Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 Some experiences... Jo Brunenberg Logic Use / Roto Smeets Printing across borders

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 Profile -Based in the Netherlands -Printing at 3 web offset and 2 gravure locations -Magazines / Catalogues / Commercial printing -Export important / international sales offices -Printing international magazine titles in web offset (Time - Newsweek - Business Week - The Economist)

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 Our clients’ needs -Print buyers are acting more and more globally, printing at a growing number of printing locations (efficiency / globalization) -Advertising agencies use advertising campaigns: Series of regionalized ads, with same images but printed at several locations -Demand the same high quality, within one publication or marketing campaign, wherever being printed -Prefer not to use use hard copy proofs. “Printing by the numbers” -Demand exactly specified quality targets and tolerances

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 Our own needs -Printing at 3 web offset locations -Must be able to exchange print jobs -Quality from different locations and different presses should be as close as possible In the past -Freedom of choice in ink suppliers -Each location different target values for solid densities and TVI -Lots of visual judgement and manual intervention In recent years - Need for more standardisation and more industrialized process

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 Which tools do we need? 1. Good standard ICC profiles, reflecting the behaviour of our presses, to be used for colour separation, hardcopy-proofing and soft proofing 2. Clearly defined target values for the most important parameters of the web offset printing process: -Inks (ISO / agreed with ink suppliers) -Tone shape(to be controlled within CTP / compensating for different presses) -Solid colours(Target Lab values and bandwidths) 3. Close loop control systems to achieve the specified target values on press and maintain them during the press run, with the least possible manual intervention

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 What do we use? 1. ICC profiles: -In the past: Our “home-made” ICC profiles. Not bad. -Since 1 year: ISOcoated.icc and ISOwebcoated.icc Results: -Prediction of press results is realistic for WFC and LWC papers -Better reproduction quality

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 What do we use? 2. Target values for printing: Have chosen to work with ISO standards and ISO based ICC profiles -Inks (ISO ) -Tone shape(ISO ) -Solid colours(ISO ) -Grey balance figures(based on ECI ISO based profiles)

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005

What do we use? 3. Close loop control systems -GMI inline close loop control systems, measuring in Lab values

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005

Our target by the end of 2005 At all of our printing locations: -Improve our internal processes / educate people -Using GMI control systems on most of our presses -Being able to print according to ISO on these presses -Minimizing the “bandwidth” of print results -Develop a set of “guaranteed performance figures and statistics” to satisfy the needs of our clients.

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 Wishes / What is missing? -Extra ISO based profiles for sc, mfc and improved newsprint papers -LAB figures from ISO based ECI- profiles should be within ISO specified tolerances or ISO specifications should be changed. (Now there is a discrepancy) -Wish: organisations like ECI / SWOP / Gracol /.... to cooperate in developing: -Improved ISO standards for printing processes -Globally accepted standardisation approach -Globally accepted ICC profiles for web offset printing

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 ISOwebcoated USWebcoatedSWOP The “gap” is not that wide....

Printing across borders / London, May 8, 2005 Thanks for your attention!