DIGITAL PROOFING -- Bouncing a Process Check

BY MARK SMITH

Technology Editor

Proofing has been one of the most contentious aspects of the printing process, especially in the digital era. The expectations of print buyers, of course, have been a big contributing factor. Debates have raged within the industry as well, typically with the issue boiling down to whether a given proofing solution is "good enough." Ironically, the question beginning to be asked now is whether a proof is needed at all.

The current state of proofing was nicely laid out during two sessions at the recent VUE/Point 2004 conference. One session was set up to focus just on remote proofing, but both ended up considering proofing as a continuum of capabilities.

"Proof of What?" was the title of the broader session. In it, a debate was sparked by a provocative statement from Erik Cullins, associate director of digital development at Time Inc.

"Proofing is broken," Cullins asserts. He bases this opinion on the some 3,000 proofs a year that the publisher receives. The mismatch between printing and proofing stocks is the heart of the problem, the production exec says.

Adding fuel to the fire was Dave Zwang, noted industry consultant and president of Zwang & Co. "If proofs don't work, why bother?," he asks.

An argument can be made that printing standards (such as SWOP and GRaCOL) hold the potential to make color proofs superfluous. Printers simply need to "run to the numbers."

The industry needs to get serious about standards, agrees William Birkett, owner of Precision Color, which is a prepress shop with no in-house printing capabilities. "If we are to treat printing as an industrial process, then we need standards to define what that process should be," he says.

Getting the Word Out

Even as his company works to promote the development and use of standards, Birkett is pessimistic about the impact of this effort. "It's a question of personal interest versus the good of the industry," he explains.

While printing to standards can drive down costs, it can also eliminate some of the differentiation between shops, Zwang points out.

"We're running to the standard, but our version of it," points out Chris DeBone, production manager at Hagadone Printing. "The proof still has to match the press. We don't want to have to explain to a client that we're providing a standard proof, but it doesn't match the press.

"We tweak the profile for economic purposes," DeBone continues. "Making the proof and press match reduces the need for press proofs. But, our color is not going to match a shop down the street."

"Individual printers can print sheets that meet the standard and the color will look totally different," Birkett agrees. That's because the standards are still lacking in some respects, he believes.

From a business standpoint, DeBone says there also can be a less obvious downside to implementing standards. "As we are running to density numbers, more clients are just going with an imposition proof. We've lost a profit center in color proofing," he explains.

The question of whether or not to print to standards comes down to economics, says Jim Sewell, vice president of technology at LP Thebault. "Is nailing down these standards going to make us any more successful?," he asks rhetorically.

A proof is seen as a tool for assigning blame, so customers don't want to sign a contract proof because that makes them responsible for the final product, Sewell asserts. "We do more press proofs today than we did five years ago. In pushing to make our printing more distinctive, we're using coatings and stock alternatives that proofers can't match," he says.

As a final thought, David Flanagan, president of Cambridge Prepress Services, notes there is a large variety of proofing options, each with different capabilities. "We need to keep customers in the loop about what is being proofed at a given stage of the workflow and on a specific device," he says. "Everyone needs to understand the capabilities of each proofing system used."

Ongoing product development and inexperienced print buyers ensure that printers will continually face a need to provide proofing education. This year, it's impossible to assess the state-of-the-art in any technology without looking to Drupa 2004 and the product introductions industry vendors planned for the event. "New" digital proofers are in the offing from a number of exhibitors.

Agfa is adding a large-format version to its double-sided imposition proofer line. The Grand SherpaMatic has a 50˝ width and employs an eight-color (CcMmYyKk) printing system. It offers two resolution modes—360x360 dpi for fast imposition proofing and 720x720 dpi for high-quality output. The proofer is slated to be available in the fourth quarter of 2004.

The company is also featuring WebApproval + CM for soft proofing as part of its ApogeeX system.

For its Integris 800 proofing solutions, Creo Inc. is introducing a Double-Sided Media Guide as a user-installable add-on to the Epson Stylus Pro 9600 and 10600 printers. The guide is designed to be used with Integris two-sided Matte 100 media to provide back-to-front registration by minimizing curl, cockle and swelling.

Also new is the Integris Desktop proofing solution that integrates the 17˝-wide Epson Stylus Pro 4000 ink-jet printer with a Creo workflow and consumables. The system offers a maximum resolution of 1,440x2,880 dpi and uses Integris-qualified Epson UltraChrome ink for color fidelity and stability.

Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) is extending its proofing product line while development work also continues on the remote proofing technology (for graphic arts applications) it acquired from RealTimeImage. Matchprint Virtual Press Side is a second generation of KPG's SWOP-certified, monitor-based proofing system and comes packaged as a mobile installation for use in the pressroom. Color-accurate proofing is said to be achieved by using calibrated monitors under controlled viewing conditions and implementing ICC-based color management.

The system incorporates RealTimeProof Web-based viewing and collaboration tools for working with high-resolution files. The version 5.0 upgrade of this standalone application adds "Multiple-view" and "Compare" functions. Users can now view as many as four high-resolution images concurrently on-screen. The comparison feature enables two versions of the same image to be viewed side-by-side, with a third panel showing either just the areas that are different or the entire image with the areas of difference highlighted by flashing between the two versions.

