Innovating

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Strategizing
Innovating
Update 2006
Standardizing
Implementing
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Who is IDEAlliance?

• International Digital Enterprise Alliance
• History of 40 years as a non-profit association
• Dedicated to advancing user-driven,
  cross-industry technology solutions for all
  publishing and content-driven enterprises
• Fostering SGML, XML and key information
  technologies through workshops, conferences,
  tutorials, working groups and communities of
  practice
• Membership is made up of those who create,
  produce and deliver content, digital assets and
  knowledge-based solutions, and the technology
  vendors who support and facilitate these
  activities

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IDEAlliance Members
200 Corporate Members

• Time, Inc.
• Hearst
• Hachette Filipacchi Media
• Forbes
• Newsweek
• Quad Graphics
• Quebecor World
• RR Donnelley
• CMP Media
• IBM
• Microsoft
• Kodak
• Fuji Enovation
• Adobe Systems

• Banta
• Brown Printing
• Perry Judds
• Quark
• Sun Micro Systems
• Xerox Corporation
• Meredith Corporation
• Newsweek Corporation
• Nature Group
• LexisNexis
• Foote Cone Belding
• McCann-Erickson
• Leo Burnette USA
• Saatchi Saatchi

200
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Content Creation, Mgt and Delivery

• This activity focuses on acquisition and creation
  of content, asset management issues and delivery
  issues
• PRISM
• DISC

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PRISM

• Publishing Requirements for Industry Standard
  Metadata (www.prismstandard.org)
• Initiative of IDEAlliance (www.idealliance.org)
• Developed by publishers for publishing assets
• IDEAlliance content metadata framework
• PRISM is Published as a Modular a set of
  Documents
• PRISM Dublin Core Elements
• PRISM (Base)
• PRISM Inline Markup
• PRISM Controlled Vocabulary Language
• PRISM Rights Language
• PRISM Digital Image Management Metadata
• PRISM widely used for magazine and journal
  articles

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PRISM Whats Next

• PRISM is currently evaluating the levels of
  adoption across the industry
• Focus Group
• Surveys
• PRISM is evaluating emerging metadata
  requirements
• An XMP implementation for existing PRISM metadata
  fields is a logical next step to enable use of
  PRISM in broader media types such as PDF, video,
  etc

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Standards for Digital Images

• Digital Image Submission Criteria
  (DISC)www.disc-info.org
• 16 Fields for images submission to magazines,
  journals and catalogs
• Subset of IPTC headers for news
• Implemented in XMP
• PRISM Digital Image Management Metadata (DIM2)
  www.prismstandard.org
• Fields to manage images from photo assignment
  through production workflow to archive reuse
• Another XMP implementation
• Still a Final Working Draft

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XMP Open Initiative

• Adobe launched XMP in 2001
• Adobe holds and maintains specification
• IDEAlliance members (asset owners) believe XMP is
  a killer technology
• To foster implementation and extend specification
  to address end-to-end digital asset supply chain,
  IDEAlliance is working to launch XMP Open
  initiative
• Stay tuned

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Advertising and Production

• This activity focuses on the end-to-end digital
  supply chain for advertising
• It also focuses on production and printing issues
• AdsML
• Digital Ad Lab
• Print Properties
• SWOP
• GRACoL

Advertising Production
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AdsML (AdTicket Metadata)

• IDEAlliance is a member of the AdsML Consortium
• Developing a Framework for Advertising eBusiness
• International
• Cross Media Types
• Initial focus in is Print Ads
• Metadata for the AdTicket has just been approved
• Identifies Ad Identification
• Print Production Parameters
• Information for Advertiser, Ad Buyer, Creator,
  Prepress, Deliverer
• XMP is target technology

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About Digital Ad Lab

• The Digital Ad Labs continuing mission from
  its founding in 1996 to today is practical
  problem-solving through local and ongoing
  interaction, feedback, and dialogue among all
  partners and peers in the digital workflow.
• DAL focuses on real-world and hands-on case
  studies with a can do attitude to develop Best
  Practices.
• The Digital Ad Lab is a grassroots network of
  IDEAlliance starting in NYC and now expanding to
  Chicago and London.

