples.
The “PSD PrintCheck Digital” is also available as a separate Fogra certification. Please con-
sult the webpage for more information.

Colour accuracy for large format signagne printing
6.6 Colour accuracy for large format signagne printing
The colour accuracy requirements are currently identical to those defined for production
printing.
The only difference is the imposition and the print-run evaluation. Here each print is con-
sidered as an OK-sheet.
The “PSD PrintCheck LFP” is also available as a separate Fogra certification. Please consult
the webpage for more information.


Permanence and Durability
6.7 Permanence and Durability
The definition of permanence requirements strongly depends on the individual use case,
to be defined in further parts of ISO 15311. It is not practical to name the magnitude of
available standards and procedures for physical properties, permanence behaviour and the
effect of environmental factors on printing materials. Therefore the relevant requirements
shall be defined by mutual agreement between the print buyer and the service provider.
Most permanence standards and practices are defined by ISO/TC 42/WG 5 “Physical prop-
erties and image permanence of photographic materials”. Here especially the standards
provided by TG 2 (Storage & Physical properties) and TG 3 (Colour, Prints) are of importance.
Important standards are ISO/CD 18938 which stipulates light stability, ISO/FDIS 18931
which defines humidity resistance or ISO 18936 and ISO 18924 which specify thermal sta-
bility.

7.

7 Practical Guidelines & User Tips

This chapter providers practical information for typical applications. These information are
mostly taken from the LFP Designer Guide from Color Alliance, hence the applications are
currently focussed on large format use cases. It is intended to extend this chapter with
additional applications during the course of time. Anyone is invited to share and discuss
information for both existing applications and new ones.
The different applications are structured in a way to answer typical questions such as:
¬ What is the appropriate printing system?
¬ What are the relevant permanence and durability properties?
¬ What aspects of date preparation, process control and quality assurance needs to
taken into consideration?
It should be noted that the permanence and durability recommendations are not associ-
ated with a concrete measurement method. First there are many proprietary solutions used
for the pertinent purposed. Second there are different national requirements, so what is
required in one country must not necessarily be required in another. The reader is advised
to consult the list of measurement methods outline in chapter 6.7.

7. Practical Guidelines & User Tips

Rollup | Banner Display
7.1 Rollup | Banner Display
Fig. 7.1: Typical RollUp banners.
The advantage of this quick and easy to set up display is its good portability. With most roll
displays, the base is also used to protect the rolled-up banner. The optimum print media
for this application are durable, scratch-resistant, easy to roll and not too thick. It can be
made of film or a textile.
If the display is to be used in front of a light or window, attention must be paid to the opac-
ity of the material. The block-out symbol identifies media which are 100% opaque.
In order for the graphic to be able to cope with frequent rolling and unrolling, the print
should be protected using lamination (cold or hot). This is particularly important when
printing with water-based inks to increase smear resistance. A laminate also offers good
UV protection, i.e. the inks will not fade.
Fig. 7.2: In a roll-up system the print is ideally protected for transport.

Suitable printing techniques:
Recommended properties:
‘No curling’ print media tend not to curl at the sides and are therefore particu-
larly suitable for hanging and banner applications. They are absolutely flat when
hung.
A largely scratch-resistant print medium withstands handling during produc-

tion, assembly, transport and when an application is being used, without being
damaged. Additional surface protection (laminate) increases durability.
A print medium that thoroughly dries quickly can be processed faster. That is
important for an optimized workflow, for example, when printing, laminating,
cutting, assembling and packing.

Rollup | Banner Display
Optional properties:
Print media with this symbol are opaque, i.e. nontransparent and block out light.
When used at trade shows, public buildings, or the like, a print medium with
flame retardant treatment should be used.
Suitable for cold lamination: a self-adhesive film is laminated onto the printing
material using rollers and protects the print from scratches, stains, moisture
and UV radiation. The thickness of and adhesive used on the two materials to be
bonded must be coordinated, otherwise blistering or curling may occur, i.e. the composite
rolls in on each side. Prints with water-based ink should be overlapped when laminated to
prevent moisture from penetrating at the edges.
Suitable for hot lamination: laminating film protects the print from scratches,
stains, moisture and UV radiation. Hot laminate films do not have backing paper.
The adhesive is thermally activated and applied under pressure, which creates a
flat, level surface. The high temperatures would cause vinyl materials and prints with sol-
vent-based inks to alter and/or melt. Hot lamination is best suited for the protection of
water-based prints.
Print media with this symbol can be very easily cut when cold. Materials with-
out this symbol are more complicated and should be cut with a hot cutter.
A largely crease-resistant textile or non-woven fabric withstands handling dur-

ing production, assembly, transport and when an application is being used,
without being damaged.


