SWG Update
The winter of 2017-2018 saw the meeting of the ISO/TC 130 Graphic Arts standards committee held Dec. 4-9 in Surakarta (also known as Solo) in central Indonesia. Now, in the first quarter of 2018, several of the standards that were discussed and reviewed during the meeting have been updated, and new ballots are underway. The FQC Standard Working Group (SWG) is at work reviewing those ballots and communicating the concerns of the flexographic community.
The 2018 meetings of ISO/TC 130 have been scheduled, with the spring meeting to be held April 16-20 at the DIN headquarters in Berlin, Germany. The fall meetings will be Oct. 14-19 at an undetermined location in Tokyo, Japan.
ISO/TC 130 Graphic Arts – Standards of Interest to Flexography
- ISO/DTS 15311-1.4 Graphic technology – Requirements for printed matter for commercial and industrial production – Part 1: Measurement methods and reporting schema. The third draft of this technical specification was approved by the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) with some comments. Other parts of the world, especially Great Britain, had many comments as well. This part of ISO/TS 15311 defines print quality metrics, measurement methods and reporting requirements for printed sheets that are suitable for all classes of printed products. There were so many comments that, during the discussion in Surakarta, it was decided to hold a fourth ballot. Additionally, it was requested that the normative Annex C, a separate Excel workbook, be included in the ballot. The revised TS and the Annex went out for ballot and were due back on Feb. 23
- ISO 15930-9 Graphic technology – Prepress digital data exchange using PDF – Part 9: Complete exchange of printing data (PDF/X-6) and partial exchange of printing data with external profile reference (PDF/X-6p and PDF/X-6n) using PDF 2.0. This is a new standard that describes 4-color printing data exchange using Adobe PDF version 2.0. There are many new features and capabilities in this version, including the ability to point to an external profile so the rendering is done automatically. The ballot on this standard closed on Feb. 2
- ISO/DIS 19593-1 Graphic technology – Use of PDF to associate processing steps and content data – Part 1: Processing steps for packaging and labels. The standard was approved at the draft international standard (DIS) stage, the resolution of comments was distributed and a final version for ballot as final draft international standard (FDIS) is being prepared. It was discussed in Surakarta, but a final FDIS ballot has not yet been released. This standard provides guidance on the use of PDF to contain information on processing steps for a packaging printing or label printing job
- ISO/CD 20616-1 Graphic technology – File format for quality control data and metadata – Part 1: Print Requirements eXchange (PRX). The working draft was revised during the meetings in Indonesia and the document has been submitted for a committee draft (CD) ballot. This standard contains requirements for the use of XML to prepare files containing all of the requirements for a print job. The SWG has been following the development of this standard and specifically part two on the exchange of the quality results of a print job. The CD ballot has not yet been released but when it is, it will be available for review and comment from FTA HQ
- ISO/NWI/CD 20616-2.3 Graphic technology – File format for quality control data and metadata – Part 2: Print Quality eXchange (PQX). This standard passed its CD ballot and the comments were discussed and resolved at the ISO/TC meetings in Toronto last June, but there were so many comments that at the meeting in Surakarta, it was decided to send out a third CD ballot. The vote for that ballot was due back to the U.S. TAG on Feb. 23
- ISO/DTS 23031 Graphic technology – Assessment and validation of the performance of spectrocolorimeters and spectrodensitometers. This draft technical specification was discussed in Indonesia and the comments from the working draft were resolved. The document has been revised and is now out for a ballot at the committee draft stage. It contains information and guidance on how to determine if your spectrodensitometer or spectrcolorimeter is operating within factory specifications within your printing plant. The ballot was due to close on March 16
Systematic Review of Existing Standards
Every five years an existing standard must be reviewed and a determination made as to whether the standard remains useful, in its current form, or whether it should be revised to add new requirements or to modify the existing requirements. Review ballots for the following standards were due back to the U.S. TAG by Feb. 16:
- ISO 2836:2004 Graphic technology – Prints and printing inks – Assessment of resistance of prints to various agents. This standard describes the methods for testing the fastness of print to various solvents, surfactants (detergents), oils and foods. It is currently written only in terms of offset printing. The U.S. TAG has recommended a vote for revision to add references to the methods for making test prints using flexographic and screen printing
- ISO 12640-2:2004 Graphic technology – Prepress digital data exchange – Part 2: XYZ/sRGB encoded standard color image data (XYZ/SCID). This standard describes the ISO SCID images stored in XYZ format, transformed from the original sRGB format
- ISO 15930-3:2002 Graphic technology – Prepress digital data exchange – Use of PDF – Part 3: Complete exchange suitable for color-managed workflows (PDF/X-3). This standard documents the methods for using PDF 1.6 in a color-managed workflow. All color information must be embedded in the PDF or referenced locally before the document can be rendered
- ISO 15790:2004 Graphic technology and photography – Certified reference materials for reflection and transmission metrology – Documentation and procedures for use, including determination of combined standard uncertainty. This standard describes the methods for determining the accuracy (certification) of reflection and transmission densitometers using materials of known optical properties (reference standards). When printing to the numbers is important to a reproduction process, this standard provides the methods for documenting the conformance to known values
If you would like to review and comment on any of the upcoming ballots on these standards, please contact FTA Director of Education Joe Tuccitto.
About the Authors: Jean Engelke is the chair of FTA’s Flexo Quality Consortium and a member of FTA’s Board of Directors and FFTA’s Board of Trustees. She has earned an AAS in graphic and design technology, a B.A. in printing management, an MBA and an M.A. in industrial engineering management. Jean started her career teaching printing and paper science at Western Michigan University. She has held positions in R&D, engineering and global product marketing with Appleton Papers, Alcan Packaging and Kodak. Currently she is the business development manager – packaging group for RR Donnelley. In 2017, she received the FTA President’s Award.
Dr. Danny Rich obtained a master’s degree in physics in 1977 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA. In 1998, he joined Sun Chemical Corp. to direct the Sun Chemical Color Research Laboratory in the Daniel J. Carlick Technical Center in Carlstadt, NJ. He has been awarded the Nickerson Service award from the Inter-Society Color Council in 1999, the National Printing Ink Manufacturers award for Technical Achievement in 2008, a Thomas Alva Edison award for innovation by the Research Council of New Jersey in 2008, the Robert F. Reed Medal from the Printing Industries of America in 2013 and the Mattiello Memorial Award from the American Coatings Association in 2015.