Idealliance
Idealliance's team of Certified G7® Expert Trainers are officially sanctioned by Idealliance to lead Idealliance G7 Expert Training Events. Only Idealliance & Idealliance International Affiliates conduct Public G7® Training and Private G7® Training. A calendar of upcoming training is available here.
If you have questions on the status of an individual trainer, or the validity of a training event, please contact us here.
To verify an individual's status as a G7 Expert - visit the Official Idealliance G7 Expert Directory here.
G7 Expert Trainers
Ron Ellis is a consultant specializing in color management, automation and workflow integration. An Idealliace BrandQ Expert, BrandQ Expert Trainer, G7 Expert, G7 Process Control Expert, G7 Expert Trainer, and chair of the Print Properties Committee (PPC), and member of the Idealliance Advisory Council. Ron has performed hundreds of G7 training and calibrations. He has conducting training and consulting for a wide range of customers in Europe, Asia, and North America. Well versed in ISO standards, Ron specializes in creating and implementing working spaces for brands and agencies that allow them to work more efficiently with vendors, saving both time and money. STEVE SMILEY, SMILEYCOLOR & ASSOCIATES LLC Steve Smiley is a 40-year veteran from Print, Pre-Media and Packaging Brand Solutions. Working with numerous major consumer product companies, printers and suppliers he has developed tools to assure brand consistency throughout the world. SmileyColor & Associates LLC - a solutions provider working with CPCs and their supply chain providing process control audits to ISO standards aligning supply chain partners. Using G7 and PCC training along with ISO standards allow audits to assure consistent results globally. As a Brand Manager Steve has developed the tools for physical and digital standards to define common ingredients and aims across supply chain partners, along with supporting documents ISO 17972-4 CxF X4. Steve is the former Chair of Idealliance’s Print Properties and Colorimetric committee, Co-Chair of CGATS, Chair of GWG Colour Committee, US Expert to ISO WG2, WG3, WG4, WG11 and WG13; he is also an 10 year ICC member, Executive FQC Committee for the FTA, and an Advisory Board Member for Clemson University. He is the recipient of Idealliance's Holzinger Award, FTA President Award, and the Clemson Top Cat Award. JIM RAFFEL, COLORCASTERS LLC Jim Raffel is a color management consultant who also serves as CEO of ColorCasters, LLC and ColorMetrix Technologies LLC. As a veteran of the printing industry and a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology’s acclaimed printing management program, in 1995 he formed ColorMetrix to bring an idea he had to make color measurement and evaluation easier by creating easy-to-use software solutions. Today, as an Idealliance G7 instructor and color management professional, his consulting practice focuses on dye sublimation and flat-bed UV inkjet printing supporting end users and manufacturers to improve their color management processes.
MIKE RUFF, MIKE RUFF CONSULTING Mike Ruff has over 45 ears of experience in the Graphic Arts Industry and was formerly the Chief Technology Officer for Nazdar Consulting Services. Former owner of a grand format screen print company and a grand format prepress service bureau serving screen and digital printers domestically and internationally. Mike is a Certified G7 Expert and a Certified G7 Process Control and Conformance Expert. He was trained in color control theory through GretagMacBeth, X-Rite and RIT Color Management Flexographic Training. Mike Ruff is a regular speaker and presenter for many graphic arts trade association in North America and has conducted training classes and webinars for prepress, production personnel, management and sales staffs. Training experience includes teaching process color printing at the Screen Print Technical Foundation Four-Color Workshop in Fairfax, Virginia for over 15 years. JEFF THIELSEN, TAYLOR CORPORATION Jeff is currently Senior R&D Analyst for Taylor Corporation with a concentration on Color Management for the Corporation. Jeff has been in the Printing Trade for over 30 years. The concentration through his career has been primarily on Image Workflow, Color Management, Training and Digital Imaging. Through his career he has worked with large corporate companies guiding Prepress and Color at both, facility and enterprise levels. Training has been a big part of his career as well, teaching Color Analysis, Color Retouching, Color Management, Prepress, Image Workflows and Digital Imaging. Jeff was first certified as a G7 Expert in 2008 and has Master Qualified dozens of facilities throughout his career.
