Introduction In the past 20 years, SWOP has become a major reference factor in the publishing industry. This is due to the combination of SWOP's deep-reaching goals, the dedication of the people involved, and the willingness of the entire industry to expect progress. The final version of the parameter description refers to all aspects of the publication production process - including advertisers, publishers, printers, advertising agencies, and prepress service providers.
The history of SWOP In the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the popularity of web offset technology and its growing influence on the industry, various printing problems due to different materials (film and paper) parameters have clearly emerged. . Prepress service providers are trying their best to change, but without any parameter description, they can only guess the accuracy of the operation. The situation is very confusing and intensifying.
By the end of 1974, a group of people from related industries had held an informal meeting to discuss whether it was possible to set up an association to prepare parameter descriptions for various materials needed for offset printing. They decided to invite representatives of the relevant departments of the industry to hold meetings early next year. The meeting decided to set up a rating committee and invite all interested parties to participate. It also decided that all participating organizations should unanimously adopt the agreement as an effective parameter standard.
William Sullivan was elected chairman and was succeeded by McGraw Hill in 1991.
The initial set of parameter descriptions was published in 1975, and then the current name (rotational offset parameter specification version) and acronym (SWOP) were used for the first time in 1976. Later reprinted in 77, 78, 81, 88, and 93 respectively.
Since its first publication so far, one of the basic features of the SWOP parameter description has always been adaptability. The SWOP assessment committee meets regularly to discuss how to change the commercial and technical conditions to ensure that the parameter standards are harmonized.
In versions prior to 1986, parameter descriptions focused on the control of the materials (film and paper) provided—especially four-color separations and separations. The 1986 edition not only updated the above parameter descriptions, but also for the first time stated the guiding principles for web printing. During the same period, SWOP parameter descriptions were also used for the description of input parameters for gravure printing under the cooperation of the American Gravure Association (GAA).
Since 1993, the description of the SWOP parameters began to include the preparation and transmission of electronic documents for print data in electronic workflows. More and more detailed information on digital proofing is also included, including the development of the SWOP application data sheet.
In 1988, SWOP and the Printing Technology Association merged to form a "non-profit" company. The initial board of directors was represented by representatives from the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the United States Magazine Publishers (MPA), the International Prepress Association (IPA), the American Commercial Printing (ABP), and the U.S. Printing Industry Web Offset Printing Association. Vice President. Currently, the board of directors includes 6 independent directors, and 6 individuals have served as chairman. In addition, ABP has launched the organization and all participants are volunteer and unpaid.
Registered trademark SWOP® in 1994.
SWOP's Mission SWOP's mission is to continually improve the quality of printed publications by setting and modifying parametric standards and tolerances.
This goal is achieved by providing the publication printer with all the parameter descriptions needed during the production and editing of advertisements. Once all relevant personnel have followed these parameter descriptions, the printing practitioner can complete the copying according to the intentions of advertisers and publishers, greatly reducing the difficulty. Every step in the printing process should be measured and confirmed, and the quality criteria should be judged, allowing each operator on the imaging process chain to monitor and refine the production process through statistical methods.
Guidance parameters and guiding ideology SWOP parameters have been widely recognized in the industry and have been evaluated by representatives of the SWOP assessment committee and other relevant associations and industry committees. The organizations listed in this manual were brought together for the first time in 1975. Afterwards, they often had regular seminars and discussions, and finally formed a description of the current parameters. Any changes in this parameter description are based not only on new information on technological innovation but also on the experience and actual operational tests within the printing company. The current version is the 7th revision that reflects the changing industry.
The impact of new trends and digital documents is very fast due to the development of technology in the industry, and the SWOP manuals will be updated more frequently.
One of the major changes in recent years has been the increasing use of electronic documents instead of film for image transmission in the industry. It is important that these electronic files meet the high quality standards for printed films and proofs. Although the workflow for applying electronic documents may vary, the respective steps in the entire process will also be greatly changed. Therefore, the documents themselves must be produced and proofed with the same parameter standards as the film in order to guarantee the printers. You can unify multiple advertisements and edit pages into one workflow and work with each other. Therefore, in the process of using electronic documents, all participants (including content integrators) in the imaging chain are responsible for complying with the standards set out in the SWOP parameter description.
From this version, we will introduce more about the use of electronic documents and their impact on publications.
The use and transmission of electronic documents in the industry is on the rise, leading to the increasingly irrational workflow of the actual hard copy proofs using color OK. In order to maintain the color standard in this case, SWOP has used standard measurement techniques and calibration practices to characterize the printing press proofing process and published it in ANSI/CGATS TR 001. These standardized contents ensure color information. Reliable exchange. Some standards committees and other industry associations are investigating the relationship between the two workflows (digital and analog) and considering publishing new versions, SWOP agrees strongly with these practices.
Responsibilities of the various branches responsible for participating in this activity are as follows:
Advertising agencies and advertisers The primary responsibility of advertising agencies and advertisers is to list all advertising input materials and application materials, regardless of the source, in accordance with the SWOP parameter specification, and to ensure that the material's adaptability is tested and monitored.
Advertising agencies or advertisers should select prepress service providers who are familiar with and follow the SWOP parameter descriptions, and require suppliers to strictly follow these parameters to complete the production. It is important to realize that any material and materials that deviate from these SWOP parameter descriptions may incur publisher rejection or lead printers to produce substandard prints.
Advertising agencies and advertisers are also responsible for ensuring that the material they provide does not infringe on copyright or other legal restrictions.
When there is a conflict between prepress service providers, publishers and printers, agents and publishers should come forward to discuss solutions.
The primary responsibility of prepress service providers for prepress service providers is to prepare input materials for the printing process in accordance with the requirements of the SWOP parameter description. They must ensure that the provided SWOP proofs truly reflect the content contained in the electronic document or film provided to the publisher or printer.
It is very important that even if the prepress service providers are under intense competitive pressure, they should complete the above requirements with high quality. They should verify and ensure the quality of these electronic documents or materials, and cooperate fully with other branches in the industry to maintain and improve the quality standards for publishing and printing. All these must not only meet the requirements of aesthetics but also satisfy the customer's production requirements.
The publisher’s publisher’s primary responsibility is to list all editorial pages and ad input materials that should be included, regardless of source, according to the SWOP parameter description.
When a publisher receives an electronic file or film, it must first monitor and check to ensure that the electronic document, film, and proofs conform to the SWOP specifications.
Publishers are also responsible for ensuring that the editing material they provide does not infringe on copyright or other legal restrictions.
In addition, when there is a conflict between prepress service providers, agents, and material printers, publishers will negotiate solutions with advertising agencies/advertisers.
Publishers should select prepress service providers and printers who follow the SWOP parameter specification. Publishers and printers are responsible for monitoring the quality of replication using system and process control equipment (such as color patches) to ensure that the print results accurately match the SWOP proofs provided.
The printer’s printer’s primary responsibility is to match the product with the SWOP proofs provided. The web printing guidelines provided in this manual help printers to achieve this.
When the printer receives electronic documents, films and SWOP proofs, they should ensure that there is no loss or change in the transmission process. All contents should be intact and comply with the SWOP specification. After receiving the electronic file, the printer should use the SWOP parameter description to process the file to ensure that no problems (such as moiré) occur on the output product.
If the supplied material or electronic file cannot comply with the SWOP parameter specification, the printer should notify the publisher and prepress service provider to inform them that: Non-compliance with the standard may result in non-compliant copying.
Anyone who provides copyrighted subject material to the entire production process must inspect and review copyright and licensing rights. Possible materials include photos, artwork, text, software and fonts, etc.