The NPS Approach to Print Colour Accuracy
Ever had a print job land on your desk and thought… “That’s not the colour I signed off”?
It happens more often than you might think, and when it does, it can weaken your brand message.
Colour accuracy is not just about appearance; it is about brand consistency. From business cards and brochures to packaging, signage, and large format displays, every piece of print should align perfectly. If your logo appears one shade of blue on a flyer and another on a banner, it can undermine trust in your brand.
At Northern Print Solutions, we make sure your colours are accurate across every format. When your print collateral is consistent, your brand is stronger, more recognisable, and more professional.
Setting the Foundations: Stock and Finishes
Colour accuracy doesn’t start on press, it begins right at the moment your job is booked. That’s why our sales team takes the time to guide you through the right paper stock and finishes to make sure your colours look their best.
The right stock can make a significant difference. Coated paper makes colours bold and sharp, uncoated or textured paper creates a softer, more natural look, and finishes like lamination, spot UV, or foiling can subtly alter how colours appear. By selecting the ideal combination from the outset, we ensure your project has the best foundation for accurate and consistent colour.
From Screen to Print: Pre-Press Colour Checks
To keep colours consistent, we have checks in place at every stage of the printing process, starting long before ink touches paper. Pre-press is where accuracy begins.
When we receive your artwork, it goes through specialist software that translates colours into an industry-standard profile, FOGRA 39. In plain terms, it means what you see on screen is carefully prepared to behave the right way in print, because screens and paper don’t always speak the same language.
From there, our pre-press team reviews the artwork before it goes to production. Having people involved, not just software, means we can spot anything unusual and make sure your files are set up correctly.
For jobs where colour accuracy is critical, we go further. We can produce test sheets and adjust the artwork so that the final printed colours match the intended look as closely as possible. This extra step provides confidence that the finished product will match your expectations.
On Press: Colour Control
Even with perfect pre-press preparation, colours can shift during printing. Our print team ensures accuracy continues throughout production.
Our presses are calibrated daily and maintained to ensure consistent results. The team fine-tunes settings like density, dpi, and temperature, always adapting to the stock in use. Inline sensors monitor quality sheet by sheet, and even finishing touches like lamination are factored in, because they can subtly alter colour. If anything looks out of line, our production team flags it immediately to pre-press, keeping every stage connected.
This approach ensures that from the first sheet to the last, your colours remain consistent and true to your brand.
Final Checks by the Production Manager
Before any job leaves NPS, the production manager carries out a thorough quality check. This includes completing a detailed checklist covering colour accuracy, print quality, and overall presentation. The job cannot be dispatched until it has been signed off, confirming it has been inspected and approved correctly.
This final step adds the most important layer of all – human assurance. Our production manager checks colours against approved samples and inspects the finer details that no machine can guarantee. With years of experience behind them, their sign-off is our way of making sure every job leaving NPS is one we’d be proud to put our name to and one you can trust to carry your brand.
Consistency You Can Count On
Colour can make or break how your brand is perceived, which is why accuracy is at the heart of everything we do. From advising on the right stock at the very start, through careful pre-press checks, daily calibration on press, and a final sign-off by the production manager, we put multiple layers of quality control in place.
The result? Print that looks exactly how you imagined, every single time. Your colours stay true, your brand stays strong, and your message lands with the impact you planned.
If you want peace of mind that your print will always match your vision, our team is here to make it happen. Get in touch with us today and let’s make sure your next project looks as good in print as it does on screen.