Folding Partitions | PopUp Display Systems
7.2 Folding Partitions | PopUp Display Systems
Photos: Expolinc AB
Fig. 7.3: Typical PopUp-Display
Portable pop-up or folding displays are often used as trade show partitions or advertising
partitions at the POS (Point of Sale) and can be assembled and disassembled rapidly. Printed
sheets are attached to magnetic rails on a folding, thin aluminium frame. The lightweight
and robust space-saving design can be stowed in a transport box.
The surface of the print media should be protected with an additional film for this applica-
tion because it is subjected to considerable wear due to frequent assembly and disassembly.

Fig. 7.4: Left: The components can be stowed in a transport box: folding frame, magnetic rails, lighting. Right:
Foldable and light: the aluminium frame.

hung.

You can use two measurements; one on white backing and one on black back-
ing. A material is opaque when both readings match.
water-based prints.

Soft Image Display System | Textile Folding Display
7.3 Soft Image Display System | Textile Folding Display
Photos: Expolinc AB
Fig. 7.5: A typical soft signage display.
A textile graphic is attached to a folding lattice structure to create a portable and very light
trade show or advertising wall. Since the textile remains on the system when it is folded,
the display is assembled or disassembled in seconds. There are no components that can be
lost.
Replacing the graphic is uncomplicated: the attached print is removed from the frame and
a new print attached. Suitable print media for a textile folding display should be crease-
resistant.
Fig. 7.6: The textile graphic remains on the lattice frame during transport and is thus quick to assemble and
disassemble.

Suitable properties:


Air-permeable print media are used for large formats in order to reduce wind
load.

Hanging Banners
7.4 Hanging Banners
Fig. 7.7: A typical hanging banner.
Banners for indoor applications which are hung are, for example, wall or ceiling mounted
and used on display systems with clamping rails. Film or textile printing media can be used.
It is advisable to use media that tend not to curl, i. e. roll in at the sides, and are straight
when hung.
Fig. 7.8: Mount panel, set telescopic rod to the

desired height – done.

hung.

Print media with this symbol are PVC-free. Low-emission materials should be
used in the home environment. PVC materials are not only problematic in terms
of disposal, the plasticizers can also pollute the indoor air.
ing. A material is opague when both readings match.
water-based prints.
load.

Backlit Advertising
7.5 Backlit Advertising
Fig. 7.9: Typical backlit applications.

Light boxes or backlit display systems also convey your advertising message at nighttime.
The backlighting of the print can intensify its brilliant effect.
Suitable print media include backlit film and banners or textiles with good scattering prop-
erties that can be used indoors and outdoors. It is important that the material can absorb a
reasonable amount of ink and that optimal colour saturation can be achieved.
Media with an adhesive backing are particularly well suited for fixing at the POS, for exam-
ple, on windows, glass doors or the Plexiglas inlays of light boxes.
A semi-transparent film is the basis for a clear, brilliant print image with even
light scattering and is therefore suitable for backlit applications.


water-based prints.
Suitable for liquid lamination: a layer of varnish protects the print from scratch-
es, stains, moisture and UV radiation. Liquid laminate protective coatings are
typically water or solvent-based, which are applied manually (by brush or roller)
or with a liquid lamination machine. In the case of eco-solvent prints, attention should be
paid to the suitability of the varnish. Most eco-solvent inks contain an additive that affects
the adhesion of unsuitable varnish.
Weatherproof print media are waterproof, UV-resistant, oil-resistant, dirt-re-

sistant and temperature-resistant; therefore, they are suitable for long-term to
continuous use during the specified service life.

Flags
7.6 Flags
Fig. 7.10: A typical flag.

