Fuji Xerox Australia Attains ISO Digital Print vs Fuji Xerox Australia Attains ISO Digital Print Quality Certification

21 January 2010

Becomes second only in Xerox world to achieve Validation Printing System Certification

Sydney, 21 January 2010: Fuji Xerox Australia has attained *Fogra Certification – an international ISO standard – for meeting the highest levels for digital print quality.

Achieving this honour on behalf of the company was Gordon Fogarty, Fuji Xerox Australia’s Colour Management Services Manager. Gordon and Fuji Xerox Australia were awarded certification after an intense weeklong development workshop and two-day certification process conducted by Fogra’s Ulrich Schmitt, at CGS’s head office in Hainburg, Germany.

Fuji Xerox Australia is only the second operating company behind Xerox Austria to achieve globally recognised accreditation for Validation Print. The Validation Printing System Certification is the answer to long-lasting requirements from the world of print for a digital print quality standard. In 2008, Fogra designed a measurable test for digital printing, based on an ISO draft. This test was adopted within the scope of FograCert as “Validation Printing System”.

The key objective of this standard is to provide a defined and measurable level of quality for digital printing. The criteria for the printing quality include colour accuracy, fading, rub resistance, homogeneity as well as PDF/X compliance. An important criterion is the consistency (repeatability) of the print output over a period of time.

“I am honoured to be one of only a handful of individuals who have received Fogra’s international mark of distinction for demonstrating the highest standards in print quality,” said Fogarty on his return from Germany.

“As a vendor, this allows us to perform specialised print quality adjustments on Xerox and Fuji Xerox print engines. The results can then be submitted to the Fogra committee on our customers’ behalf for certification under internationally accepted ISO standards.”

According to Gordon, this accreditation has numerous benefits for the industry and our Fuji Xerox Australia customers. “Our customers can now be assured that their materials can be printed with a defined quality. Even variable data documents can match the pre-defined standard.”

Print providers, using Fuji Xerox solutions will be able to use this new standard as a guarantee for adhering to the highest level of quality. “This will assist our customers to meet the demands for colour accuracy for materials produced on digital equipment,” says Fogarty.

“A lot of printing systems manufacturers have expressed their interest in creating a standard that defines output quality for the mainly toner-based output systems,” said Andreas Kraushaar, responsible for certification at Fogra.

“Thus validation print was created as a colour definition in the design process. The Validation Print is a colour definition, targeted at companies such as data centres, small graphic and design studios, prepress companies and graphics agencies, which would like to fall back on pre-defined quality within their creation process. Validation Prints are inexpensive to produce and they provide a reference consisting of printer, RIP, colorants, substrate and printing condition to be simulated,” said Kraushaar.

Simon Lane, National Manager Production Services Business at Fuji Xerox Australia, said achieving Fogra certification was further testament to Fuji Xerox Australia’s commitment to raising the levels of digital print quality within its customer base.

“This certification will have lasting benefits, not only for our customers, but also for the industry,” said Lane. “Gordon’s expertise in meeting international ISO standards will ensure our customers can meet the stringent colour and quality demands set by some of Australia’s leading brands. It opens up a new world of print possibilities using Fuji Xerox and Xerox digital print solutions.”

*Fogra: An independent and globally recognised organisation for implementing standards in the Graphics Industry

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