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Idealliance

Guide to Print Production

About the Guide to Print Production V.21

Packed full of leading practices, standards, and specifications for print and packaging, this edition marks a new milestone for the Guide to Print Production.

Newly Updated and Revised for 2021

The Guide to Print Production is a practical handbook for anyone invested in the process of print communications. It is created by the Idealliance Print Properties Committee—composed of professionals from brands and print buyers, creative and design, print service providers, and manufacturing and technology partners—to produce an everyday resource to be used in creation and production.

At the heart of this guide are the standards and
specifications that make color possible and practical.

The beginning covers basic information about color print reproduction and is designed specially to benefit students and newcomers to the industry.

This part lays out the work of Idealliance and its standards-development, training, and certification programs to improve professional competency and workflow efficiency.

This is the core of the Guide to Print Production containing current, practical descriptions of specifications defining graphic communications color workflow including G7®, GRACoL®, SWOP®

The Guide to Print Production is available for purchase in print or digital format.

Table of Contents

1. Chapter One: The Essentials

2. Chapter Two: Leading Practices for Designers

3. Chapter Three: Leading Practices for Production

4. Chapter Four: Leading Practices for Hard and Soft Proofing

5. Chapter Five: Leading Practices in Lighting

6. Chapter Six: Process Control in Print Production

7. Chapter Seven: Integrated, Cross-Media Workflow

8. Chapter Eight: New Initiatives In Print

9. Chapter Nine: The Print Properties Committee

10. Chapter Ten: BrandQ – Brand Color and Supply Chain Management

11. Chapter Eleven: Idealliance Certifications

12. Chapter Twelve: The Definition of Delta-E (?E)

13. Chapter Thirteen: What is G7 and Why Does It Matter?

14. Chapter Fourteen: GRACoL and SWOP

15. Chapter Fifteen: The IT8.7/5 (TC1617) A Better Target for Profiling and Characterization

16. Chapter Sixteen: Spectral Measurement – The “M” Factor

17. Chapter Seventeen: Expanded Color Gamut (ECG) Printing

18. Chapter Eighteen: XCMYK – Making the Most of CMYK

19. Chapter Nineteen: SCTV – Specifying Spot Color

20. Appendix A: Standardized Printing Guidelines

21. Appendix B: Applicable Industry Standards

22. Appendix C: Additional Reading

The Guide to Print Production includes call-outs to more information. See below for specifics and links to more—listed by page number where it appears in the guide.

26: COLOR MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL: Find out more information on designing for print, including color management best practices.

39: LIGHTING BEST PRACTICES: Find more information on lighting best practices to improve viewing conditions for proofs and printed sheets.

40: M1 WORKFLOW TOOLS: Find out more information on M1 workflows and reference print conditions such as GRACoL.

42: G7 PROCESS CONTROL: Find out more information on G7 process control for better efficiency in print production.

47: ATTEND G7 TRAINING: Find out more information about how G7 training can benefit you and your business.

58: IT8.7/5 (TC1617): Find out more information and download the IT8.7/5 (TC1617) dataset.

60: PQX: Find out more information about the Print Quality eXchange (PQX) Format to improve efficiency in the supply chain.

62: G7 EXPERT DIRECTORY: Find out more information and see a full listing of G7 Experts.

64: PPC: Find out more information about the Print Properties Committee and how they propel the industry forward.

66: BRANDQ: Find out more information about BrandQ Training

68: FACILITY CERTIFICATIONS: Find out more information on how facilities and systems can become G7 Certified.

73: G7 COLOR SPECIFICATION & CERTIFICATION: Find out more information on G7, its benefits, and uses.

84: SWOP: Find out more information on SWOP.

86: GRACoL: Find out more information about all three of these GRACoL profiles and their corresponding datasets.

97: IT8.7/5 (TC1617): Find out more information and download the IT8.7/5 (TC1617) dataset.

101: M-FACTORS: Find out more information and download the M1 Implementation kit.

110: ECG PRINTING: Find out more information on Expanded Color Gamut Printing.

116: XCMYK: Find out more information on the Expanded CMYK color space and download a custom test form.

The Guide to Print Production is published by Idealliance, the leading standards, specifications, and certifying body in the industry.

Thanks to the following Partners & Sponsors of the Idealliance Guide to Print Production:

  • Ricoh USA, Inc
  • Canon
  • CHROMiX, Inc.
  • Flint Group
  • GTI Graphic Technology, Inc.
  • Konica Minolta
  • Sappi
  • System Brunner
  • Techkon
  • X-rite Pantone®
  • Dupont Advanced Printing
  • Fujifilm North America
  • GMG Color
  • Konica Minolta
  • INX International, Inc.
  • MacDermid Printing Solutions
  • System Brunner
  • Techkon
  • Wikoff
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