What Is G7 Certification And Why Is It Critical To Your Brand?

Regardless of your background, as someone sourcing commercial printing services, you expect the utmost in quality. You view your brand integrity as top priority, you want your turn time as quick as possible, and you want your costs minimized. G7 Master Printer Certification helps ensure your expectations are met, and exceeded, by upholding specific international standards that printers must meet if they wish to be certified.

What is G7?

G7 is an internationally recognized methodology for calibrating printing presses and proofing systems. It raises the bar on color matching performance and guarantees that you are working with only the best printers in the marketplace.

A G7 Master Printer:

• Is skilled, tested, certified and proven to be a leader in print production.
• Knows the fields of color management, process, and quality control for proofing and printing.
• Works to reduce costs, have quick turn time and improve brand consistency.

What Makes the G7 Method Different than Other Printing Processes?

1. G7 is a global specification used to consistently hit specific color targets, used by more than 1,100 leading print service providers, worldwide. G7 enables calibrated presses to create a unified, high-quality visual product.
2. The name G7 stands for “Gray,” plus the 7 primary and secondary solid ink values: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Red, Green,  and Blue.
3. Traditionally photography used grayscale to balance color. G7 borrows from this concept and adapts it to commercial printing. Using the G7 method to calibrate a print process produces a consistent print condition that is easily replicated.
4. G7 has become the industry leader in requirements to ensure consistent reproduction of design and color across marketing collateral, packaging and signage, regardless of the inks or substrates used.
5. Gray balance is a powerful tool for managing print consistency. G7 makes it easy to include gray balance as part of a print specification. Without G7, gray balance is a specification nightmare, because it is different for every process. Using G7, brand owners can specify a common gray balance value, enabling printers to deliver a common appearance across all the work they produce, no matter the print process used.

Who can be G7 Certified

G7 Master Qualification is granted to print facilities proven capable of performing the G7 methodology on proof and press by a certified G7 expert.

When choosing a printer, ask to see their current G7 Master Qualification. Selecting a certified printer guarantees that you will receive a high-quality end product. Your brand will be accurately represented throughout your cross marketing collateral, packaging, and signage.

Do you have questions about G7 certification? We’d love to answer them.