I can print a wider gamut than the ISO standard so why would I want ISO compliance?

While this is really covered in the previous section I am still frequently asked this. The thing to remember is that it is not a competition to see who can print the widest gamut with the brightest colours. If it was a competition then it would be to see who can most accurately match the intended colour best. Being able to print colours and actually doing so other than what is described in the file is quite simply, wrong.

The exception to this is when printing a legacy file that is required to be reprinted. There are times when the best intentions have to be put aside in order to achieve a particular goal. That doesn’t change the fact that it was originally printed incorrectly and adds weight to the argument in favour of accurately matching print standards where reprints do not create such headaches.

A file created in a known colourspace such as Fogra 39L (coated) or Fogra47L (uncoated) or the more recently released Fogra 51 or 52, means the colours have a description and this description must be adhered to accurately right throughout the process. The proofer is set up to match the appropriate printing standards and so is the press. On this point, many believe the proofer is setup to match the press but that would actually be a custom route or what is referred to as a closed loop and while this was common in the past, is not how ISO compliance works.

The standards are a known set of specifications and the proofer is set to match these. The press is quite separately also aimed to match these specs but has nothing to do with the setup of the proofer other than they are looking to match the same print standard. They don’t actually know about each other. When it is set up and working correctly it does appear that one is set to match the other but in practice this is not actually the case.

So, to get back to the original question. There is a saying in printing circles,”more ink more gamut, less ink more detail”. In other words being able to produce a more saturated particular colour than is required to meet a specification is no great accomplishment, simply add more density and up to a point you will increase the saturation but you will immediately have created a mismatch with the proof not to mention thrown out the gray balance. It is also possible to introduce what is called a density reversal. This is where the ink thickness has been increased to the point where it actually measures lighter than the same ink at a reduced thickness. It’s not about how bright, it’s about how right.