Click here for more on this project and the award.

Morgan, our intern

Hello All! I’ve been at Portland Color for about a month now, spending time with staff members and learning about their jobs. I’ve primarily been working with the finishing department where prints are cut, trimmed, hemmed, laminated, assembled, folded etc. etc. etc. and then packaged and shipped out to clients. If there’s one thing I’ve learned while working with the finishing crew it’s the importance of working with poise and accuracy. Brian, who IS the fabric finishing crew is a very thoughtful and highly skilled individual. At times I’ve found myself super excited to start cutting and pinning fabrics without thinking through each step of the process. Rushing through a job could decrease efficiency and ultimately sacrifice quality. Brian is quick to remind me about a fabric’s stretch and shrinkage factor as well as a print job’s measurements for hemming and possibly pull pockets. With his guidance I’ve made sure to check (and re-check) my measurements before cutting a print, as well as handle prints with care in order to prevent unwanted creases in the fabric. These points are simple, but very important to the success of Portland Color. If you ever see one of Brian’s banners hanging in a store you’ll be sure to notice the quality craftsmanship that went into making it.

Brian Cronin, Fabric Finishing

To view our previous site, click here.

Andy Graham, founder of Portland Color

Click here to view a profile video for the 2009 Maine College of Art, Art Honors Award Honoree. Created by Allen West ‘10 and Zach Kuoppala ‘09. Music by Zachary Reese ‘06. Faculty advisor Mark Jamra.

From our early days as a photolab and a fine art printer, Portland Color has always had a keen sensitivity for accurate color. Using our well trained eyes, we built a reputation for being exceptionally finicky when it came to a good color match. And we have always embraced new technology to help achieve our goal of the best color output available.

We are proud to announce that we have been certified as a G7® Master Print facility. This means we are able to deliver consistent, accurate color on all of our printers and media for your projects. This also means that your files will print consistently across multiple vendors who are also G7® Master printers. Logos and images printed by your G7® certified offset, flexo and web printer will match the color we print on our latex, dyesub, and UV curable large format devices.

So what is G7®? To quote IDEAlliance (the organization that developed and manages the specification): “This new methodology utilizes the existing ISO 12647 Standards as the basis for good printing”. G7® specifies the components of an image that define a similar “visual appearance” to the human eye. To do this, the G7® Specification:

• Defines a colorimetric definition for gray balance
• Specifies gray balance in the midtones, image weight and image contrast from the highlights to the shadows are the factors that determine likeness of the visual appearance of an image
• Defines the ideal colorimetric black and CMY gray-tone curves for an image
• Specifies a step-by-step method for calibrating proofing systems and presses to these tone curves

G7® improves upon earlier specifications including GRACol 7 and SWOP is named for its gray scale calibration technique and the 7 ISO ink colors it requires (CMYK and RGB).

In the end, it means better color for your prints, especially if your projects require multiple print processes and media like wallpaper and fabric. We also shorten the time from proof to print, making it possible to get to an agreed upon color more quickly, saving time and materials. And  for our most demanding clients, we have a new certification that supports our long standing reputation as color experts.

Portions of this article were taken from literature published by IDEAlliance. G7® is a trademark of IDEAlliance. Copyright 2004-2008, IDEAlliance, Inc.

What is the SGP?

The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) is the only certification of sustainability in the print industry, and is recognized as the gold standard of sustainable practice in the industry.

The SGP was formed from industry groups including the Specialty Graphics and Imaging Association (SGIA), the Print Industries of America (PIA) and the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA).

The mission of the SGP is to encourage and promote participation in the worldwide movement to reduce environmental impact and increase social responsibility of the print and graphic communications industry through sustainable green printing practices.

Printers can join the SGP registry by meeting a set of criteria to establish performance standards. The registry is available to the print buying community so that you can easily identify and contact “green” printers within your area.

The SGP Partnership recognizes the following sustainable business practices as guiding principles to ensure continued viability and growth:

• Employ, wherever and whenever possible, materials derived from renewable resources or with low environmental impact, maximizing recycling and recovery efforts with efficient utilization of renewable energy.
• Encourage the adoption of changes within the supply chain by strongly recommending the use of raw materials that do not threaten or harm future generations.
• Educate the customer and ultimate consumer regarding the benefits of a restorative economy.

For more information go to: www.sgppartnership.org

Why is this important? Why does this matter to you?

• You need to work with a company that incorporates efficiency into your projects to deliver the best value. By adopting sustainable practices, we continually become a more efficient business, which helps control your costs.
• You need to create a more sustainable supply chain. Using sustainable print technologies, materials and processes, we create value, reduce waste, and lower your printing costs.
• You need to partner with a company that values business, people, and the environment equally. Portland Color can help you achieve your sustainability goals by providing environmentally friendlier media and print processes so you are able to purchase your printing more responsibly.

Our path towards greater sustainability began with a review of our basic compliance with all local, state and federal environmental, health and safety regulations. To this end we:

• Hired professionals to perform a comprehensive safety audit
• Developed a formal Environmental Health and Safety System
• Created a Sustainability Management System

Next, we hired professionals to perform energy audits and made a plan to reduce our total energy consumption, carbon footprint and reduce our waste. To this end we:

• Improved our infrastructure by installing energy efficient HVAC and lighting systems
• Created new recycling procedures resulting in 27 tons of material recycled in 2008
• Raised efficiency awareness amongst our staff
• Invested in workflow technologies that seek to minimize waste

Lastly, we worked to solve our clients’ sustainability challenges by investing in and creating new products. To this end we:

• Sourced many sustainable materials including recycled content fabrics, banner materials and mounting substrates
• Invested in latex printing as a more environmentally sensitive alternative to solvent printing
• Specified the use of magnetics for graphics which dramatically reduces the total material needed for signage programs and the total carbon footprint associated with shipping

At Portland Color, we strive to adopt the latest technologies that allow us to produce the highest quality work in a sustainable fashion. When we had the opportunity to beta test HP’s new latex technology in the HP DesignJet L65500, we jumped at the chance.

Latex printing is a more sustainable printing technology designed to replace traditional solvent printing, using an aqueous-based latex ink that eliminates VOC’s. The printer provides exceptionally high resolution and color accuracy at a very reasonable price. Prints are available up to 103″ on a wide variety of media and can be used indoor or outdoor with a life span of 3-5 years. Portland Color is one of 6 early adopters of this technology; the printer was installed in November of 2008.

According to HP, the printer itself is over 80% recyclable. All of the print heads and ink containers are also fully recyclable and are sent back to HP for processing. Even the construction of the printer has a story – the housing is made of recycled, compressed fibers. HP has also initiated a take back program that allows print shops and end users to send back their recyclable prints to HP for processing. We see this as a real trend moving forward and are excited to be a close partner with such a forward thinking company.