What is process standard offset printing?
Process standard offset printing (PSO) is a modern printing production philosophy. It offers comprehensive methodological knowledge to ensure production from image data gathering to the finished print product. The aim is to organise the currently often segmented production process as efficiently and securely as possible, while at the same time ensuring that the intermediate and final results have predictable colour quality. Keeping within PSO tolerances makes for high-quality customer supplies. And the better your skills, the greater the possibilities of PSO, as there is no upward limit on the tolerances and therefore quality. PSO and its processes are not just a one-off approach: PSO is virtually a living thing, subject to constant innovation. Athesia Druck is thus constantly adjusting, as PSO is not something for occasional use – it requires constant care. The aim is the observance and monitoring of economically and technically reasonable ranges of tolerance for all stages of production.


PSO at Athesia Druck:
Athesia Druck affirms its commitment to the standardisation of offset printing in accordance with Process Standard Offset Printing (ISO 12647-2) and Process Standard Newspaper Printing (ISO 12647-3).  Our membership of FOGRA (the print research association) and IFRA (INCA-FIEJ Research Association) underlines our constant drive for progress. Since the end of 2006, Athesia Druck has regularly set itself the challenge of being PSO-certified in the areas of sheet and web offset printing. Audits must be carried out in full every two years. One year after issue of the certificate, an interim test is performed by printing a test form and a contract proof test printing. All past audits and interim tests have been successfully concluded. Building on this base, we constantly search for new ways to increase quality by producing our print products in the best possible manner.  FOGRA: this research association pursues the aim of promoting printing techniques in the areas of research, development and application and to make the results usable for the printing industry. For this purpose the association maintains its own institute with some 50 staff, including engineers, chemists and physicists. FOGRA is based in Munich, Germany.  IFRA: this is a worldwide service organisation headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, dedicated to the publishing house industry. Worldwide it counts over 2,000 publishing houses and suppliers as members. IFRA is a forum for them to share experiences and learn from one another. IFRA is a membership organisation that concerns itself with all of the problems related to the production of publications generally. 
Text: Michael Munter QM

The Dolomiten newspaper is a world leader in colour print quality
With its Dolomiten newspaper, Athesia Druck has since 1999 been competing in the worldwide “International Newspaper Colour Quality Club”, a worldwide quality competition held every two years by the IFRA (INCA-FIEJ Research Association). We have succeeded in joining the club of the top 50 best newspapers worldwide on four out of five occasions. The Dolomiten was praised each time for its outstanding colour printing or once more accepted into the quality club. On average 180 newspapers from 35 countries participate in this two-yearly quality competition, among them renowned newspapers like the New York Times and the German Süddeutsche Zeitung. At Athesia Druck, quality awareness is underlined by the creativity of its staff and the painstaking but economically justifiable production processes. With the Dolomiten, Athesia Druck succeeds in meeting the very high technical requirements of the quality audits. For both our advertisers and readers, the printing of a very high-quality newspaper in Bozen that also meets high technical standards is a very attractive proposition. We can also build further on this achievement.
Text: Michael Munter QM