Prepress

Fogra Certified Print Proofs

Wednesday 09. February 2011 - CA training partner ensures that process reliability prevails at the Regler printing center The Balingen-based RIP and color management specialist blindbrain - COLOR SOLUTIONS is a longstanding training partner of Color Alliance (CA). As a Fogra certified 'DigitalPrint Expert' (DPE), it coordinated the entire color management workflow of the Regler printing center.

Print proofs produced on an Epson Stylus Pro 4880 were passed through a certification process (Validation Print Creation 24587). This enables quality to be attained, which is comparable to that of offset printing according to the process standard Fogra39. Therefore, products made using the large format printing (LFP) method can be simulated in advance and consistent quality is guaranteed.
“Fogra certification of print proofs will help standardize the production processes in large format digital printing further,” explains André Kapsa, CEO of Vlotho-based Color Alliance. “If you can show in advance what the printed product will finally look like, print service providers will attain process reliability comparable with offset printing.”
The Regler printing center in the Bavarian town of Altenstadt/WN near Weiden has now made use of that. “Thanks to the Fogra certification and color management, the production of digital prints is secured in terms of color accuracy and quality from the data creation stage through to the printed product,” explains Mathias Zintl, head of digital print production at Regler. “That applies to every medium we print on and saves us a lot of time and money.”
Rafael Blind of Balingen-based blindbrain – COLOR SOLUTIONS, who in his capacity as Digital PrintExpert carried out the Fogra-certification of the proof printer, is also pleased with the results: “Until now, color management was actually more a religion than a science. However, modern technologies are now increasingly producing hard facts. LFP print results are verifiable and standardized processes provide reliability, which is precisely what the Fogra certificates stand for.”
With the assistance of the Caldera RIP software, the Regler printing center now ensures that the right ICC profiles (International Color Consortium) are produced for every print medium. Products made using LFP match in terms of color fidelity even if different materials are printed on. Therefore, Regler offers users a print proof in advance, which is color accurate and corresponds exactly to the subsequent print result.
CA Web2Print at FESPA in Hamburg
Color Alliance will be represented at FESPA Digital 2011 in Hamburg (24 to 27 May), where it will focus on presenting its new Web-to-Print solution ‘CA-W2P ultimate’. This provides print service providers with comprehensive functions for operational efficiency. These include all the administrative processes (preparation of quotations, order confirmations, delivery notes and invoices), independent verification of print data and the configuration of an open or closed store for B2C or B2B customers.