The base material for flags and banners is air-permeable textiles (woven) and 100%
through-printing is sought. The prints may be used indoors and outdoors. For use outdoors,
high UV resistance and weather resistance are important.
Fig. 7.11: Depending on the size and application of the flag, an X-foot, ground anchors, base filled with water or
sand, or a metal base plate are suitable for erecting safely.

hung.



Further properties:
For colour measurements it is recommended to use self backing. In other words use as many
layers (comprising the same image content) as needed that any aditional layer won’t change
the reading anymore.

Facade Banners
7.7 Facade Banners
Fig. 7.12: Typical facade banners.
Large format outdoor banners are usually mounted on facades or scaffolding. They are
printed in lengths of up to 5 m and if necessary placed side by side. Seams are stitched or
eyelets attached (usually with reinforcing strips) for mounting. In the case of very large
banners and depending on the degree of wind load, air-permeable mesh material should be
used. Weather resistance and UV resistance are very important criteria for facade banners.
If the banner is fixed to a building, the use of flame-retardant material is required by law.
Due to the large viewing distance of a facade or scaffold banner, the resolution of the im-
age data can be reduced significantly in order to avoid an overwhelming amount of data.
The edge of the banner should not contain important elements, because eyelets/seams are
placed there.
To fix outdoor banners on scaffolding, fences, or the like, an inkjet print is

mounted using eyelets and braced.
Using hot-air or high frequency welding, lengths of material can be connected

permanently and therefore any format – far beyond the maximum print width
– is achievable. Hot-air welding is more favorable; however, more robust seams
can be produced with high-frequency welding equipment.

important for an optimized workflow, for example, when printing, laminating, cutting, as-
sembling and packing.
load.


Highly tear-resistant print media are coated fabrics which withstand the high-
est stresses.


Truck Tarpaulins
7.8 Truck Tarpaulins
Fig. 7.13: A typical truck tarpaulins.
Truck tarpaulins are a coated fabric, which must be extremely tear-proof, waterproof,
weatherproof and very durable. The print must also be UV-resistant. The tarpaulins can
be welded, stitched and fitted with eyelets for processing. Every format – far beyond the
maximum print width – can be produced by welding and thus permanently connecting the
individual print lengths.
There are two methods: hot-air or high frequency welding. Hot-air welding is more favour-
able; however, more robust seams can be produced with high-frequency welding equip-
ment. Lamination with varnish (liquid lamination) can be used as a surface sealant for truck
tarpaulins.

Using hot-air or high frequency welding, lengths of material can be connected

permanently and therefore any format – far beyond the maximum print width
– is achievable. Hot-air welding is more favorable; however, more robust seams
can be produced with high-frequency welding equipment.


To fix outdoor banners on scaffolding, fences, or the like, an inkjet print is

mounted using eyelets and braced.
Durable, air-impermeable print media.
Highly tear-resistant print media are coated fabrics which withstand the high-
est stresses.

Car Wrapping
7.9 Car Wrapping
Fig. 7.14: Typical car wrapping applications.
Car wrappings are exposed to the weather; therefore, their quality must be correspondingly
high. For optimal processing, they should also be flexible and tear-resistant.
Car wrappings are made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which is a brittle, hard plastic that is
made flexible by adding plasticizers. Crucial to the durability of the film (also to the price)
is the type of plasticizer used and the manufacturing process. PVC films can be produced
relatively simply and inexpensively using a system of rollers (calender) or cast - a compli-
cated and therefore more expensive method that produces high-quality products.

Car wrapping films are practically categorized according to their base material and the as-
sociated (estimated) shelf life:
“3-year film”
For flat surfaces, such as a logo on the (smooth) side of a van.
Material: monomeric plasticized PVC, calendered.
Monomeric calendered films are intended for short term use. The monomeric plasticizer
evaporates relatively quickly, especially when heated. This leads to shrinkage, which may
cause the film to tear. Calendered films are inexpensive; however, depending on the manu-
facturer their service life is limited to up to three years. Since calendered films possess a
kind of memory effect and return to their original form, they are suitable mainly for use on
smooth and level surfaces.
“5-year film”
For level and curved surfaces, such as a logo on a slightly rounded hood.
Material: polymeric plasticized PVC, calendered.
Polymeric calendered films are designed for medium-term use. The plasticizer evaporates
much less and the film remains supple for longer. Since calendered films possess a kind of
memory effect and return to their original form, they are suitable mainly for use on smooth
and level surfaces.
“7-year film”
For flat and curved surfaces, beading, corners, edges, e.g. complete car wrapping.
Material: polymeric plasticized PVC, cast.
Cast films are weatherproof and designed for long-term use. Their shrinkage properties are
minimal, they are suitable for 3D wrapping and they have no memory effect.

