Looking for an endorsement of the quality of your print?

Fogra is a highly respected, not-for-profit scientific research institute for the printing and media industries. Located in Germany, it conducts audits that provide an independent quality benchmark, enabling both vendors and print businesses to objectively assess the capabilities of their presses and production processes.

The research house is actively involved in several ISO committees (e.g. ISO TC 130) concerning colour management and printing. Based on ISO standards, the organisation developed a number of certifications that can be achieved by print providers, proofing systems and proof providers.

To be able to award the full Fogra Process Standard Digital (PSD) certification, the organisation carries out an on-site audit of your production process by scrutinising three aspects:

1. Output process control – to demonstrate predictable and repeatable print output
2. Colour fidelity – to evaluate colour accuracy and true image reproduction
3. Colour workflow – to review the creation, pre-flight and processing of documents based on PDF/X data, applied colour management strategies, system knowledge and standardised viewing conditions.

Fogra also offers a PSD (Process Standard Digital) PrintCheck Digital certification, which, based on the ISO 15311 international digital printing standard, confirms that digitally printed output meets the highest levels of colour fidelity, accuracy, uniformity, print resolution, detail sharpness and stability. Printouts are measured and analysed for colour accuracy and consistency in its laboratory, while uniformity and resolution are inspected visually.

Before digital print technology, Fogra identified the standards for Process Standard Offset (PSO), which ensured colour reliability for offset printing. While the organisation still certifies offset production processes against this standard, in the past ten years huge strides have been made to develop the digital printing process comparatively to offset, particularly around advances in the technologies that underpin quality, productivity and automation, as well as media versatility.

As a result of this progress, digital print quality now matches that of traditional technologies, including offset. Users of digital production printers now have more flexibility to build highly automated workflows to meet market demands for shorter runs, personalisation and quicker turnarounds.

The Fogra certification assists print businesses in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of digital printing hardware and software from various vendors and provides objective criteria to make informed decisions (rather than assumptions on the capabilities of digital print systems), helping to avoid unrealistic expectations. With these certifications, print service providers (PSPs) can demonstrate their commitment to high standards and give their customers complete confidence in the consistency, predictability and quality of their output.

In addition, successful implementation of the PSD can provide commercial printers with the benefits of improved cost, quality and time performance, with better sustainability and reduced waste. The assurance from the Fogra certification gives print businesses a competitive advantage when retaining customers and seeking new opportunities, enabling them to enhance their offering and grow their businesses.

Helen Kennett, Managing Director at UK-based commercial printer specialising in books and journals, Henry Ling, perfectly sums up the benefits of receiving the certification: “Having the Fogra certification gives us confidence in the predictability of the print quality produced. This allows us to move jobs between offset and digital using the same stock and achieving the same print quality. As a result, we have broadened our business into areas which were previously not possible.”

For those ordering print (i.e. marketing teams), Fogra helps inform the level of consistent quality that can be produced on particular digital print devices. Using print providers whose production systems are Fogra certified offers a high level of quality assurance. For in-house print production facilities, it provides evidence to meet quality expectations and deliver consistent results, which is especially important for colour critical documents such as branded promotional material.

Strengthening the quality assurance we offer our customers, we’re proud that multiple Canon presses achieve the highest quality level (‘A’) of FOGRA51 certification from Fogra. This proves the ability to reproduce offset reference standards on the highest level.

Independently, the ProStream 1000 series also achieved the accolade of being the world’s first digital production printer to be Fogra certified with the FOGRA59/eciCMYK v2 exchange colour space. This shows the impact that Canon’s innovations in high speed inkjet technology has had on print quality and colour gamut.

So, when our customers invest in a Canon press, they can have the confidence that not only can their press achieve a level of quality comparable to offset, but also that their own production workflow may be capable of achieving Fogra accreditation.

We continue our strong commitment to developing the best technology and solutions and maintaining our trusted reputation in colour. This Fogra certification is powerful proof of Canon’s depth of expertise in colour management and our capability to support customers to achieve colour consistency within their businesses.