Spear Is Certified as a G7 Master Printer

Published: December 05, 2012

CINCINNATI, OH | Spear, a provider of labels to the global beverage industry, has achieved G7 Master Printer status. The status is granted by IDEAlliance, a nonprofit organization that specializes in developing “standards and best practices to enhance efficiency and speed information across the end-to-end digital media supply chain—creation, production, management, and delivery of knowledge-based multimedia content—digitally and in print.”

Master status is presented to physical facilities that continually use the G7 Proof-to-Print Processes and use modern technology, techniques, and press controls to ensure close visual match on printed products. G7 is both a definition of grayscale appearance and a calibration method for adjusting any CMYK imaging device to simulate the G7 definition.

To become certified at corporate headquarters in Mason, Spear had to go through a qualifying process that includes optimizing all ink sets and print conditions, printing a fingerprint to evaluate the necessary curve adjustments, and then reprinting after adjustments are made. This is followed by a certification from an outside registered source.

“The G7 qualification has delivered a win-win to Spear and our customers,” says Doug Bartlett, director of graphics at Spear. “Using this methodology allows our customers to use more standardization with their prepress suppliers reducing costs and improving time to market. On our end it has given us a tool to calibrate our printing processes more accurately, reducing set-up time and related waste. It also improves consistency in our print process within a run and from run to run, delivering a more consistent product to our customers.”

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