P40: SMS subscription for brands, companies and institutions

Description

Brand Owners/Brands/Companies/Institutions

Suited for small and large entities, that have an official logo in colour(s) or official colours, as well as for individual product- and service brands that require cross-media colour consistency .

The Spot Matching System is based on colours derived from CMYK according to ISO 12647 and hence we strongly urge our SMS subscribers to work as much as they can with print shops that offer printing according to ISO 12647, – be it to Fogra standards or G7 standards or possibly the Japan Standard 2011.
Printing to universal standards is the easiest and safest way towards quality and consistency in colour. The safest possible way to go for brands is to subscribe to SMS and then to have their printers and preferably also their manufacturers – i.e. anyone involved in reproducing the brand colours of the brand to get SMS READY certified, – meaning that Spot-Nordic provides each printer with a few SMS colours that they have to print to our satisfaction and once we are happy, we issue the SMS READY print shop certificate.

SMS subscribers may request the assistance of Spot-Nordic to contact their printers and manufacturers on their behalf to find out the current state when it comes to standardization in colour printing/reproduction and to offer them our advice on how to get their colour under control.

Print shops that refuse – or are simply not able to get an SMS READY certification are not recommended by Spot-Nordic for printing jobs where SMS colours are being printed. Any print shop can print in colour – even very pleasant colour but printing the correct colours to universal standards requires diligence and accuracy which only the best can commit to. Even small digital print shops can get their process under perfect control and the cost of this is quite low, comparing the advantages of being able to offer printing to universal standards.

Printers do not have to have an ISO 12647 certification or in fact any certification at all to be able to apply for our SMS READY certification. We simply need to be assured that they can print our SMS colours within a dE00 of 3 or less.

A dE00 (Delta E) determines how close to the target SMS colour the printer is. Normally a dE00 of 3 or less is considered good enough. It is however of course up to each SMS subscriber to set the requested dE00. Some may require a lower dE00 for certain applications and we are happy to communicate that requirement on a brand to brand and printer to printer basis.
An SMS READY certification, – meaning a commitment to printing flat SMS colours within a dE00 of 3, 2 or even 1 is about as confident as a printer can get, since there is nowhere to hide. Either the SMS colour is correct or it is not.

Brand owners interested in learning more about dE00, the SMS READY workflow from design to print etc. you can check out a video we did recently covering this topic, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe2NcXlOVxo&t=484s

Each SMS subscription is valid for one entity / one brand only.

Brand Owners that wish to subscribe to SMS need to appoint at least one so-called “super user”, who is responsible for that designers, working with the brand colours of the brand owner, will work according to instructions provided by Spot-Nordic, to ensure correct reproduction of SMS colours for each media.

The super user, who will be the technical contact on behalf of the brand owner, has to be fluent in the English language and must furthermore be advanced in use of the Adobe Suite.

He or she, after proving his or her ability to work with SMS colours and to convert them to all relevant media for correct reproduction will receive an SMS READY Expert certificate, which will remain valid during the term of his or her work for the subscribed brand (see P21 here above).

Optionally the Brand Owner may appoint an existing SMS READY Expert on a freelance basis to handle all communications with Spot-Nordic, Advertising Agencies, Printshops and Manufacturers responsibe for reproduction of the SMS colours of the brand – see further information about the SMS READY Expert certification – here above.

Brand Owners are optionally allowed to hand over communications and responsibility (including super user responsibility) over their SMS brand colours to an SMS READY Agency.

The appointed super user must proof his or her ability to work with SMS colours professionally and will, once he or she has proven ability in converting SMS colours from sRGB to the relevant media – Print Graphics, Web Graphics and/or Video Graphics (optional) receive his or her own SMS READY Expert certificate, that will remain valid during the subscription period – see further details about the SMS READY Expert certification – P21 here above.

The appointed super user will be taught how to use the SMS READY control strip correctly and will be provided with an Excel sheet, enabling them to check the dE00 of each colour of the SMS READY control strip (requires a qualified spectrophotometer – for instance the i1Pro3 Basic – see here).

If necessary the super user will receive support in proper use of the spectral instrument (what M standard to use for measurement etc.). SMS READY subscribers may also order any amount of the Colormeter Exact pocket spectro at a discounted price of €499.

