IPMA 2022 Recap: The Benefits of G7

In June, nearly 140 in-plant managers and other attendees got together for the first time in three years for the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference. It was packed with informative sessions, many led by in-plant managers.

When kicking off his session on color management, John Yerger asked for a show of hands to see who calibrates their in-plant’s machines every day. While the manager for the University of Nebraska – Lincoln’s in-plant was pleased with the number of hands that went up, he emphasized that calibrating and believing you have a great eye for color are not adequate.

John Yerger presents at the IPMA 2022 Conference.

“I’ve been in this business longer than anybody here, and I always thought I had a great eye for color, but it not enough,” Yerger insisted. “How many of you had ever had that discussion with a customer, and the customer can’t understand why you can’t hit a certain color?”

That’s why Yerger made the decision to become a certified Idealliance G7 expert. (His operation is G7 qualified on all of its color printing equipment; has implement the G7 standard) Various print technologies will reproduce color differently due to their native ink sets and imaging technologies. G7 methodology helps achieve a shared common appearance across all printing process platforms. It allows shops to provide consistent reproduction of printed work to maintain the integrity of a brand’s identity.

“The beautiful part about G7 is that it gives you continuity, repeatability, and consistency to hit a specific color,” Yerger noted.

Throughout the session, Yeger touched on the benefits of G7 such as:

• G7 works across multiple devices and locations.
• It lets in-plants predictably reproduce color
• Reprints will always look the same.
• G7 reduces makeready time.
• There is one consistent set of color targets regardless of device.

To become G7 certified, Yerger suggested using the Idealliance training program. Recertification is required every two years within 90 days of certification expiration. Yerger emphasized it’s worth paying for certification to be able to follow a national standard of color and evade those uncomfortable conversations with customers.

“You can’t see color for your customers,” he said. “We all have to go through some type of standard.”