This document covers the best practises needed to ensure that all parties involved in paper trials, end customers, printers and paper merchants and mills can achieve the optimum results on the chosen stock.

It is aimed at the web offset publishing markets, however it can be used for other print markets and printing methods.

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I have been using my Myiro-1 for nearly 10 months now as my main handheld­­, computer attached spectrophotometer.

The instrument from Konica Minolta Imaging is clearly aimed as the first creditable competitor to well known market leading spectrophotometer in this area.

It’s build quality is good, a strong plastic body with a ‘lens cap’ [...]

Well, yes and no, not a lot for the past few months on my site. However, this is mainly due to me writing for FESPA, as their Colour Ambassador and for the Konica Minolta user group, Prokom.

 There is lots of content covering many areas of colour management on both sites, including training videos and [...]

After visiting this year’s event I came away wondering if this was the time when continuous feed inkjet presses took their place as a creditable replacement for sheet fed offset litho in the most demanding commercial printing markets?

First, a digression, ‘continuous feed’ and also ‘cut sheet’ are what the digital press suppliers call web-fed [...]

Following on from last years launch of a ‘bespoke’ icc profile for Stora Enso’s PrimaPress lightweight super calendared publication paper, their Technical Customer Services team in Europe have now looked at their range of book papers.

 With the increased use of 4-colour process printing on the specialist book papers, using both digital and offset litho, [...]

Earlier this year, what was formerly called the BPIF ISO 12647 Certification Scheme was relaunched as the BPIF Colour Quality Scheme.

The revision to the scheme reflects changes in ISO printing standards and aligns its documentation requirements to those of ISO 9001:2015. 

This makes the scheme suitable for all ISO and bespoke printing conditions [...]

Printing across borders? It would appear not!

Firstly it would be a good idea to read my blog ‘Fogra 51 and 52 profiles do not match ISO 12647/2 2013 which is still true apart from the last paragraph!

The aim by the ISO [...]

Update 9/2017

With the increasing use of UV curing on sheet-fed offset litho presses, shown by the number of new installations and retro fits of UV curing to existing machines, the area covered below becomes very important and interesting due to the higher inks costs of the inks for all flavours of UV curing, [...]

Not a snappy title but it covers the issue I wish to discuss.

Many printing markets, such as packaging, point of sale and areas of the commercial sectors, due to the demands of the client, need to match brand, Pantone and other colours very accurately, often within De2000 2.5. This is a very [...]

So why does PrimaPress need a ‘special’ profile?

​​PrimaPress is a lightweight uncoated (LWU) mechanical paper with lightweight coated (LWC) properties. PrimaPress has a brilliant print gloss, high whiteness, opacity as well as with excellent runnability. It is for heat set web offset production and designed to replace lightweight coated papers.

The standard range [...]

So is this problem? Well it could be if you are trying to print to exactly match the CMYK and white paper Lab figures from in the current ISO 12647/2 2013 standard.

The reason for the difference  is, in itself, reasonable. The white paper Lab figures for the 8 ‘new’ papers in the standard, called [...]

Many will remember the ‘comfort’ of reviewing transparencies on a lightbox, and comparing them with proofs and printed sheets in light booths. What simple, happy days.

But how many transparencies or colour prints do we see these days; very few I think. Over the last 12 years, digital photography has taken over in both [...]