Details:
Summary:
The market for commercial printing in North America and Europe continues to change and evolve in current economic conditions, as media consumers have moved 'online'. By necessity, most printers have been driven to utilize a manufacturing approach for efficiencies. They have benefited from the adoption of a variety of workflow best practices, as well as national and international standards, which define final quality expectations and help printers be profitable in the changing landscape of the printing and communications marketplace (Smyth 2015).
There are standards that apply throughout the stages of a print workflow. A key part of the overall process is working with clients and print buyers to manage expectations of the final visual appearance of the product. Utilizing standards and 'printing to the numbers' can achieve this by accurately predicting the final appearance of a printed product. Contract color proofs can be created which will closely match the final printed piece, a 'Print-to-Proof' match (P2P).
Supporting this model requires that the standards be communicated effectively, that measurement devices which capture characteristics and behaviors be used, and quality control measures are used to ensure conformity to the standard or specification (Chung, Wu 2014).
A challenge in the effectiveness of the P2P match process has been the increasing use of optical brighteners in the paper supply chain.
This project had two parts; the first was to evaluate the overall applicability of GRACoL2013 as M1. The second was to capture subjective impressions of visual P2P matches for higher OBA stocks, when using M1 Measurements.