Industry expert Paul Sherfield from The Missing Horse Consultancy explains the steps the PRINT! team took to ensure optimum printed results for the Summer 2011 issue of Fujifilm Print! magazine.

The Fujifim PRINT! magazine has, as you would expect, very high production values - excellent content and design, wonderful images and very good printing on an unusual recycled, uncoated paper.

However, in the sprit of continuous improvement, as a team, we embarked on a project to try and improve further still on the finished printed result.  In particular, we thought the images could look a little more punchy and vibrant, just by implementing some relatively simple changes.  I was asked to give an independent view on the magazine and its current colour management workflow.  So, we bought together the designer, Paul Hiscock from HiscockRansom, and from Severnprint, the magazine's printers, Nigel and David Pealing, to discuss this in detail.

The current workflow is created around the designer providing 'press ready' PDFs to the printer. These are then proofed at the printers for approval by the designer and Fujifilm, a standard workflow process which is followed by most of the industry.  Tone Value Increase (dot gain) compensation curves for the uncoated paper are then added at the rip/platemaking stage by Severnprint.