Industry splits on PSO certification for digital presses

A claim by On Demand in Melbourne to be the first digital press company in the world to reach the Ugra and Fogra-based ISO 12647-2 PSO (Process Standard Offset) certification has drawn fire from industry players.

Erwin Widmer, worldwide head of Swiss-based UGRA, granted the certification to Bruce Peddelsden’s company following an audit of the HP Indigo presses, which was verified by Garry Knespal, CEO GASAA, a certified UGRA expert. It was based on a print run of 2,200 from which 44 sheets were pulled. These were subsequently measured in the UGRA laboratories in Switzerland and found to meet the colour consistency and visual parameters of the ISO 12647-2 standard.

It is the use of the term PSO that has ignited an industry dispute with Rob Gatto, Kayell and Yves Roussange, ColourProcess claiming it should be not be applied to digital printing. They also claim the proper procedures were not done and that the ISO 12647-2 standard can only be applied to offset sheetfed and web printing. (Both Rob Gatto and Roussange are participants in the field of printing standards.)

Jason Hall CMYKit, who worked with On Demand to meet the standards, denies the proper procedures were not performed. He maintains the digital presses met the stringent standards of the UGRA certification, including dot gain and mathematical verification.

Garry Knespal has accused some vendors and industry bodies of using colour standards in Australia as a political and commercial football.

Caught in the middle, Bruce Peddelsden says he is not saying he can produce offset printing from his digital presses, despite claiming the world-first PSO standard. “We’ve put in a lot of work to get this standard and I’m proud of the work that we’ve done. Customers can be assured that their work is produced to international standards of colour consistency from the moment the file arrives here to when the work is printed.”