Digital Color Proofing -- Proof or Consequences

(For reference, the chart accompanying this article gives a breakdown of the major digital proofing products in the market. Product specifications are available at www.piworld.com.)

Although he recently joined GATF as vice president and director of research, Frank Scott previously was involved in magazine production for more than 20 years, including serving as director of digital development at Time Inc. Based on that experience, Scott doesn't believe the dots/no-dots issue will go away anytime soon. While it can be argued that such issues are not within the group's purview, he notes that the list of SWOP (Specifications for Web Offset Publications) certified proofing systems also includes a mix of halftone and continuous-tone digital proofers.