UPWORD (Universal Printing WOrkflows Diagram) Conciliating ISO Standards and Working Practices Elie Khoury RIT Gravure Day March 2012
Part 1 : Background 3 trends in the printing industry : Demand & Adoption of standards worldwide (Printers & Buyers) Strong divergence inside the standardization community about standards (scope and specifications) Standardization practices between EU (ISO12647) and USA (G7 )
ISO 12647 Published since 1996 Defines requirements, aims and tolerances to produce prints under standardized printing conditions Not originally designed to address print buyers needs (accurate, predictable and reproducible colors) Attempts to address print buyers need : Data Sets + ICC Profiles
Print buyers needs 1 - Accurate and Predictable colors : Problem : press which conforms ISO 12647 match print buyers expectations (data set) 2 - Reproductible colors across printing technologies : Problem : ISO 12647 = 8 parts designed more or less independently
ISO 12647 Limitations Printers can not easily achieve a similar visual appearance between different processes and substrates Large printers have to deal with multiple printing sites and technologies
TS 10128 and ISO 15339 series Shared Appearance concept : neutral CMY tone reproduction curve (0%-50% Cyan component) ISO TS 10128 recognizes NPDC calibration, ie G7 Limitation : does not define accurate printing conditions
TS 10128 and ISO 15339 series IDEAlliance, CGATS,... : Characterization data and associated ICC profiles under NPDC printing conditions for few printing conditions Define tolerances for assessing conformance ( G7 Master program Pass/Fail Requirements - ANSI/CGATS Printing Tolerance and Conformity Assessment ) Implemented in ISO15339
TS 10128 and ISO 15339 series ISO15339 : defined Gamuts having each its characterization data set (ICC profile) NPDC calibration ( Shared appearance ) across suggested gamuts Multiple tolerance schema for conformity assessment
TC 130 WG3 Printing Standards Issues ISO12647 & ISO15339 addressing ultimately the same user ISO 12647 (TVI calibration), NPDC (G7 calibration) have their roots in Process control Can ISO 12647 and ISO15339 be compatible? co-exist? Potential Technical, Economical... barriers, issues...
Universal Printing WORkflows Diagram (UPWORD) Look at the fruits (prints) instead of the roots (press) What is the purpose of a printing business? Color products that meet customer expectations Distinguish 3 areas : Customer expectations identification Needed printing process to fulfill these expectations Required reproduction accuracy accepted by the print buyer and the printer
Customer expectations identification Print Buyer and designer choose, design and use color images that they proof and approve. Applied to softproof or hardproof (PDF, images) : Characterization data set + ICC profile = unambiguous definition of colors Printer easily identify the print buyer s intended color space
Printing Conditions Case 1 - The printing process can naturally reproduce customer colors gamut and data set Case 2 - The printing process can reproduce customer colors gamut but not complete data set When? - if color space, screening, printer calibration customer data set Case 3 - The printing process can not reproduce customer colors gamut and data set When? - If printing process gamut customer colors gamut (in parts or entirely)
Case 1 - The printing process can naturally reproduce customer colors gamut and data set straight-forward printing
Case 2 - The printing process can reproduce customer colors gamut and but not complete data set an ICC color transformation can be used to match customer colors Printer can also use ICC based color management to softproof and hardproof press output in order to ensure that it matches.
Case 3 - The printing process can not reproduce customer colors gamut and data set An ICC color transformation can be used to map customer colors on the output process. ICC based softproof and hardproof can be produced in order to ensure that customer expectations are fulfilled.
Print Accuracy assessment criteria should be defined to measure how close the print is to the chosen data set
UPWORD Benefits for the Printer same press output (OA) in each case Customers colors (Data Set A) are reproduced regardless of the press calibration method
UPWORD Benefits for the Printer Does not require any new technology Most printers are familiar with technical requirements, just have to use them ore on a daily basis
UPWORD Benefits for the Print Buyer Allows print buyers to choose their preferred data set (IDEAlliance, FOGRA...) FOGRA 39L, Gracol2006... Allows printers and print buyers to work on commonly recognized assessment criteria and tolerances that make sense to the printed product quality and/or price (ISO 16761-x?)