Sunshades
7.10 Sunshades
Fig. 7.15: Typical sunshade applications.
Individually printable blind and sunshade materials are exposed to considerable stresses.
Good scratch-resistance and a high degree of light-fastness are indispensable. The materi-
als are coated on both sides and possess good hanging stability. The print medium used
for a blind application should hang very straight and must not curl at the edges even after
long use.
As with all permanent applications for interior spaces, attention should be paid to selecting
a PVC-free material for the media since doing so will prevent the indoor air from becoming
polluted. A barrier layer which blocks UV radiation is required for use as a sunshade.
hung.


ing. A material is opaque when both readings match.

Wallpaper
7.11 Wallpaper
Photo: BONACKER digital&mehr, www.bonacker.de
Fig. 7.16: Typical wallpaper applications.
Individually printable wallpapers offer many new possibilities for wall design, both in pri-
vate homes and in commercial spaces: logo wallpaper for walls in the corporate design,
with its own motives and photos ...
They differ from printed panels or braced prints with their special surface, tactile properties
and simple processing. Digitally printable wallpaper can have either a smooth surface or be
embossed. For printable wallpaper, as with all materials intended for long-term use in the
home environment attention should be paid that they are open to diffusion, PVC-free and
thus guarantee a good indoor climate.

The wall adhesion technique makes it particularly easy for the user. A high-
quality, dimensionally stable non-woven wallpaper need not be laid out and
pasted, but can be placed directly on a wall that has been treated with standard
non-woven fabric adhesive. Since dispersion adhesive is not used, the wallpaper can be
stripped in a dry state in the event of a renovation.

load.

Art reproduction
7.12 Art reproduction
Fig. 7.17: Typical Art reproductions.
Art reproductions look best on a material that comes close to the original canvas. Coated
canvas media have a linen-like, textured surface yet still guarantee a sharp print.
A digitally printed canvas can be mounted on a classic wedge frame made of wood. A suit-
able medium must not tear or fray when stapled and should be flexible and durable.
Even more print media, non-woven fabrics for example, are suitable for modern clamping
frame systems made of aluminium, since it is possible to mount on these without using
staples. Changing the image is very simple and straightforward. With very light but durable
aluminium profiles, it is not possible for the frame to distort. Almost all flexible printing
media (canvas, textiles, non-woven fibre fabrics, wallpaper) are suitable for such an appli-
cation. In terms of fire protection, the modern clamping system made of aluminium is far
superior to its combustible colleagues made of wood when a flame-retardant print medium
is used. Stapling is not necessary with modern clamping systems made using aluminium.
The image is glued and secured with clips and supporting wedges.
Fig. 7.18: A material with a canvas structure is used for many art reproductions.




Posters
7.13 Posters
Fig. 7.19: A typical poster application.
Amongst other things, posters are used in poster frames, folding frames or as customer
stoppers. High resolution, brilliant inks and good protection against mechanical stress and
colour fading are the most important criteria for poster printing.
In general, the largest colour space can be achieved with water-based inks. Surface protec-
tion is very important in order to achieve an enduring print.

Fig. 7.20: Poster profiles are available in various colours and can be reused.

hung.

water-based prints.

Book Cover
7.14 Book Cover
Fig. 7.21: Typical book covers.
Individually printable book cover fabrics are indispensable in the book-on-demand seg-
ment. These materials offer the possibility to furnish individually-made books with a stand-
ard durable cover. Specially refined surfaces make for good print quality and detail repro-
duction as well as good scratch-resistance and abrasion-resistance. For good adhesion and
glue dense processing, it is important to ensure that the reverse side of the cover material
is appropriately furnished.