DR. MARK BOHAN, KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS SYSTEMS Dr. Mark Bohan is Director Color Solutions and is instrumental the color strategy for Konica Minolta. He has 30 years of experience on print operations, color, optimization of production workflow, emerging trends, the application of print technologies and their business impact. He has carried out fundamental research, implemented new technologies, aided in their development and evaluated their effectiveness. He serves on national and international standards committees for graphic communication and is involved in their development and is member of many industrial boards. Mark is also President of TAGA (Technical Association of the Graphic Arts). MIKE WHELPLEY, FUJIFILM GRAPHICS NORTH AMERICA Mike has 30 years of experience working with professional print providers to align their printing and proofing systems for color accuracy and industry specifications. His experience encompasses conventional and digital offset print, flexographic print and digital ink-jet and wide format printing and proofing. Currently he is Solutions Development Manager for ColorPath Software and Field Implementation. He is also a certified Idealliance G7 Expert Trainer and is responsible for all private and public G7 Expert and G7 Professional training programs held at FUJIFILM Graphic Systems Division. PAUL HAPP, RICOH USA Paul Happ is a Principal Consultant, Color Management for RICOH USA. In this role, he helps companies align their color strategies with their business goals. Regardless of environment – commercial printers, in-plants, publishing, or design houses – his passion is helping companies achieve greater value from their investments, improve profitability, increase quality, and automate productivity while delivering color accuracy and consistency. Paul has an extensive background with commercial printing in offset and digital environments, holding positions such as Prepress Technical Analyst and Prepress Manager, for companies such as FedEx Office and Deluxe Corporation. He was first introduced and implemented the G7 Methodology in 2007. After joining RICOH in 2012, he became an Idealliance Color Management Professional Master, Certified G7 Expert, and G7 Expert Trainer. JAVIER E. ROBLES, INX Javier E. Robles has 35 years experience in the ink industry. He has experience in the formulation and technical service of various ink systems including; Wide and Super Wide Format Ink Jet, Flexo and Offset. He develops and delivers technical training to technicians and customers and assists in the development and field testing of new products. Located in Alta Loma, CA, Javier is Idealliance's first bi-lingual English and Spanish G7 Expert-Trainer. WOO-HYUN CHO, JAPAN PRINTING ACADEMY Woo-Hyun Cho is the principal of the Japan Printing Academy, an educational and research institute for printing technology in Japan. He has been working as a technical instructor for 30 years, primarily focusing on print quality management and standardization. During his career, he had conducted research and development in various areas, ranging from Printing Technology to Customer Oriented Quality Management, Standardization of Print Production Process, Print Machine Precision Verification & Practicalization, and Manufacturing Power. Leveraging his extensive experience, he has conducted numerous seminars and provided consulting services for quality management to industry groups and printing companies' manufacturers in Japan, Korea, and China. WILSON CHUNG Wilson Chung is a consultant with 50 years experience in the graphic arts industry, certified as a G7 expert in 2006, G7 Process Control Expert in 2011 and BrandQ Expert in 2019. Back in 1979 he established AD Production Service, catering for high quality graphic art and dark room effects production. In 1982, published the book “Graphicat” which was regarded as the complete guide to graphic design & production and widely used in the graphic market. In 1990 AD (Desktop Graphics) Center was set up to provide Macintosh graphics training & color separation output service. Then WYS System Ltd. was established in 1991 to provide consultant service on the set up of prepress & color management systems. Mr. Chung has been working with the Graphic Arts Association of Hong Kong for several projects: as instructor on the course “Desktop Publishing and Digital Image”; taken up the leading roles in research projects including “Intelligent Color Printing Enhancement system” and “Hong Kong Printing Specifications”. Currently authorized as a G7 Expert Trainer & BrandQ Expert Trainer . AZAEL DE LA CRUZ Azael