The LIA and PIAA launched the new site www.colourstandards.com.au to help buyers access printers that have secured ISO 12647.
The portal includes a list of 41 printers, from the likes of Geon, Blue Star and IPMG companies down to smaller players such as Jagar Sprinting, Spot Production and Rawson Graphics. It is free to appear on the directory, though printers can also pay for a premium listing.
Luke Wooldridge, chairman of the Australian TC 130 committee, said: “We are trying to promote print to print buyers so they know there are printers out there with standards.”
Matthew Comensoli, production manager at George Patterson Y&R, told ProPrint: “It would be good to have a list of colour certified printers as well as environmental credentials but it is not something I would necessarily use.
“I have been around long enough to know who is good and who isn’t. Mine is based on past experience,” he added.
Paul Clark, creative director of Sydney design agency Alphabet Studio, said that while printers were using their colour certification as a selling point, he tended to go back to printers he had used before. But he thought the directory could help print buyers “shake things up”.
“The main reason we might go for it is when we have recommended a printer but the client comes back and asks for comparisons,” he added.
Mark Gowing, principal of Mark Gowing Design, said that while he didn’t demand specific standards, he wanted confidence the printers could hit quality standards.
“We ask our suppliers about those kinds of systems. If the supplier doesn’t give us good answers, we worry and may steer clear.
“If there was a directory that was easy to use, I would check in on it. But if it was more comprehensive, it would be more helpful. If it was also about FSC, ISO 14001, all of those, we could get a sense of what we are dealing with at a glance,” added Gowing.
Wooldridge said that awareness of ISO 12647 was growing among print clients, especially at “the top end of town”.
“The brand managers are asking for their print to be certified.”
He pointed out that even if buyers were not vetting printers on colour standards, the quality of work would still help certified printers win out.
“The printers that are producing regularly and well and doing reprints six months later are printing to the ISO standard or at least following the idea of process control. You can’t print reprints without process control.”
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