Certification according to the PSD requirements
8 PSD-Certification
8.1 Certification according to the PSD requirements
The Process Standard Digital (PSD) was developed by Fogra. It is the description of an in-
dustrially orientated and standardized procedure for the creation of digital print products.
Using the PSD certificate, service providers can show their quality approach and their over-
all understanding of the output processes. Successful implementation of the PSD provides
printers with the benefits of improved cost, quality and time performance, with better
sustainability and reduced waste.
General Prerequisites
¬ Hardware: Handheld colour measuring device including a means for drift detection
(exemplary evaluation)
¬ Software: PDF- and EPS-based colour transforms, data preflight using PDF/X-Ready
profiles, Fogra Media Wedge CMYK V.3
Identification of 3 “combinations”
Each to be certified company has to identify three combinations (i.e. setup of substrate,
printer, print mode and driving) for the one day audit. Those three combinations should
comprise of typical setups for the print shop and different printers unless there is only one
machine used. In that case the combinations might differ in another component such as the
substrate or screening. Please use the provided spreadsheet to specify the three combina-
tions. It also contains examples.
If the print shop does not use a proof/printer combination separate from these three pro-
duction print combinations for creating references according to ISO 12647-7 (contract
proof) or ISO 12647-8 (validation print), a reference in full compliance to either one of
these standards has to be printed using one of this three combinations.
Preliminary tests:
¬ Successful completion of PDF/X-Creation
¬ Successful completion of PDF/X-Output for one of the three combinations
¬ Successful completion of FograCert Validation Print Creation for one of the three com-
binations or Contract Proof Creation or PSOprepress certification respectively
¬ ISO 3664 conforming viewing environment (by means of: FograCert Viewing Cabinet or
ISO 3664 conformance protocol of the manufacturer)
Conducting these certifications is only obligatory in regards to the PSD certification, which
does not mean you do not have to be able to perform these tasks. Therefore we strongly
recommend to conduct these tests in order to analyze potential gaps and ways to improve
them ahead of time. In any case, the individual aspects and their compliance with PSD will
be tested during the audit.

8. PSD-Certification
On-site checks:
¬ Output process control:
1. Quality management: Usage of methods for periodical process control (at least for the
three combinations) - based on the Fogra Media Wedge V3.
2. Monitoring: Usage of quality assurance means to report and analyze the drift (at least
for the three combinations)
3. Calibration (against a reference): Means for correcting and corrective action in order to
repeatably achieve the ground state (at least for the three combinations)
¬ Colour Fidelity:
1. Print output according to draft ISO/TS 15311-2 or -3 against a reference printing con-
dition (for the three combinations)
2. The chosen combinations and quality levels will be listed on the Fogra webpage.
¬ Workflow:
1. Light-audit: Scrutiny of (at least) one viewing condition where colour critical appraisal
is possible (ISO 3664)
2. Preflight: Finding 7 out of 10 errors in a PDF file that will be sent to you two weeks
before the audit
3. PDF/X creation: Compliant PDF/X-Creation
4. PDF/X output: Consistent PDF/X-processing and -output
5. Altona Test Suite: Understanding the gist of the important elements and raise aware-
ness for potential limitations of the used workflows (to be checked for the three com-
binations).
6. Profile-handling: Configuring and conducting a PDF colour transformation of a RGB-
based office PDF toward a selectable reference printing condition (e.g. FOGRA39).
7. Know-how: Print and separation related analyzis of one of the three combinations
(by means of the preferred tone value sum, separation strategy, variability, achievable
gamut etc).
Checklist – An overview
Fig. 8.1: How to get the Fogra PSD certification.
You can also download the checklist from the webpage.

Checklist – PSD Certification
8.2 Checklist – PSD Certification
Introduction
The following tables are intended for preparing you for certification according to Fogra
PSD. The necessary prerequisites are marked with “shall”. In addition we kindly ask you to
provide information that is also important but not normative (“should”) and helps us pre-
paring for the certification audit at your premises. The checklist might also be used for your
internal quality measurement means regarding the professional communication of colour.
An important component of the PSD-certification is the identification of three representa-
tive system combinations. These are combinations (“combis”) of RIP, printing system, print
mode and the substrate, which are typical for your daily production. The list also covers the
type of colour appraisal namely Side-by-Side or media relative. This is important because it
influences the type of evaluation. The three combinations selected by you build the basis for
both the printing related and data related analysis during and after the audit.
Please fill out the tables properly and then send it to Fogra. Please also name the contact
person being responsible for the organisational handling of the certification. We will then
contact you.
Recommended certifications (FograCert)

