The colour profile ISO Coated v2 closely matches FOGRA39, but is not entirely the same. The similarity: both have a lower total ink amount of 330% across 4 colours. ISO Coated v2 is the newer, more stable version of FOGRA39.
The difference lies in the build-up of grey tones:
FOGRA39 uses less black (K), so automatically (also in conversions) there is more cyan, magenta and yellow in the greys.
ISO Coated v2 has more black (K) in the greys and therefore less CMY. This gives more stable print, less colour cast and is better for repeat orders and grey-looking gradients.
A gravure/heatset standard is also based on ISO Coated v2: ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI), with a maximum 300% ink coverage and thus shorter drying time. ECI, BVDM and FOGRA recommend "ISO Coated v2 (ECI)" and "ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI)"; both are based on the FOGRA39 standard.
DeviceLinks
Looking for a tool to keep colours consistent within a standard? Consider tools that handle DeviceLinks. A DeviceLink conversion goes from CMYK to Lab to CMYK, accounting for the full colour spectrum so there is barely any visible difference. The source and destination profiles are recalculated into a new profile that respects the destination.
CMYK-to-CMYK in InDesign
If you import a CMYK image with FOGRA39 in InDesign and export to PDF with output intent ISO Coated v2, InDesign does not convert the image — it cannot perform DeviceLinks. callas pdfToolbox and Enfocus PitStop can; for the best colour consistency and ink reduction we recommend ColorLogic ZePrA.