What are G7 and GRACol?

G7 is an improved method for matching color across multiple devices. The ‘G’ stands for the new calibrating Gray balance and that  the ‘7’ for the ISO core colors CMYK+RGB.




1990s GRACol    Proposal and general specifications
2002  GRACoL6   Guidelines that have become the de facto rule
2006  GRACoL7   Emphasized visual appearance-based proof to print
2007  G7        Proof to Print
      G7 Master Master or qualification program

Printers who are G7 compliant have to prove that they can match proof, plates and press sheets. The qualification mark means that the printer uses the modern technology based on colorimetry, and employ G7 process controls. G7 Masters bear the IDEAlliance seal of approval. Attaining G7 Master status is a competitive goal for those providing creative, premedia and printing services, worldwide.

Two Conformance Levels
.  Focuses on achieving tight tolerances for gray balance and
   for the neutral print density curve.
.  Uses color management to achieve a color match to an aim
   characterization data set.

Goal
.  To achieve a close “visual match” from proof to press.

GRACol
IDEAlliance stands for Internal Digital Enterprise Alliance, an membership organisation dedicated to the fields of digital imaging, printing and publishing. Under which, the GRACol (General Requirement and Allications for Commercial offset Lithography) is responsible for the guidelines for commercial printing.

An extensive discussion is available from http://www.babelcolor.com/ article AN-3a Using PatchTool for IDEAlliance Printer proofing certification.

In short, a certified proofing printer process allows an overall assessment of what the final print will look like before going to the actual printout, this saving time and expense.
References:
http://www.idealliance.org/
http://www.colorwiki.com/