Re: Contract Proof?
Re: Contract Proof?
- Subject: Re: Contract Proof?
- From: Ray Maxwell <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2006 20:10:49 -0800
I have always been some what amused by the term "Contract Proof".
I was told that there have been court cases over not matching a contract
proof. The basic understanding is that you don't have to pay the bill
if the print run does not "match" the proof. In addition the client has
to sign off on the proof and then sign again on one of the first sheets
of the run. This also means that they have to be present for a press check.
Now what is wrong with this picture?
How can you define a contract based on a "match" when no one specifies a
tolerance using some kind of objective measurement.
I have made measurements of a press run and found that a Speedmaster 74
has a measurable variation cycle every 4 sheets due to how its ink train
is designed. While this variation is small, it is measurable. There
are other measurable variations within a run due to speed and
temperature changes in the run. So this means that sheets within the
run don't exactly "match".
Imagine a person ordering a machine part and not specifying a
tolerance!!! No one would take them seriously.
This points out that our industry is still practiced as art and craft
and is not a manufacturing process. We have a long way to go to
establish real international standards in this area. We are not at a
point where we can "print by the numbers" yet. Imagine a time when a
creative artist can produce art and send a file and know that the final
printed piece will be manufactured within a certain delta E.
Fuji, Imation, Dupont, and Kodak all made laminate proofing materials.
They used very expensive spectrophotometers, instrument metrology
programs, statistical process control, and worked to very tight
unpublished tolerances. This is what gave our industry very good
control over proofs and color. With the advent of ink jet proofing all
of this control is now the responsibility of the local creative artist,
prepress, and printer. We have a ways to go before we can print with
the precision that those proofing materials were manufactured to. We
have a lot to learn when it comes to making printing a manufacturing
process.
I would say that the publications printers have made the most progress
in this area. The packaging printers have also moved ahead in
standards. However, the commercial printers have a way to go in this area.
Ray
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