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GRACoL? 7

• GRACoL is General Requirements and Applications
  for Commercial Offset Lithography Specifications
  and Guidelines
• Newest version of the GRACoL Guidelines for
  quality commercial printing from creation to
  delivery in print
• Work driven by Print Buyers
• wanted more consistent visual appearance of
  proofs and printing
• Began series of research press runs
• develop an unambiguous description
• how good commercial printing visually appears
  on a Number 1 sheet
• Developed new calibration and process control
  methods
• make use of spectrophotometry, CTP and/or ICC
  profiles
• quickly and accurately replicate visual
  appearance
• ANY press or proofing system

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Scientific Approach to Printing

• Other specifications (SWOP and GRACoL 6) based
  on measuring dot gain from a single
  representative press sheet
• GRACoL 7
• based on sheets from 19 press runs and data from
  press runs in Europe
• measured and mathematically averaged and
  smoothed
• develop an ideal to base new specification

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Goal Utilize New Technologies

• Representative of state-of-the-art printing
• Not film based!
• Spectrophotometer Vs. Densitometer (measure
  color vs. dots on paper)
• Relies on power of Computer-to-Plate (CtP)
  technology

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The GRACoL 7 Challenge

• Develop numerical aims to achieve better visual
  match
• proof-to-press
• press-to-press
• Develop better calibration and press control
  methods
• enable different printing methods to look as
  visually similar as possible
• Develop a characterization data set for a 1
  coated sheet

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Visual Appearance

• GRACoL 7
• first specification appearance based
• Based on colorimetric data for gray balance in
  mid tones
• NOT densitometric aims for each color.

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Why Focus on Gray Balance?

• TVI (ink color dots)
• Press sheets with close TVIs (ink color dots) can
  still have a drastically different visual
  appearance !!!
• Gray Balance
• Much better predictor of visual appearance vs.
  evaluating each color (CMY TVIs)

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The G7 Process

• Process initially developed by the GRACoL
  Committee but is NOT GRACoL
• G7 Stands on its own!
• Practical implementation of ISO 12647-2
• Method of digital calibration technique to
  achieve a common visual appearance
• Based on visual metrics (e.g. density) vs
  mechanical metrics (e.g. TVI)
• Makes logical use of CtP curves
• New basis for printing to the numbers for
  GRACoL, SWOP and soon Flexo

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G7 is Named for
7 ISO inkcolors
G for gray balance
The Proof-to-Print Process
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New Programs for G7

• G7 Experts 60 leading color and pressroom
  consultants, world wide, certified for G7
  training and consulting
• G7 Masters Printers and Proof providers who
  employ G7 to assure a close visual match

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The New SWOP

• SWOP is Specifications for Web Offset Printing
  Specifications for Publication Printing
• In 2005 SWOP merged with IDEAlliance to better
  meet changing industry requirements
• Adopted G7 in late 2005
• SWOP announced its acceptance of a 3 proofing
  stock in February 2006
• IDEAlliance conducted 3 web press runs in 2006 in
  support of developing new SWOP aims for both 5
  and 3 papers
• New characterization data sets posted in
  September 2006
• Proofing system certification program has
  recently combined with GRACoL in a broader
  IDEAlliance Certification Program

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Proofing System Certification Program

• Joint SWOP/GRACoL Program
• SWOP 3 Sheet
• SWOP 5 Sheet
• GRACoL 1 Sheet
• Certify to the numbers
• Tighten Tolerances (Ave 1.5 delta E)
• Hard Copy Proofing to lead, Monitor Proofing
  will follow

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Tools to Support Standards

• DISC Checker Tool to check image quality and
  enable batch metadata insertion using XMP
• Similar tool under consideration for embedding
  PRISM metadata
• IDEAlink Curve Tool to automate the calculation
  of CtP curve corrections to support the G7
  process

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New Initiatives

• Virtual Proofing Task Force
• Print Predictability Paper Task Force

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Virtual Proofing Task Force

• Equipment and Lighting Requirements Determine
  the specifications that are required to
  facilitate the implementation of virtual proofing
  workflows
• Educational Outreach Provide best practices
  and develop educational programs to foster
  adoption
• Workflows Examine and document the impact of
  virtual proofing across the supply chain

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Print Predictability Paper Task Force

• Current ISO paper classifications are obsolete
• New paper types, brighteners and other factors
  must be now be considered
• This group is working to develop a matrix that
  clearly defines papers in terms of print
  predictability