In the course of my work, I interview a wide variety of owners and managers of printing companies. Increasingly, I hear them speak about the role standards play in improving the quality and productivity of their operations. JDF, SWOP, ICC, ISO, GRACoL … and more recently, G7. All of this alphabet soup can get confusing―do we really need to be paying attention? And now there is one more to worry about―G7. What is that, anyway?

　　It is not some secret sauce, or some secret formula a few of us dreamed up. But it is an excellent way to run your presses.

　　I decided to hook up with GRACoL co-chair Gerry Gerlach to find out. In addition to his role as GRACoL co-chair, Gerry is the Color Manager at Windsor CT based Integrity Graphics where he has worked for 19 years. Gerry and the team at IDEAlliance developed the GRACoL standard. Now in Version 7.0, the GRACoL standard is well-established and there is a documented and consistent methodology that will allow printers to leverage the standard to match multiple devices to each other for a consistent and predictable printed outcome.

　　A “How-To” guide, called Calibrating, Printing and Proofing by the G7 Method is available online for downloading. “This is nothing magic,” comments Gerry. “It is not some secret sauce, or some secret formula a few of us dreamed up. But it is an excellent way to run your presses.”

　　Gerry speaks from first-hand experience. Management at Integrity Graphics not only supported him in his volunteer efforts on the standards committee, but acted as a test site for the G7 process.

　　G7 made a big difference right away at Integrity Graphics, according to Gerry. “We don’t have any problems about getting a job printed correctly,” he says. “Things are more efficient and the jobs move through the plant more quickly. There is less rework and wastage, but I think what is more important is that there is more confidence in our abilities throughout the organization.”

　　The full story of G7 and how it impacted product at Integrity Graphics has been written up as an IPA case study. IPA has graciously allowed our readers access to the story.

　　Who Really Benefits from G7?

　　Gerry is quick to point out that the primary beneficiary of the G7 process is not really the printer, although printers certainly derive benefits from the process. “The primary beneficiary is the buyer,” he says. “The secondary beneficiary is the printer. The primary objective of G7 is to ensure that client objectives are met, and that their images have the same visual appearance across all printed media.”

　　As a secondary beneficiary, though, the printer stands to gain a great deal, as evidenced by the experience at Integrity Graphics. It can instill a new pride and confidence into the work force, reduce waste and rework, streamline production, and ultimately improve profitability. These are not trivial benefits. And as buyers become more educated, they will begin to seek out G7-compliant printers.

　　Evangelists like Gerry are performing an important service for the printing industry. Buyers have more choices than ever before, and many are choosing to avoid print. To the extent we can take the hassle and mystery out of printing and make it easier for buyers to deal with us, the better off we will be in the long run―as individual companies and as an industry. Gerry puts it bluntly: “If you have no baseline, if you cannot predict precisely what you are going to achieve, then you don’t have a clue about what you are doing. G7 clearly defines a methodology that delivers the same visual appearance across any type of print media. There are no more excuses. And we are starting to see more buyers who will only use G7 printers.”

　　If you are not a G7 printer, I hope your next stop after reading this is a visit to GRACoL.org to download the How-To guide. Then you tell me―is Gerry right? Did you take the steps to become G7-compliant, and how hard was it? Has it made a difference in your business?