Color Relevant ISO Standards

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards. International Standards give state of the art specifications for products, services and good practice, helping to make industry more efficient and effective. Developed through global consensus, they help to break down barriers to international trade. Below is a comprehensive list of the most important color-related ISO standards relevant to the print community.

ISO 5 Measuring geometry/filter curves for densitometers
ISO 105-B02 Light fastness (wool thread reference scale)
ISO 2431 Viscosity (flow cup)
ISO 2834–2844/11628 chemical and physical resistance of printing ink
ISO 2846 International offset color scale; -1 Sheet-fed and heat-set web offset lithographic printing; -2 Coldset offset lithographic printing
ISO 3664 Viewing/matching conditions, standard illuminant D50
ISO 5736 Printing on metallic substrates
ISO 8254-1 Measurement of gloss 75° (TAPPI)
ISO 10012-1 Measurement management systems
ISO 10013 Quality management manuals
ISO 11664 2°/10° standard observers, standard illuminants, CIELAB (1976)
ISO 12040 Light fastness (xenon lamp test)
ISO 12634 Tack of paste inks
ISO 12639 TIFF/IT
ISO 12640 Test images; -1 CMYK; -2 XYZ/sRGB; -3 CIELAB; -4 Adobe-RGB; -5 RIMM-RGB
ISO 12641 Characterization of input devices (IT8/7.1 and IT8/7.2)
ISO 12642 Characterization of output devices (IT8.7/3)
ISO 12644 Falling rod viscometer for paste inks
ISO 12645 Reference standards for measuring transmitted light
ISO 12646/14861 Soft copy proof monitors
ISO 12647 Coloring standards/Process control for printing processes; -1 Parameters and measurement methods; -2 Offset printing and paper classes (ICC profiles iso-coated, iso-webcoated, iso-newspaper, iso-uncoated, iso-uncoated-yellowish); -3 Coldset offset lithography on newsprint; -4 Publication gravure printing; -5 Screen printing; -6 Flexographic printing; -7 Digital proofing.
ISO 13655 black and white measuring documents
ISO 13656 Application of densitometry and colorimetry [withdrawal candidate]
ISO 15076-1 ICC Profile Format v4
ISO 15790 Reference standards for measuring devices
ISO 15930 Unseen PDF data exchange; -1/-4 PDF/X-1a; -3/-6 PDF/X-3; -5 PDF/X-2; -7 PDF/X-4 and /X-4p; -8 PDF/X-5
ISO 17321-1 Characterization of digital photography – photographing conditions
ISO 23603 Color rendering quality of daylight simulators for visual appraisal and measurement of color
ISO 28178 Measured data export (ASCII, XML)