What Is G7 Certification?

In the world of printing and packaging, color consistency isn't just a luxury—it's a necessity.

Imagine your favorite brand's packaging suddenly appearing in a slightly different shade of its iconic color. This small change can cause confusion, diminish brand recognition, and ultimately impact sales.

Fortunately, collaborating with a G7-certified printing and packaging firm ensures that colors on your folding cartons remain true and consistent across every print run, every time. 

So, what goes into G7 certification? 

What You Need to Know About G7 Certification

Alongside other print industry benchmarks such as Pantone certification, G7 certification is a globally recognized standard that ensures consistent color quality in printing. Developed by the independent nonprofit Idealliance, it focuses on calibrating printing processes to achieve uniform color across different devices and materials.

This certification is especially important for custom paperboard packaging companies and their clients who rely on precise color matching.

Simply, it is a universal calibration methodology that printers, designers, and creatives seek to maintain the integrity of their brands. G7 can be easily applied to any printing system—whether offset, flexo, gravure, screen, wide format, digital (toner and inkjet), industrial inkjet, or dye-sublimation. 

Achieving G7 certification guarantees paperboard packaging suppliers consistently produce accurate colors on their printed materials, maintaining brand integrity and quality in every substrate—be it paperboard or sustainable alternatives such as hemp or cotton.

Three principles guide the G7 methodology:

• Gray Balance emphasizes the importance of achieving a neutral gray, meaning gray tones in printed materials should appear consistent regardless of the printer or substrate. This is achieved by adjusting the ink levels of cyan, magenta, and yellow to produce a balanced gray.
  
  
• Tonality ensures the lightness or darkness of colors remains uniform. This involves calibrating the printing process so that printed outputs match the intended design in terms of brightness and contrast.
  
  
• Color Consistency aims for invariable colors across printing devices and substrates. By following the G7 methodology, printers can make certain colors look the same on different types of paper, cardboard, or other sustainable materials, providing exacting likeness in the final printed product.

The G7 methodology has three certification levels, each building upon the other. 

G7 Grayscale is the most fundamental. Regardless of printing technology, if a custom paperboard packaging supplier can ensure its press prints the neutral tone well, then all other colors tend to fall into line rather easily. 

The second level, G7 Targeted, focuses on the solid ink measurements for primaries and secondaries (CMY and RGB). The substrate color must fall within one of the G7-based Targeted color spaces. Printing and packaging suppliers achieve this using absolute white point or substrate-relative conditions. 

The most rigorous level of compliance, G7 Colorspace requires printing and packaging facilities to match the entire Reference Print Condition. This means they can consistently reproduce the whole color space, in addition to the primaries and secondaries (CMY and RGB). 

The G7 Certification Process

While straightforward, the process of becoming a G7-certified printer and packaging supplier is rather demanding.

1. Initial Assessment: The print facility evaluates its current printing processes and equipment to identify areas for improvement. This can be done in tandem with a G7 expert who is focused on helping a printing and packaging company’s facility make the necessary improvements to become certified. 
2. Training: Using this first-round evaluation, the facility educates its team on G7 standards and practices through training sessions or workshops. Again, a G7 expert can be brought in to educate a print shop’s staff on proper practices.
3. Calibration: A print facility then adjusts its printing equipment to meet G7 standards, focusing on achieving neutral gray balance and consistent tonality.
4. Test: The printer produces test prints to ensure color reproduction meets all G7 criteria.
5. Measure & Analyze: Using specialized tools, the print facility measures and analyzes color accuracy against G7 certification benchmarks.
6. Audit & Certification: Finally, it undergoes an audit by a certified G7 expert to verify that all processes meet G7 standards. It’s issued a certification if compliant.

Idealliance acts as a third party in confirming a facility meets the requisite standards. 

The nonprofit is independent of the actual audit process, and has every reason to uphold a print standard, since allowing a facility to undeservedly attain G7 certification would undermine the value of its entire program in the eyes of consumers, brands, and other printing and packaging firms. 

Each facility must go through the process. So, while a printing and packaging company may have earned certification for a shop it operates in North Carolina, for instance, this doesn’t necessarily mean all of its printed materials are G7 certified if it also operates facilities elsewhere. 

G7 qualifications are good for one year and must be renewed annually. This ensures the paperboard packaging supplier and printer brandishing a certification is staying up to date with rigorous print standards.

The Benefits of G7 Certification

Collaborating with a G7-certified printing and paperboard packaging supplier provides several significant benefits for your brand:

• Consistent color reproduction strengthens your brand. A G7 certification ensures your paperboard packaging designs will be accurate every time, with unparalleled color matching across different print runs. This consistency is crucial for maintaining brand integrity. The slightest deviation can have a profound effect on consumer perception. 
  
  
• Heightened quality assurance gives you unrivaled packaging design. G7 certification indicates a high level of process control and color management expertise that other printers can’t promise. Your brands can expect reliable, high-quality print results that meet the highest industry standards.
  
  
• Reduced time to market gives you an advantage over competitors. With standardized processes, proofing and approval cycles are shortened, and color issues are less likely to cause production delays.
  
  
• You’ll save on costs associated with poor print quality. Enjoy fewer reprints and less waste caused by color inconsistencies. Plus, you may experience reduced ink consumption due to optimized color management.
  
  
• Adhering to a global standard means your packaging is more likely to align with other markets around the world. Again, G7 certification is an internationally recognized standard, promising you consistent results across different geographical locations. This is particularly valuable for brands with a global presence or those working with multiple paperboard packaging suppliers.
  
  
• Consistent packaging appearance across products and markets strengthens brand image. This reduces the risk of off-brand colors that could confuse or disappoint customers. It’s subtle but seemingly minuscule differences in color on your folding cartons may signal that there’s something “cheap” or “knock-off” about your product.
  
  
• Simplifying your supply chain removes logistical headaches. It’s easier to switch between or add G7-certified suppliers without compromising color consistency—facilitating smoother collaborations in multi-vendor projects.

Working With a G7-Certified Paperboard Packaging Supplier

At Oliver Inc., we are dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of quality and color consistency across all our printing operations. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in our rigorous adherence to the G7 certification process.

We invest in advanced technology, such as the Koenig & Bauer Rapida 145 press and Heidelberg Speedmaster Press. Continuous team training guarantees that our printing processes deliver consistent, accurate, and high-quality color reproduction. By upholding G7 standards, we guarantee that every print job meets your exacting requirements. 

Oliver has G7-certified facilities in New York, Virginia, and Ohio—and we promise to be just as dedicated to your brand’s integrity as we are to ours. 

Oliver Inc. is the nation's leading independent supplier of custom paperboard packaging solutions. Our advanced printing technology and steadfast commitment to G7 certification will elevate your next packaging design. Contact us today to learn more.