Industry Resources & Affiliations
Williams & Partners is an active participant in many standard-setting industry-leading organizations. So, we have an inside track on industry trends, best practices, and new techniques and technologies, long before our competitors.
We belong to SWOP® and GRACoL®, and are voting members of IDEAlliance® which develops global industry specifications for color management.
We are certified G7® Masters of the IDEAlliance® proof-to-print process and experts in printing to standards using the industry standard G7 process.
Below you can find information about these organizations and our other affiliations, plus some helpful links to learn more.
IDEAlliance is an established industry organization with a diverse and impressive membership that has been developing, educating and validating best practices in publishing and information technology for 40 years. Through special interest groups, conferences and its active membership, IDEAlliance offers its members an inside track into how the publishing and content-driven supply chain can and will be exploited to respond to both traditional and emerging pressures to reduce cost, increase the top line, and develop new lines of business.
Over the last thirty years SWOP has become a major factor in the success of the Publication Printing Industry in the United States. This has been a result of a combination of attainable goals, dedicated people driving the process and an industry willing to improve itself. The resulting recommended specifications are for the use of all those involved in the production of publications - including the advertiser, publisher, printer, advertising agency and prepress service supplier.
In 1966 a graphics arts task force was formed by the Graphic Communications Association (GCA) to develop a document containing general guidelines and recommendations that could be used as a reference source across the industry for quality color printing. With the support from representatives of IPA and GATF, the GRACoL® Committee developed the printing guidelines that have since become de facto standards on many pressrooms.
IPA is an international trade association representing creative, premedia and print service providers who specialize in operating powerful digital workflows to create, image and deliver graphics files across multiple media. IPA members utilize a long history of prepress excellence to leverage their digital workflow capabilities beyond traditional print boundaries. Their unique skill sets and diverse service offerings assure their clients the highest color integrity and reliability for their global brand messaging needs.
The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) is a dynamic trade association and the world's leading resource for Adobe® Photoshop® education, training, and news. It is led by a world-class team of Photoshop experts, authors, consultants, trainers, and educators whose focus is to ensure that NAPP members stay on the cutting edge of Adobe Photoshop techniques and ahead of their competition.