The Colormeter Exact is perfect to keep track of brand colours and to do quick quality checks on the go. This instrument is not as precise as for instance the i1Pro3 instrument, but once you have measured a printed colour that you know is correct (confirmed with a high end spectro such as the i1Pro3, Xrite Exact or TECHKON SpectroDens), it is safe to use the Colormeter Exact instrument to confirm if an SMS colour is correct or not, especially if other stakeholders in your value chain are using the same instrument on both ends, checking a printed colour against the same reference colour.

Subscription includes:

• • SMS CMYK versions of corporate/brand colours ready for printing to requested industry standards (Fogra, G7 or custom colour spaces), RGB version for Web and Television, Standard, ECO,  MAX or SuperMAX colours.Or
  • Re-colourization of an existing brand logo to SMS colours suited for visually consistent industry standard printing, for web and TV.
    Issuing of a unique SMS ID for the logo as a whole (v.s. individual SMS colours) – see P10 SWITCH here above.In this case the brand owner needs to decide whether to align to ECO, Standard, Standard Home & Office,, MAX, MAX Home & Office or SuperMAX SMS standards. Included are all CMYK print variations required – see SMS features.For P10 re-colourization, the logo and the brand colours should be sent to support@spotmatchingsystem.com in sRGB, PNG or PDF format. Each individual logo colour must be shown clearly, preferably as a colour cube/patch and will be issued a custom SMS name, to be used in all design for the customer and when communicating with Spot-Nordic.
  • Web and Television version of the chosen SMS colours, SMS logo and SMS images are included.
  • Your brand colours in HEX format for use in the office (delivered in Excel format) Included
  • P20 v7:  2.607 labelled sRGB Standard colours in PDF and ASE format: Included
  • P20x v7: 2.607 labelled sRGB MAX colours in PDF and ASE format: Included
  • P20e v7: 2.607 labelled sRGB ECO colours in PDF and ASE format: Included
  • P20o v7: 2.607 labelled sRGB Standard Home & Office colours in PDF and ASE format: Included
  • P20xo v7: 2.607 labelled sRGB SMS MAX Home & Office colours in PDF and ASE format: Included
  • P20xs v7: 2.607 labelled sRGB SMS SuperMAX colours in PDF and ASE format: Included
  • P21: SMS READY training for one employee (super user) Included
  • P17: Print job registration (job ID) incl. technical settings and substrate description for easy re-printing: Included
  • Saving of customer’s official brand identity manual in sRGB format:  Included
  • “Crash Course” for key staff members via Skype or Microsoft Teams (max 3 at the time) in what to keep in mind when preparing jobs containing SMS colours and how to ensure that SMS colours are kept correct every time – especially in print (using both SMS tickets and spectral measurements).
  • Technical support via email and Messenger/Skype/What’s App (English only). Brand Owner may direct any questions concerning their Brand Colours to support@spotmatchingsystem.com for handling.Support includes communicating with Printshops and manufacturers to confirm their printing standard as well as communicating with Advertising Agencies / Designers, responsible for layout / design of the job in question to ensure successful reproduction of SMS colours in CMYK

• Discounted prices for printed SMS Colour Tickets and other certified proofs for onsite matching or customer presentations.In addition the following services are available:
• P14b: Closest PANTONE spot colour to a standard SMS colour for paper, plastic or textile: EUR 30 per colour.
• P16: Rating of SMS printed colours (physical copy must be sent to our address): EUR 50 per job.

Before beginning work on a new job, where an SMS colour is to be used, feel free to contact support@spotmatchingsystem.com with information about the job, what type of job it is, what type of substrate/material and what printing standard your printer/manufacturer uses and which CMYK icc profile is recommended.

We are happy to communicate with your printer/manufacturer to establish this on your behalf.

Once the job is ready, the designer should always send a copy of the job in sRGB format to support@spotmatchingsystem.com. We like to keep a copy of all jobs and all campaigns, – whether they are meant for print, web, TV or something else.

If there are changes made to international printing standards or specifications, including the ISO 12647 standard, Fogra and GRACol specifications, which may affect the final CMYK composition of SMS colours, registering all print jobs with us will enable us to update ongoing print jobs globally to keep your SMS brand colours correct.

For best results, please instruct your printer(s) to always send print related information (print standard/icc profile to be used) to their quote with cc to support@spotmatchingsystem.com for smooth re-printing, and preferably to send additional print specific information and comments related to the job to support@spotmatchingsystem.com after printing.

The more information we have about each individual job, the better.

SKU P40: EUR 950 per year.