is a color and production expert with over 20 years experience working with leading print technology. Azael's work includes training curriculum development in both e-learning and hands-on training formats, creating programs for users of print technology throughout the world.. Well versed in color standardization, color management through-out electronic workflows and file management, color conversion, profiling and data analysis, Azael is a Performance Services Manager for Heidelberg Mexico. DAVID CROWTHER, IDEALLIANCE AUSTRALASIA David Crowther brings over 20+ years experience in Graphic Arts, PrePress and Print with color support, audits and training programs for companies and individuals across Australia and New Zealand. As Managing Director of Colour Graphic Services / Idealliance Australasia, and known locally throughout Australia and the greater region as the Colour Doctor, David is experienced in color and print management and consulting, technical support, and systems development. Recently, David has also developed key offerings for remote job approval to help printers and print buyers navigate social distancing requirements, while still accurately evaluating and approving color. David supports global and local Australasia and New Zealand based brands and print and packaging supply chain partners with G7 based print and packaging applications, as well as G7 integration, maintenance, and process control across all print and proofing applications through cutting edge online learning. Training has been a big part of his working life teaching Color Theory, Color Measurement, Analysis of Color & Tolerancing, Color Management and Procedures for Color Standardization. David is an Idealliance certified G7 Expert, G7 Process Control Expert, BrandQ Expert, Color Management Professional Master & G7 Expert Trainer and donates his time to the local AU TC130 committee. FRED HSU, IDEALLIANCE TAIWAN Fred Hsu is an Idealliance G7 Expert Trainer, G7 Expert, BrandQ Trainer, BrandQ Expert, G7 Process Control Expert, and Managing Director for the Graphic Communications Foundation (Taipei, Taiwan) and Idealliance Taiwan. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor teaching Color Management and Printing Process Control at several universities in Taipei. Fred has been involved in developing and conducting numerous Idealliance's certification programs since 2005. Before moving back to Taiwan, he worked for Rochester Institute of Technology at the Printing Applications Laboratory, where most of his researches focused on Color Management and Printing Quality Assessment. He also represented RIT at Committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards (CGATS) and Print Properties & Committee (PPC). In recent years, Fred has been developing and adopting Idealliance's global quantitative evaluation protocols for the regions in Asia. K. PANTHALA SELVAN, IDEALLIANCE SOUTH ASIA / INDIA Selvan is an Idealliance G7 Expert Trainer, G7 Expert, BrandQ Trainer, and BrandQ Expert as well as Managing Director of Pressman Solutions / Idealliance South Asia India. Based in Chennai, India, Selvan applies his experience in G7 and other print and color management specifications, standards, and measurements to his work sharing knowledge with print providers as a driver of process control, automation, and innovation while also serving future generations to grow the industry. GOKSEL SEN Göksel Şen is Director of Color Management Department for Odak Bilgi Teknoloji Ürünleri Dış Tic. Ltd. Şti. He has been providing color management projects and consultancy services in the graphics and printing industry since 1996. Göksel is an Idealliance G7 Expert, G7 Process Control Expert and G7 Expert Trainer and supports G7 Master printers across flexo, gravure, offset, IML and digital print. Goksel also supports İstanbul Cerrahpaşa University as an instructor for Color Management and Applied Workshop courses in the Printing and Publishing Technologies Program.
NELSON ZHAO As a well-known certified G7 Expert, BrandQ Expert in China, as well, Nelson has more than 20 years of color management from prepress to press. with expertise for more than 100 G7 successful domestic and international certification cases, is the chief CMS technical director responsible for color management across China for FUJIFILM Graphic Systems Division. Nelson also achieved the first G7 Master certification of metal can printing and supports the industry with ongoing education covering color management, implementation, and training across lithography both in sheetfed and web, inkjet, toner-based, wide-format, flexographic, and gravure.