Proofing paper with pre-printed color bar

A hard proof that can be visually inspected to determine if the hard proof meets industry standards, the hard proof being a sheet of proofing paper comprising:

• (a) a content image portion;
• (b) one or more standard first color bars pre-printed on the sheet of proofing paper prior to printing of the content image portion thereon;
• (c) one or more second color bars printed along with the content image portion and printed in a predefined relationship to the one or more first color bars so as to allow for visual inspection directly on the proofing paper using only the color bar image data of the first and second color bars, and without using any external color reference materials, wherein a visually discernable color match indicates that a proof which meets industry standards has been made and a visually discernable color mismatch indicates that a proof which meets industry standards has not been made.