In the recent feature for WhatTheyThink, Julie Shaffer presents a clear reminder that while new technologies often take the spotlight, the invisible engine supporting our global print, packaging and graphic communications supply chain is standards development.
In particular, the work of the international technical committee ISO/TC 130 — Graphic Technology is critical. That committee’s scope spans terminology, data exchange, process control, materials, media, finishing, quality, conformity assessment, and environmental impact across the centuries-old print process and its emerging digital and packaging variants.
Here’s a closer look at why these matters and how PRINTING United Alliance, through its standards-development efforts and the legacy of its division Idealliance, plays a vital and proactive role.
Why ISO/TC 130 matters for the print industry
As Shaffer mentions, “new product development is exciting, but standards development is a critical engine driving our industry…[ensuring] consistency, stability and interoperability across the graphic communication value chain.”
The print supply chain is global, multi-technology (offset, flexo, digital, wide-format, packaging, to name a few), and involves many players (brands, converters, OEMs, prepress, media). Without common standards, every link risks miscommunication, re-work and cost.
Over the years, ISO/TC 130 has developed more than 100 standards across the workflow.
Its working groups address everything from defining terminology (WG 1) to data exchange (WG 2), process control/metrology (WG 3), media and materials (WG 4), ergonomics/safety (WG 5), print conformity (WG 13), and joint working groups on color management (JWG 7) and print quality measurement methods (JWG 14).
In the United States, the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (U.S. TAG) under the national member body (ANSI) develops the U.S. position to feed into ISO/TC 130 ballots. PRINTING United Alliance maintains an active role in this Technical Advisory Group along with other key players across our industry.
For end users, the result is that when you align to a reference print condition (RPC) or a standard dataset, you are communicating to the global supply chain in the same language—whether you’re printing in North America, Europe or Asia. This matters for brand owners, designers, print service providers (PSPs), and OEMs alike.
This makes standards not just a “nice to have,” but a foundational piece of modern global workflows. They are the infrastructure underneath the technology, enabling consistency, repeatability, and reliability.
PRINTING United Alliance and Idealliance: The standards story
The story of the Alliance's involvement in standards runs deep and is highly relevant to the work of ISO/TC 130 and beyond.
The GCCA (Graphic Communications Computer Association) was formed in 1966 as the Computer Section of the Printing Industries of America (PIA). Over the decades, the organization evolved (GCCA → GCA → International Digital Enterprise Alliance → Idealliance) and became a home for print-industry standardization, color fidelity initiatives, and workflow innovations. Idealliance became a leader in developing print standards, certifications, training, and specifications (G7®, GRACoL®, SWOP®, ECG, PrintWide® etc). In its current structure, Idealliance, now part of PRINTING United Alliance, along with the organization’s members and expansive education, training and certification, has an even broader reach and resources.
The Print Properties Committee (PPC)
One of the key vehicles through which Idealliance, and now PRINTING United Alliance, drives standards and specification development is the Print Properties Committee (PPC).
The PPC is a member-only working group comprised of color scientists, PSPs, OEMs, media suppliers, and end-users, that for more than 40 years has defined color workflows, print conditions, and specifications. Its work includes the development of GRACoL®, SWOP®, PrintWide®, XCMYK, ECG (Expanded Color Gamut), and G7 calibration method adoption. The PPC continues to innovate, for example, the ECG project (CMYK + OGV 7-colour), which recently released a beta dataset for global testing. The PPC maintains close ties with CGATS (Committee for Graphic Arts Technology Standards), ISO/TC 130, ICC (International Color Consortium), and other global bodies. The PPC is an expansive list of standards, tools, and specifications, providing end-users with practical guidelines, datasets, profiles, and control targets.
How the Alliance supports standards development and supply-chain adoption
PRINTING United Alliance provides resources, membership access, training, certification, events, and technical forums to spread and embed the standards and workflows developed by the PPC. The Alliance’s standard-specification library, now a part of iLEARNING+, provides broad access to reference print conditions, datasets, targets, and associated materials that companies can adopt. The Alliance global certification programs (e.g., G7® Master, G7+™, Color Management Professional ®, and more) help bridge the gap from “standard exists” to “standard is implemented and managed.” The Alliance's leadership also liaises directly with global standards bodies. For example, this PRINTING United Alliance article titled “Unifying Print Through Standards: The Power of Reference Print Conditions in a Global Industry,” outlines the move toward a global unified dataset (UDS) under ISO/TC 130.
Current Efforts by the ISO/TC 130
Shaffer’s article captures the current momentum of ISO/TC 130 and invites practitioners to engage by joining the standards development community.
Here are a few specific ramifications and opportunities from our vantage:
- The push toward a unified dataset (UDS) referenced in the PRINTING United Alliance article (Sep 2025) underscores the global supply-chain imperative: brands, designers, and printers across regions need to align to the same reference aims.
- Standards like GRACoL® 2013 (CRPC6), now a part of CGATS 21 and ISO 15339, and others developed by the PPC show real-world value—they provide predictable aims, reduce risk, and speed time-to-market for all supply-chain stakeholders. This library of G7-based standards continues to grow to serve additional technologies and print applications for a harmonized global benchmark for color output.
The WhatTheyThink article also highlights the complexity of standards work (multiple WGs, JWGs, material, conformity, finishing). As print technologies evolve (wide-format, inkjet, packaging, expanded gamut), standards development becomes more challenging and more essential.
Participation in Alliance committees—such as PPC and the U.S. TAG—and the adoption of published specifications provide members and their supply-chain partners with a significant competitive advantage. These standards support greater consistency, higher quality, stronger brand alignment, and easier global business enablement. As adoption continues to grow, equipment, substrates, and workflows increasingly align around these shared baselines, ensuring that we’re not reinventing the wheel but instead building on a common, proven foundation.
What you can do to help:
- Join the conversation and provide input. The global standards system depends on practitioner input. If you see workflow gaps, new substrates, new technologies (e.g., extended gamut, inkjet, on-demand), you can engage via the PPC and U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 130 to help shape the next wave. PRINTING United Alliance membership offers direct access rights to participate in working groups such as the PPC. If your company is not yet involved, consider joining to influence the next generation of print/packaging workflows.
- Adopt reference print conditions. Whether you’re a printer, a brand, or a conversion partner, aligning your process to the latest CRPCs (GRACoL®, SWOP®, PrintWide®, ECG) ensures you speak the same language as your partners. The Alliance’s iLEARNING+ specification library is a resource available to serve all users across print, premedia and design to optimal workflow alignment.
- Pursue certification. Programs like G7® Master, G7+™, and Color Management Professional® are built on these standards and provide proof of capability. That can open doors for global brand business, packaging buyers, and OEM engagements. Pursue certification to demonstrate your leading capabilities and alignment to the most stringent benchmarks for global brands. Plus, print buyers look for leading PSPs and individuals capable of driving optimal print.
- Leverage Alliance resources. Whitepapers, training modules, datasets, webinars—PRINTING Unite Alliance supports your team in converting standard specifications into operational capabilities.
Standards work may seem esoteric, but in practice, it’s what allows the print industry to operate in a predictable, repeatable, and profitable way. The work of ISO/TC 130 is foundational, and through the Print Properties Committee and PRINTING United Alliance, you have a seat at the table and a roadmap to adopt, certify, and differentiate your operation globally