Require- Certification FograCert No. Date of cer-
ment (expert opinion) tification and
expiration:
Should Successful completion of PDF/X-Creation
Should Successful completion of PDF/X-Output for one

of the three combinations
Should* Successful completion of FograCert Validation
Print Creation or Contract Proof Creation for one
of the three combinations
Tab. 8.1: Required certifications. All certifications muss be valid during the period of the audit must be scheduled.
*: If you are already using a proofing system that is certified according to FograCert CPC or FograCert VPC this
requirement is considered as fulfilled.
Devices
Require- Task Name of device Last maintained
ment / Expiration:
Shall Handheld colour measurement device (45°:0° or
0°/45° geometry)
Shall Means to identify drifts of the measurement
devices (e.g. Ceramics, X-Rite Netprofiler, Techkon
SpectroCheck, individual light- and scratch
resistant samples)
Shall ISO 3664 conforming viewing environment (by
means of: FograCert Viewing Cabinet or ISO 3664
conformance protocol of the manufacturer)
Tab. 8.2: Devices that are required to be present (and in use).

Used Software (packages)

Require- Used Software In use (Name) Remarks
ment
Shall Quality management software
http://www.fogra.org/index.php?
menuid=389&downloadid=289&reporeid=265
Should Adobe Acrobat Pro
Shall* PDFX-ready Preflight Profiles V2

www.pdfx-ready.ch
Tab. 8.3: Needed or recommended software programs. The PDF/X-ready V2 profiles might not be available for all
workflows. If there are no profiles for your workflow, you won’t need them.
Control wedges
Require- Control wedge In use? Remarks
ment
Shall* Fogra Media Wedge CMYK V.3
Should Further wedges
Tab. 8.4: Needed control wedges. We recommend to use the MediaWedge V.3.
Identification of 3 representative system combinations

According to Fig. 8.1 you submit the overview of the three combinations at a later time.
However we kindly ask you to think about which combinations to use. You should also
check those combinations against the requirements defined in ISO/TS 15311-2 and ISO/TS
15311-3 respectively.
Require- Task Prepared? Further

ment questions?
Shall Fill out form of combinations:
http://www.fogra.org/index.php?menuid=389&do
wnloadid=297&reporeid=265
Tab. 8.5: Identification of three typical, i. e. representative combinations
General Information
Quality management can be considered to have four main components: quality planning,
quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. Quality management is focused
not only on product/service quality, but also on the means to achieve it. With this in mind,
we ask you to write down the following information about your company organization and
the available/used equipment. In cases where standard operating procedures (SOPs) as re-
quired in ISO 9001 are available, please comment appropriately.

Checklist – PSD Certification
Information regarding the business organization

Task Responsible person Remarks
Job preparation
Workflow
Data acceptance and preflight
Material check
Printer calibrations
Quality assurance
Continuing Education
Logistics
Customer satisfaction
Tab. 8.6: Information regarding the business organization.
Available literature
Literature In Use (PDF or Print out) Remarks
MediaStandard Print (MSP) 2010
GWG Output Suite manual
Altona Test Suite (ATS V1 und V2)

Documentation
Fogra Softproof Handbook V1-
Further literature
Articles at: http://www.fogra.org/

fogra-forschung/tb-digitaldruck/
expertenwissen/expertenwissen.
html
Subscription of Mailing-lists (ECI,
etc)
ISO Standards
Tab. 8.7: Available literature.

Available digital packages

Package In Use (PDF or Print out) Remarks
GWG (Ghent Working Group) test
forms
Excel Spreadsheet: ISO 3664
Evaluation using handheld
devices [http://www.fogra.org/
fogra-forschung/medienvorstufe/
abgeschlossen/normlicht-1-225/
downloads-normlicht/downloads-
normlicht.html]
Altona Test Suite V.1 and V.2
Roman 16 reference images
Fogra digital print test forms*
Further?
Tab. 8.8: Available test packages. * The Fogra digital printing test forms can be downloaded at: http://www.fogra.
org/index.php?menuid=37&reporeid=208&getlang=en

All PSD requirements at a glance
TIP: Ripping out this page provides you with a
handy overview over all “PSD 2016” tolerances!
8.3 All PSD requirements at a glance
OK-Sheet: Side-by-Side Evaluation

