Initiated well over a year ago by the Lithographic Institute of Australia (LIA), the journey to an accepted standard involved the establishment of a Technical Committee (TC-130), chaired by the LIA’s Bob Lamont, and the development and introduction of a standards process.
In partnership with the Printing Industries Association of Australia, the AU/TC 130 had the new AS 12647-2 standard accepted by Standards Australia. It replicates the ISO standard 12647-2 used in the USA, Europe and Asia.
The national chairman of the AU/TC 130, Robert Fuller, who took on the role from Bob Lamont after the committee’s AGM recently, commented, “We must adopt a standard. While our print quality is very high compared with other countries, we have not been able to validate it. We are about four years behind Europe in accepting a standard. Print joins car manufacturing, paint, building and other industries in accepting a standard.
“Working to a print standard enables cost savings to be made, as well as repeatability and reliability of jobs for clients. This standard is your pathway to world quality.”
The launch function was sponsored by the National Print Awards and the IPMG, representing Craft Inprint, Hannanprint and Offset Alpine Printing. NPA chairman Scott Telfer told the gathering that the acceptance of a standard was a necessary step in the development of a world competitive industry in Australia, and would bring broad advantages as printers realised gains in print quality, production efficiencies and client satisfaction.
Pictures from the AS/ISO launch in Sydney.
IPMG’s Gary Bender commented that the group’s companies very quickly understood the advantages that would flow from reaching the standard. Craft Inprint is the first heatset web printer in Australia to reach certification, and one of only 12 in the world. There are presently about 350 printers certified to ISO 12647-2 in the world.
Instrumental in the development of the standard were local colour management experts Yves Roussange of ColourProcess and David Crowther of Chromaticity, who outlined some of the key advantages to the programmes they have developed to bring printers up to standard. It is significant that all major colour management and prepress vendors in the local industry have fully backed and supported the development of the standard.
The function also launched the new website dedicated to the AS 12647-2 standard, for use by printers and others interested in gaining new information into the standard and its requiremnents. It can be found at www.colourstandards.com.au.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter