The purpose of a color proof is to simulate the printing process used to produce the actual final printed product. Because every press is different, every paper manufacturer delivers diverse paper qualities, many printing ink manufacturers offer inks with slightly different color qualities and because every printer prints differently, ideally you should create an ICC profile of your specific printing condition in your production plant.
HOWEVER, this is in many cases virtually impossible and not very practical. In order to facilitate color communication across different production plants and between different players in the production process we should strive for standardization. A number of associations have developed standard ICC profiles, simulating the different printing conditions. When making a digital proof, choose one of the standard reference ICC profiles that match your printing condition. Here you can find a number of standard ICC profiles for offset and gravure printing as listed by the European Color Initiative. You can download the ICC profiles here or check for additional information on www.eci.org.
OFFSET printing:
• ISO coated v2
• ISO coated v2 300%
• PSO LWC improved
• PSO LWC standard
• PSO Uncoated ISO12647
• ISO Uncoated yellowish
• SC paper
• PSO MFC paper
• PSO SNP paper
• PSO coated NPscreen ISO12647
• PSO coated 300% NPscreen ISO12647
• PSO Uncoated NPscreen ISO12647
GRAVURE printing:
• PSR LWC Plus v2 PT: for LWC_plus paper
• PSR LWC STD v2 PT: for LWC_STD paper
• PSR SC STD v2 PT: for SC_STD paper
• PSR gravure MF: for MF paper
Here are some more links with additional information:
www.fogra.org
www.gracol.org
www.swop.org