A group of eight Indian newspapers are participating in an 18-month project aimed at creating common printing standards among them.
Ifra, the worldwide publishers’ association, is conducting the project. The goal is to help the newspapers in India improve their color quality while harmonizing their printing profiles, which are what the page designers use to tell the printers what to print. The project also is aimed at simplifying the process of advertising in numerous newspapers.
The participating newspapers are ABP, Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times, Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Mid Day, The Hindu and The Times of India. Ifra reported that the newspapers met March 3 and 4 in Chennai, where they officially kicked off the two-phase project.
The first phase of the project will last for one year and will deal with technical aspects of the newspapers. The papers will receive a specially designed print target, which is a device that measures colors. During this period, each newspaper will use this target and send the printed results to Ifra for evaluation. Based on the results, Ifra will develop a common print profile for the participating newspapers.
During the second phase, one of the newspapers will use the new print profile with Ifra’s guidance. Eventually, the profile will go to all the reproduction houses, prepress houses and customers as a standard for creating advertising material for these newspapers.
