Color Management
After investing the time and effort in creating your marketing strategy and going on press with your final product, you can achieve the best outcome by providing a contract proof to the printer. Calev Systems uses the G7 Method to calibrate the Contract Proofs we produce for our customers.
G7 stands for Grayscale Plus Seven Colors; your standard inks used in 4 color process (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) plus an additional set of colors (Red, Green, and Blue). This Method is used in many applications of printing such as offset lithography, flexography, and gravure since it uses a One-Dimensional Neutral Print Density Curve (NPDC) to match neutral tonality between two G7 calibrated printing systems.
- Media-independent specification for a universal grayscale appearance
- Method of calibrating any printing system to a constant grayscale appearance
- Backbone of SWOP ® & GRACoL ®
- Process control aim points for more consistent printing & proofing “to the numbers.”
- G = Gray Scale and the 7 ISO ink colors
G7 Grey Balance Benefits For Print Clients
- A better match between proof and press
- All proofing systems look very similar
- Similar printed appearance regardless of who does the printing, what technology they use, or when/where the piece prints.
- Promotes awareness of standardized printing and proofing
To interpret color effectively, we establish tight controls using science, not individual interpretation. The color workflow begins with the designer’s vision and development of the creative and culminates with developing standards that measure the color gamut.
How Can We Accurately Measure Color?
We all see color somewhat differently. The human eye can be influenced by many different factors:
- Review under proper conditions (Lighting)
- Use the latest equipment to analyze L*A*B* values.
- Measure color values on both the proof and press sheets.
You can visually examine a color’s spectral properties by plotting its measurement data as a spectral curve. This type of data can be gathered only by using a spectrophotometer.
THE CIE COLOR SYSTEM
The ultimate goal of the CIE is to develop a repeatable system of color communication standards for manufacturers of paints, inks, dyes, and other colorants. The standards’ most important function is to provide a universal framework for color matching.
CIE develops more uniform color scales called CIE L*a*b* and CIE L*u*v*. Of these two models, CIE L*a*b* is the most widely used. The well-balanced structure of the L*a*b* color space is based on the theory that color cannot be both green and red at the same time, nor blue and yellow at the same time. As a result, single values can be used to describe the red/green and the yellow/blue attributes.
When color is expressed in CIE L*a*b*, L* defines lightness (0=Darkest 100=Lightest); a* denotes the red/green value, and b* the yellow/blue value. Using these three coordinates, we can map out any color within The CIE L*a*b* color space.
The assessment of color is more than a numeric expression. Usually, it’s an assessment of the color difference (Delta) from a known standard. CIELAB ∆E is used to compare the colors of two objects.
Color Management
At Calev Systems, we use best practices to create and optimize custom ICC Color Profiles on our proofer to fall within very tight target tolerance for G7® Contract Proofs. With strict workflow standards and the latest tools for measuring/referencing color, we can achieve a well-balanced color proof.
- Custom ICC Color Profiles are used to achieve color accuracy and ensure your contract color proofs are within specification/tolerances
- Profile creation, linearization, and optimization
- Optimization can be performed after profile creation to attain the very closest match
- Weekly measurement data to ensure equipment does not drift
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