Business News
CMYKits Jason Hall has recently achieved UGRA Expert Certification
Wednesday 23. July 2008 - UGRA Certification allows Jason Hall and CMYKit to consult to printing companies to introduce standardized printing and prepare them for the PSO audit.
This preparation includes SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for PDF & native files, hard & soft proofing, viewing conditions, plate line & press setup.
CMYKit product offerings from ALWAN allow standardised data into the print workflow. “We recommend the use of CMYK Optimizer, because it addresses a real need for standardisation of file separations. For us, its the perfect complement to our standardisation services and ISO 12647 certification. You cannot have standardised printing without standardised data.” Erwin Widmer – Managing Director, UGRA
CMYKits pressSIGN and proofSIGN products make for easy certification of print and proofs back to the ISO standard. pressSIGN allows standardised printing with 5 steps to ISO standards achievable within 2-3 days, not 2-3 weeks
Jason Halls UGRA certification confirms CMYKits ability to bring the best in the market to the Australian market.
UGRA Certification according to PSO
UGRA certifies printing and prepress companies according to PSO. The procedure and the requirements of the UGRA certification were established in the expert working group.
UGRA PSO certification is accomplished in a one-day audit. The company, which is to be certified must show in the following functions, that it complies with the standards, that the devices are calibrated, the SOP (Standard Operation Procedures) are available and followed and the aim values are reached within the given tolerances.
Data entry – The audit of the data entry is accomplished in three interviews with a sales representative, an order manager and a prepress operator. Every employee in the company has to know, which data can be processed in which way, what the controls are and what to do if error occurs.
Data creation – The audit of the data entry is accomplished in three interviews with a sales representative, an order manager and a prepress operator. Every employee in the company has to know, which data can be processed in which way, what the controls are and what to do if error occurs. At the data creation step, know-how in colour management, layout production and PDF creation (ISO 15630) have to be shown. This part of the audit is done with a test job.
Display / Soft proofing – At least one monitor in the company has to be set up according to the guidelines (ISO 12646) and calibrated correctly.
Proofing – At proofing the «Visual Print Reference» is outputted. From the 8 pages the Media Wedges will be measured. The resulting values must lie within the required tolerances (ISO 12647-7).
Plate making – Since there are no standards for the printing plate making, the audit checks if it is correctly documented and organized in the context of a quality management system (ISO 9000).
Print – The print must fulfil the requirements of the ISO 12647-2. Furthermore it is verified whether these values are achievable in the daily practice without problems.
Standard illumination – The standard illumination must fulfil the ISO 3664.
Besides these main points many further things are judged. Companies interested in the certification, may ask UGRA or CMYKit for a detailed description of the demanded values and the further evaluations.
If the company fulfils the requirements it receives the certificate and is listed on the UGRA Website as a certified company. The certificate is valid for two years.
As UGRA itself has an accreditation according to ISO 17025, UGRA is about to obtain the same accreditation for its certification according to PSO activities.
Due to the knowledge from the collaboration in the ISO standardization committees, UGRA and CMYKit are able to certify all kinds of services, devices and companies. The certification is always based on the relevant ISO standards of the graphic arts industry.
UGRA issues the following certificates:
Proofer according to ISO 12647-7
Displays according to ISO 12646
PDF/X data production according to ISO 15930
Printing according to PSO