White Horse Gains Colour Accreditations

White Horse Press has announced that it has gained accreditation in both ISO 12647-2 and the Pantone Printer Accreditation Program for its process colour printing. The news follows a previous announcement in January of this year regarding the installation of Kodak Matchprint Proofing systems as part of the company’s drive towards the ISO 12647-2 colour standard.

White Horse Press are now one of the few printers in the country whose proofs and printing, including both spot and process, conform to the high standards of ISO Coated (Fogra 27L, based on ISO 12627-2).

Commenting on the accreditations recently obtained by the company, Peter Arnel, joint managing director of White Horse Press, said, “The more you examine the elements of the various standards that are being talked about in the industry, the more you realise that there is a lot of confusion around. It may surprise clients, but there is no nationally agreed standard in the UK for colour printing. Printers have traditionally profiled their proofs to match their presses and set their own standard – good or bad – in isolation of what is happening around them.”

All of that is having to change. The printing industry now includes photographers within the digital workflow, and clients are quite rightly wanting colour predictability throughout the supply chain, not only among their printers, but also across the process range, incorporating both digital and litho production.
“During the last year my production team has been working hard with some of the leading colour experts in the UK to both understand colour management as a process, and also to proof and print to the ISO Coated Fogra 27 standard using the Staccato 20 micron dot,” said Peter Arnel.

All WHP proofs are now produced using the ISO Coated profile and will be individually certified with a label to give reassurance that they are correct. “The changes in our printing have been significant. We are running with richer colours, matching CMYK Pantone colours, and, with the Staccato dot, have considerably more detail in the mid- and three- quarter- tones of images.”

Staccato is one of the new hybrid FM screening programs produced by Creo (now Kodak), one of the foremost innovators in the world of pre-press. Compared to conventional screening methods, there are nearly 20 times as many dots used to create an image, providing significantly more detail.

“From the feedback we are receiving from clients, there is a very positive feel about the changes we have made, and noticeable improvements to our quality,” concluded Mr Arnel.

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