Using a Multipurpose Control Strip That Includes All G7 Gray-Finder Patches

By Bill Owen – Alder Color Solutions – Senior Color Technician

Are you still using an Idealliance Control Strip for color verification? Maybe an old one from 2009 or 2013?

Did you know that there’s a newer/better control strip you can use? Let’s review…..

The ChromaChecker CC84 control strip and Idealliance Control Wedge ISO 12647-7:2013 (often referred to as ISO 12647-7) are both standards used in the printing industry for color verification. While they share some similarities, and both use 84 color patches, they also have distinct differences, particularly in their application for G7 calibration.

1. ChromaChecker CC84 Control Strip:
   • The CC84 control strip is a proprietary control strip developed by ChromaChecker, a company specializing in color conformance solutions.
   • It includes a set of color patches that are measured using color measurement devices such as spectrophotometers.
   • Contains duplicate Substrate (Paper White), Solid (CMYK) and Overprint (RGB) patches.
   • Contains all of the G7 gray-finder patches from rows 4&5 of the P2P charts
   • The CC84 strip is designed to provide comprehensive data for evaluating various aspects of print quality, including color accuracy, consistency, and uniformity.

It is specifically optimized for both G7 calibration, which is a method used to achieve consistent gray balance and neutral tonality across different printing devices.

1. Idealliance ISO Control Wedge 12647-7:2013:
   • ISO 12647-7 is an international standard published by Idealliance (formerly known as the International Digital Enterprise Alliance).
   • It defines the process control settings and target values for color reproduction in offset printing.
   • The standard includes a set of color patches that are measured to ensure that printed output meets specified colorimetric criteria.
   • ISO 12647-7 is widely recognized and used in the printing industry for maintaining consistent print quality and color accuracy.

Differences and Application for G7 Calibration:

While both the CC84 control strip and the ISO Control Wedge12647-7 provide methods for doing conformance to G7 Grayscale and/or G7 Targeted, only the CC84 control strip can be used to create or revise G7 curves from – because it has all of the gray-finder patches.

G7 calibration is a method developed by IDEAlliance for achieving consistent gray balance and neutral tonality in printing. It involves calibrating printing devices to a common neutral print density curve. The G7 method is based on the principles of gray balance and uses specific colorimetric measurements to achieve consistent results across different printing processes and substrates.

If you’re going to take up valuable room on your press sheet, you may as well use a control strip that can also be used to create a G7 Calibration Curve. By including the CC84 control strip on your print jobs, you can at any time take measurements from multiple jobs and average that data to create a new G7 curve or edit an existing curve.

We’d love to show you how to implement this CC84 control strip into your workflow.

Contact Bill Owen at [email protected] for more information.