Expanded Color Gamut (ECG) Project
Global Expanded Color Gamut (ECG) Characterization Target & Print Condition
The new ECG profile developed by the Print Properties Committee (PPC) is designed to standardize extended color gamut printing and ensure consistent, repeatable results across different printing platforms, substrates, and devices. While there are existing ECG workflows in the market, many of them are proprietary or limited in scope. PRINTING United Alliance’s new ECG profile is an open specification, making it accessible across the industry, from design to print.
This 7 color (CMYK + OGV) profile allows printers, prepress operators, and designers to work within a standardized framework, ensuring that the colors they visualize during the design process can be accurately reproduced in the final print. By creating this profile, Idealliance & PRINTING United Alliance members are committed to working to reduce the variability and guesswork that can often plague color reproduction, especially when working with extended gamut.
Learn more about the new ECG 7 Color Dataset & Profile here. COMING SOON!
The Expanded Color Gamut (ECG) characterization chart is for use in characterizing and calibrating multicolor print processes.
The Expanded Color Gamut (ECG) Characterization Chart was created by a subcommittee within the Idealliance Print Properties Committee as a part of the PRINTING United Alliance (formerly Idealliance) Global ECG project. The PRINTING United Alliance Global ECG is designed to make 7 color process printing as predictable and normal as current CMYK printing specifications such as GRACoL and SWOP. The characterization chart will complement a comprehensive Expanded Color Gamut (ECG) Project Kit which contains guidelines, proofing control strips, and other tools for print users.
The Characterization Target and Expert Team Members
The characterization target is a 7-color test chart, which contains a scalable number of patches, ranging from a single page, up to 4 pages. Most users should be able to achieve acceptable results using the one- or two-page target. The target was designed with input from across the industry and is optimized for multiple printing processes. The team that has created the test target included developers from: ColorLogic, Esko, GMG, Kodak as well as other industry leaders. Team leaders Hanno Hoffstadt, Thorsten Braun, and William Li worked tirelessly together and with others to create prototypes and test candidates for a period of two years. Creation of the target also included flexo and litho test runs to capture data and understand optimal configuration and patch design.
“Our goal for ECG is to do for 7-color what GRACoL did for CMYK. These standardized ECG datasets will help designers, brands and creatives work with ECG in a global supply chain.”
Idealliance & PRINTING United Alliance have now published the ECG Dataset & Profile. Download the profile below.
Idealliance is now in the final phase of the Idealliance Global ECG project. The deliverables of this final phase will be standardized ECG datasets for litho and flexo.
Idealliance has an international membership who have volunteered to print and supply test data for the creation of the Idealliance Global ECG dataset. Idealliance will collect approximately 30 test datasets from around the world for analysis and possible inclusion in the final Idealliance Global ECG dataset.
The PRINTING United Alliance Global ECG Project is driven by the Print Properties Committee, a working group of PRINTING United Alliance.
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