UPWORD Benefits for ISO Standards Allow current printing standards to co-exist Requires relatively minor changes and adjustments in ISO Standards/Drafts Calls for conformance criteria that are related to customer expectations (multi-level tolerancing...) Calls for mesurement and assessment criteria that improve numerical and visual results (color difference formulae, substrate corrected color aims, backing correction...)
Does UPWORD Really Work? Graphic industry concerns and expectations ISO TC 130 WG3 Members concerns and expectations
Question: Scope of ISO printing standards Past should not dictate future, and standards should lead the industry. Standards will dictate the future only if we know how to bring together the different forces pulling to different directions and if we keep it as simple as possible for the users of the standards. Print buyers want their print to come out right and they don t really care what the printer is doing. The only thing that is of real importance to the print buyer is the color of the orange blouse, the brown chocolate cake, and the limegreen popsicle. If those colors are wrong, then the print job is wrong.
UPWORD s Answer: Scope of ISO printing standards UPWORD main objective : print color products that meet customers expectations. Customer s color reproduction expectations can be easily identified (Color Data Set, ICC Profile). ISO 15339 can list all standardized and recognized data sets, possibly with their corresponding ICC profiles
Question: can ISO 15339 and ISO 12647 co-exist? some experts are definitive about the fact that ISO 15339 and ISO 12647 can not be conciliated. What flexibility do we have around present solid and tonality aims in 15339 and 12647-2? The differences in colour reproduction and process control forces the misalignment between characterization data. From a purpose and practical point of view, this is as bad as having two sets of norms that basically addresses the same thing and it is the obvious trigger of the disagreement.
UPWORD s Answer: ISO 15339 and ISO 12647 can co-exist ISO 15339, ISO 12647 should not be compared, harmonized or opposed. ISO 15339 : defines internationally recognized characterization data sets ISO 12647 (parts 1-6): defines analog printing systems calibration and process control ISO 15311 (Digital Printing): defines digital printing systems calibration and process control ISO 16761-x (Requirements for Printing System Conformance) : defines multi-level conformance... The 3 printing standards do not overlap anymore!
UPWORD s Answer: ISO 15339 and ISO 12647 can co-exist Print Buyers have a standard that helps them define their expectations in terms of color reproduction (process dependant or independant data sets) ISO15339 Printers have a set of standards that help them calibrate, control, validate conformance to relevant standards (ISO 12647, TS 10128...) Having colorimetric aims via characterization data set, allows the manufacturer to manage his process with all the variables and produce the best possible reproduction for that location, those environmental conditions and that substrate.
UPWORD s Answer: TVI and NPDC (G7 ) can co-exist TVI and NPDC are a possible choice for printers to calibrate their printing systems, regardless of their technology Three options scenario, with a simple workflow solution to each one of them TVI and NPDC calibration methods should not be compared or opposed.
Question : What about Print assessment and conformance? With substrate correction, the task of the printer is to match adjusted reference data: no single printing condition with fixed aims, but a moving target dependent on the substrate colour. There will be a gap between customers expectations based on reference characterization data and the possibilities of the printer to match this expectations. I notice the lack of methods for evaluation and consequently the tolerances of the reproduction of a characterization data set "You know we sell the content not the color bar". Paper substrate adjustments as proposed in ISO 15339-1 will not give good quality in the print stage.
UPWORD Answer to Print assessment and conformance One Standard for product conformance assessment. ISO 16761-x standard can be inspired from the current multi-level (A, B, C...), multi-application (packaging, commercial...) assessment and conformance criteria that are included in the current ISO/CD 15311 and by ANSI/CGATS Printing Tolerance and Conformity Assessment. UPWORD s proposal will allow Print Buyer and Printer to agree on common conformance criteria.
Conclusions UPWORD proposal allows all expressed opinions and conclusions stated above to be reconciled. UPWORD proposal allows all current workflows and working practices to be recognized and maintained. UPWORD schema allows the standards community and the printing industry to avoid challenging compromises and impossible choices, be it for cultural, technical, practical or marketing reasons.
UPWORD: Re-Positionning Standards ISO 15339: Definition of standard color data sets (and ICC profiles) ISO 12647* (parts 1-6): Process definition and control for analog printing ISO 15311: Process definition and control for digital printing (*ISO 12647 parts 7 and 8 may be transferred to this standard). TS 10128: Calibration methods of a printing system ISO 16761-x: Printed Product Conformity Assessment
Thank You! Elie Khoury - RIT Gravure Day - 15 March 2012