¬ Tolerances:
Patch in digital Quality Type C Quality Type B Quality Type A
printing form
Substrate ∆E 00
*
< 3.5 ∆E 00
*
< 3.5 ∆E 00
*
< 3.5
All patches Average ∆E < 5.5
*
00
Average ∆E < 4.5 *
00
Average ∆E 00
*
< 2.5
95% Quantile ∆E 00< 6.5 95% Quantile ∆E 00< 5.5 95% Quantile ∆E 00
* * *
< 4.5
Grey Balance Maximum ∆C h ≤ 5.5* Maximum ∆C h ≤ 4.5* Maximum ∆C h ≤ 3.5*
patches*
¬ Reproduction of Spot Colours:

Maximum colour ∆E 00
*
< 5.5 ∆E 00
*
< 3.5 ∆E 00
*
< 2.5
difference
OK-Sheet: Media Relative Evaluation

¬ Check whether a media relative evaluation is applicable:
Black point difference White Point difference
Quality A Ref_Min_CIEL_Dark| < 3.5
Quality B Ref_Min_CIEL_Dark| < 10.5
Quality C Ref_Min_CIEL_Dark| < 15.5
¬ Tolerances:
Patches in digital Quality Type C Quality Type B Quality Type A
printing form
All Patches Average ∆E 00
*
*
*
< 2.5
95% Quantile ∆E 00<8.5 95% Quantile ∆E 00<6.5 95% Quantile ∆E 00
* * *
<4.5
Grey Balance Maximum ∆C h ≤ 4.5 Maximum ∆C h ≤ 3.5 Maximum ∆C h ≤ 2.5
patches
¬ There is no media-relative evaluation for the reproduction of spot colours.
Stability within the print run

¬ Tolerances:
CMYKRGB, max (95 % quantile max (95 % quantile max (95 % quantile
50 % CMYK ∆E 00
*
) < 5.5 ∆E 00
*
) < 3.5 ∆E 00
*
) < 1.5

FOGRA PSD Process Standard Digital

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

FOGRA PSD Process Standard Digital

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

FOGRA PSD Process Standard Digital

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ProcessStandard

Fogra Graphic Technology Research Association

Author: Andreas Kraushaar

The PSD has three main objectives.

1. Output process control - Achieving a repeatable print output

3. PDF/-X compliant workflow

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 3

The PSD-concept is visualized in Fig 1.1.

1. Output Process 2. Colour Fidelity

✔ PDF/X Creation ✔ Altona Test Suite V1 & V2 ✔ Light Audit

4 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

3 Basics for data preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 5

4 Image Appraisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

5 Process Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

6 Evaluation of print products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

7 Practical Guidelines & User Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

6 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 7

8 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

1.2 Colour Communication in digital printing

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 9

1.2.1 Requirements for colour reference visualizations

From on press proof to contract proof

When is a digital print a proof?

10 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

The role of the colour reliable proof within the workflow

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 11

The „Validation Print“ – The colour reference in the design stage

Certification, ISO standardization and day by day production

12 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

ISO 12647-7 Substrate All Patches Near Neutral Primaries Primaries

Average ∆H ≤ 1.5 ∆H ≤ 2.5 ∆E*ab ≤ 5

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 13

Requirement Contract Proof according to ISO Validation Print according to ISO

Tab. 1.2: Required items of the status line.

14 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

1.2.2 Requirements for production printing

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 15

16 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

1.3 Interfaces and Responsibilities

As already described, all of the guidelines and recommendations should be interpreted in an

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 17

Proposal for a practical PSD compliant job sheet

A-Nr. 135711 PSD Job sheet Template

Customer Customer-Nr. 12345 Agency Your Contact

Run length: 100 Schedule Date

Material  Paper ordered  Paper at warehouse  Paper by customer

Sheets Sheets Format SG/LG Description g/m² Cut to Sheet

18 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

1.4 Substrate choice defines the print output

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 19

20 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

Practical plausibility check of colour measurement values

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 21

PSD Substrate conformance – Visual based plausibility test

22 PSD ProcessStandard Digital

On-Press and Off-press substrates - Is the difference needed?

Practical recommendation for media selection

PSD ProcessStandard Digital 23

CIE hue angle: hab = arctan (b/a).