The Fogra Colour Management Symposium (CMS) is entering its tenth round – with a fresh concept and a strong line-up of speakers. On 25 and 26 February 2026, the Holiday Inn Munich City Centre will become the meeting place for the international colour management community. Under the motto ‘Matching Colour – Matching People’, the focus will be on practical relevance, exchange and innovation. In addition to 16 exhibitors, the event will feature 21 presentations exclusively by users who will share their experiences, challenges and solutions – straight from the field and highly relevant to everyday life. Best practices, exclusive insights into real workflows and, as a special highlight, a live AI battle on stage will be on offer.
Practical and future-oriented
“The Symposium 2026 shows how relevant colour management remains in a digitalised and automated production world,” explains Dr Andreas Kraushaar, Fogra Head of Prepress. “We want to present participants with practical solutions that further develop standards while ensuring direct application relevance.”
The topics cover the entire spectrum of modern colour management: from dealing with customer expectations in the digital age to colour management in packaging printing and proofing, colour reliability for complex materials in industrial printing, and high dynamic range (HDR) in printing technology. In the AI Battle, human expertise and AI-supported design compete against each other. In the end, the audience decides who delivers the better visual result under real conditions, thus experiencing the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence in a practical test.
A strong network for the industry
“The speakers, exhibitors and sponsors play a key role in making the symposium a place of exchange and innovation,” emphasises Dr Eduard Neufeld, Managing Director of Fogra. “The presentations promote knowledge transfer, and the numerous breaks, during which visitors can also visit the CMS exhibition, create opportunities for dialogue between researchers, industry and users.”
CMS 2026 offers participants many opportunities to be inspired: experts from the printing and media industry share their experiences and best practices, new trends and technologies are presented, and directly tangible examples for everyday work are shown. Around 200 industry colleagues from all over the world will meet to exchange ideas, maintain existing contacts or make new ones – an ideal opportunity to expand their professional network in a targeted manner.
The CMS exhibition: hands-on expertise
In addition to the presentations, CMS 2026 will be accompanied by an exhibition that offers additional value. A total of 16 renowned exhibitors will present practical solutions and innovative technologies. This time, the exhibitors include Barbieri, BenQ, CGS Oris, Color Consulting, Smart Factory by Durst, Eizo, Esko, GMG, Hybrid Software, IQIP, Just Normlicht, Konica Minolta, Spectra Proof, datacolor Techkon and X-Rite. During the breaks, participants can experience live demonstrations, test products first-hand and talk directly to the solution specialists.
Anniversary get-together and keynote speech
CMS will take place for the 10th time in 2026 – a reason to celebrate. In a relaxed atmosphere, participants can round off the first day with a dinner featuring typical regional delicacies, providing the ideal setting for informal networking, casual conversations and exchanges among participants. The Bavarian evening also includes another highlight – the keynote speech by Alexandra Gerhardy, CEO of Muster-Schmidt-Verlag. As the driving force behind many of today’s most influential colour fans and colour charts, she brings unparalleled expertise to the industry. At CMS 2026, she will take participants on a journey through 100 years of colour standards – past, present and future.
It pays to go together
Those who attend the Colour Management Symposium 2026 together with colleagues will benefit from an attractive team discount. This not only allows teams to save money, but also to experience the content together and discuss new ideas directly. Fogra members also receive a discount on the ticket price.
Further information on the programme and exhibitors, as well as ticket booking: https://fogra.org/veranstaltungen/colour-management-symposium