Print quality is now measurable
A new method compares print templates and print results
A new process compares artwork and print resultBy Markus KnöpfliAdvertising clients now have a control process at their disposal that can be used to check the print quality of print advertisements. For the first time, it is also possible to find out who has messed up: the printer, the lithographer or the advertising agency.
What do you do if a printed cosmetics ad has bright colors instead of the desired pastel shades? Or if the bread in a promotional advertisement is a moldy shade of grey? Until now, many advertising clients have started their "complaint marketing" in such cases with the certainty that in the end there will often only be claims and counter-claims.
Such disputes should now come to an end. On the initiative of the Zolliker company Media Audit, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) and Ringier PreMedia, a division of Ringier Print, have developed a standardized control procedure for print quality in which the proof and the printed advertisement are compared using photospectral measurement. If the color values deviate too much (more than ten delta for newspapers and more than eight delta for magazines), the customer can demand a replacement.
The new process is called Print Quality Control (PQC), is unique in Europe and has already been accepted for print quality tests by Ringier, the Basler Mediengruppe, Tamedia and Berner Tagblatt Medien.
PQC puts an end to the motto "The printer is always to blame". Because even the best printer will print incorrectly if the proofs supplied are inadequate. In other words, the data supplied by the advertising agency and the lithographers' print documents can also be checked in future. However, PQC is not yet suitable for advertisements that are printed purely on the basis of online data without proofs. But according to Bruno Hörler, Head of Marketing at Ringier Print, forms of measurement are already being tested for this too.
PQC requires two things: For a proof to be suitable as a control template, a kind of calibrated color palette ("media wedge") must be attached to the side, which requires the use of new software. Secondly, a photo spectral measuring device is required for comparison with the print result.
If an advertiser is now considering having his advertisements checked, he can have a proof with media wedge produced. He can then designate four particularly sensitive measurement areas in terms of color where the proof and print are to be compared. A report of the measurement is created that shows any deviation at the four measuring points. Cost: CHF 250 per subject and publication or title.
Is a neutral company for PQC tests in disputes coming soon?
In addition to Ringier PreMedia, the large print shops are currently also able to produce proofs including a media wedge and carry out a measurement. However, the software and measuring device are available to all lithography companies. Hörler says that an open standard was deliberately wanted, because only a broad application of PQC improves print quality.
But the open standard also harbors a danger: PQC will lose credibility if any lithographer can test (and manipulate?) it in future. Karlheinz Müller from Media Audit therefore wants to set up a neutral company together with Ringier Print for PQC tests in cases of dispute. Hörler, on the other hand, is cautious. "We will only discuss this if there is real interest in PQC and a new platform. And if it turns into a business," he says.
What do you do if a printed cosmetics ad has bright colors instead of the desired pastel shades? Or if the bread in a promotional advertisement is a moldy shade of grey? Until now, many advertising clients have started their "complaint marketing" in such cases with the certainty that in the end there will often only be claims and counter-claims.
Such disputes should now come to an end. On the initiative of the Zolliker company Media Audit, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) and Ringier PreMedia, a division of Ringier Print, have developed a standardized control procedure for print quality in which the proof and the printed advertisement are compared using photospectral measurement. If the color values deviate too much (more than ten delta for newspapers and more than eight delta for magazines), the customer can demand a replacement.
The new process is called Print Quality Control (PQC), is unique in Europe and has already been accepted for print quality tests by Ringier, the Basler Mediengruppe, Tamedia and Berner Tagblatt Medien.
PQC puts an end to the motto "The printer is always to blame". Because even the best printer will print incorrectly if the proofs supplied are inadequate. In other words, the data supplied by the advertising agency and the lithographers' print documents can also be checked in future. However, PQC is not yet suitable for advertisements that are printed purely on the basis of online data without proofs. But according to Bruno Hörler, Head of Marketing at Ringier Print, forms of measurement are already being tested for this too.
PQC requires two things: For a proof to be suitable as a control template, a kind of calibrated color palette ("media wedge") must be attached to the side, which requires the use of new software. Secondly, a photo spectral measuring device is required for comparison with the print result.
If an advertiser is now considering having his advertisements checked, he can have a proof with media wedge produced. He can then designate four particularly sensitive measurement areas in terms of color where the proof and print are to be compared. A report of the measurement is created that shows any deviation at the four measuring points. Cost: CHF 250 per subject and publication or title.
Is a neutral company for PQC tests in disputes coming soon?
In addition to Ringier PreMedia, the large print shops are currently also able to produce proofs including a media wedge and carry out a measurement. However, the software and measuring device are available to all lithography companies. Hörler says that an open standard was deliberately wanted, because only a broad application of PQC improves print quality.
But the open standard also harbors a danger: PQC will lose credibility if any lithographer can test (and manipulate?) it in future. Karlheinz Müller from Media Audit therefore wants to set up a neutral company together with Ringier Print for PQC tests in cases of dispute. Hörler, on the other hand, is cautious. "We will only discuss this if there is real interest in PQC and a new platform. And if it turns into a business," he says.
