Print standardization based on agreed international norms like ISO 12647-3 has been a great success for newspaper printing worldwide. In conjunction with the development of “full color printing” based on process colors (CMYK) replacing the old spot color concept in newspaper production the first ISO newspaper print standard was released in 1998 and improved over time.

Newspaper printers embraced the uniform international standard quickly as a matter of course since they were used to standardized and straight forward production since ever. The implementation of the standard in real life paid back in the years since then.

Newspaper production standards deliver clear and manageable guidelines for printers worldwide. Standardization became a great tool to create consistency across different print plants. It is a unique communication platform between print buyers, ad agencies, prepress designers and printers.

The WAN-IFRA International Newspaper Color Quality Club promotes standardized color reproduction and is a tool in itself to implement and maintain control over reproduction processes within the value chain of newspaper color production.

The WAN-IFRA generic newspaper ICC print profile “ISOnewspaper26v4.icc” meanwhile is part of hundreds of newspaper print specifications all over. It is included in many software packages that manage the digital production workflow and preflight the color data delivered by different sources. The international norms make printing and print buying easier and lower the costs for printers and their customers by avoiding confusion and misunderstandings.

In January 2015 the WAN-IFRA World Printers Forum Board decided to intensify working in the area of print standardization in cooperation with newspaper printers worldwide. A new version of the newspaper ICC color profile was developed and tested by the Swedish Graphic Companies’ Federation in cooperation with WAN-IFRA. This new version adapts the modifications of ISO 12647-3:2013 especially with regard to reduced total ink coverage. The name of the new profile is “WAN-IFRAnewspaper26v5.icc”. We had to modify the profile name since the abbreviation “ISO” is only permitted to be used for original documents and products released by the International Organization for Standardization.

The new newspaper print profile can be downloaded HERE.

Also, the World Printers Forum Board decided to publish a new WAN-IFRA report on “ISO 12647-3:2013, Quality Standard for Newspaper Production”. WAN-IFRA Research Manager Anand Srinivasan authored this new WAN-IFRA report.

This new report can be downloaded HERE.

We present this report together with the new generic newspaper ICC print profile to the newspaper print community and encourage the community to comment and discuss questions of newspaper print standardization on the World Printers Forum website. The Online Forum has been established for the exchange of information for everyone interested in questions of newspaper production:
http://forum.wan-ifra.org/forums/world-printers-online-forum.

The Swedish Graphic Companies' Federation is an employer and trade organization for Swedish companies within the graphic and packaging industry as well as other sectors associated with the graphic industry. Its main purpose is to unite and strengthen the member companies by attending to the common interests concerning employment issues, economic policies, and other trade related matters.

Inquiries to: Martin Elofsson, Project Manager, Grafiska Företagen / The Swedish Graphic Companies’ Federation, Storgatan 19, (PO Box 555 25), 102 04 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel: +46 70 34 56 808. Fax +46 8-762 72 24. Email: martin.elofsson@grafiska.se

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Frankfurt am Main, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organization of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Inquiries to: Manfred Werfel, WAN-IFRA Deputy CEO, Executive Director, Global Events, WAN-IFRA, Rotfeder-Ring 11, 60327 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Tel: +49 69 24 000 63-281. Fax: +49 69 24 000 63-300. Email: manfred.werfel@wan-ifra.org