Riteapprove is one of several new modules designed to integrate with Screen (USA)'s Trueflow system in the Trueflownet production environment. It enables browser-based proofing with annotation, approval and e-mail notification features. Proof approval status is tracked automatically and a running log is kept of comments and annotations.

Fuji Photo Film is unveiling its strategy for "a new generation of color management and image intelligence technologies." What's behind this development effort is the increasing use of high-quality digital cameras and resulting RGB images, the company says. Its goal is to create a solution that works across the spectrum of photographic and graphic arts imaging by supporting digital cameras, digital printers, conventional presses, print-on-demand systems and minilabs.

Fuji says it is addressing the lack of a clear colorimetrical definition for digital RGB data on color hard copy and the need for rules in RGB-based color communication between design agencies and service providers. Its new range of products reportedly will be an amalgamation of existing solutions and new technologies to create a true multi-purpose, RGB-based digital master.

GMG ColorProof 04 software features enhanced automation and integration with various workflow systems. The need for standardization in high-end color management has been addressed by incorporating a color bar (Medienkeil from Fogra), the company claims. It is introducing a complete proofing package, consisting of the application software, a Gretag spectrophotometer and a small label printer.

The ColorProof system is compatible with standard ICC profiles, which can be combined with custom GMG profiles. The DotProof option adds support for 1-bit TIFF data.

CGS Publishing Technologies International reports it is introducing ORIS Global Proofing, a new approach to color contract proofing that supports multiple print buyer and print producer locations. It also provides ease-of-use enhancements to the existing ORIS proofing line.

In addition, CGS is rolling out collaborative tools with its new ORIS Color Markup package and will unveil a new soft proofing technology based on its ORIS Works and PDF Tuner technologies.

Calibration Upgrades

Wizards are being added to ORIS Color Tuner 5.1 to improve the software's automatic calibration capabilities. ORIS Certified Proof 1.1 (for Mac and Windows) offers enhanced quality control on an individual proof basis at the print buyer site. Along with these software tools, CGS will be introducing several new proofing substrates.

DALiM DiALOGUE is a standalone remote proofing and collaborative viewing application that works with high-resolution production files in formats such as PDF, PDF/X, PostScript, CT/LW and TIFF. Version 3.0 provides faster rendering and delivery of images, enhances the use of profiles and adds status reporting capabilities.

Running on the Macintosh OS X operating system, this application uses data streaming technology to enable viewing of high-resolution files in real time using a standard Web browser, with no client software required. Other features include virtual notes, densitometry readings and ability to "chat" in real time while viewing files.

There have also been a few developments in the digital proofing arena of late that have nothing to do with Drupa.

For one, Enovation Graphic Systems, a Fujifilm company, signed an agreement with Integrated Color Solutions (ICS) to resell ICS's Remote Director proofing system and Press Check option in the graphic arts market. Remote Director is a SWOP-certified, monitor-based contract proofing system that runs on commercially available hardware. The new Press Check scanner option extends the system to the pressroom, enabling print buyers to review and approve color-critical press runs online.

EFI Colorproof and Remoteproof with Best technology have been upgraded to support the HP Color LaserJet 9500 series and Epson Stylus Pro 4000 desktop printers. EFI's proofing software and color management solutions feature an integrated Adobe PostScript engine (Adobe CPSI), support for PDF/X and updated color management options with a redesigned, intuitive interface and ICC support. EFI Remoteproof is a quality assurance tool that enables users to transfer files with the settings and profiles needed to output proofs at remote locations and numerically verify the accuracy of those proofs.

The Epson printer is also supported by EFI Screenproof, which produces digital halftone proofs from the 1-bit file used to produce a plate. EFI Premium and Premium Suite (includes a Best Eye spectrophotometer) Option packages are available as add-on tools for EFI Screenproof and Colorproof to enable the calibration and linearization of printers and the creation of paper and reference profiles. Both feature a new version of EFI Color Manager, which now offers support for seven spectrophotometer models.

ProofMaster Dalmatian from PerfectProof enables proofing of 1-bit files, as well as standard DTP formats. Versions are available to support two-, four- and eight-up workflows on Mac OS X and Windows platforms.

Version 2.0 of ProofMaster Folio, Mezzo and Grande software packages adds the ability to certify that proofs are color accurate according to the ISO 12647-2 standard. A small color control strip is added to the bottom of the proof, which is then measured with a spectrophotometer and the data compared to the press target. The summary report can be printed as a label to be affixed to a proof. The upgrade also features new tools for editing color profiles.

Onyx Graphics is now shipping Onyx Proof software, which enables users to generate color-accurate press proofs from supported ink-jet printers. The software implements industry-standard ICC profiling tools and is available in three packages—Onyx Proof Pro, Standard and Lite. The first two include installation and on-site training, with a Gretag Macbeth Eye-One color management device and ProfileMaker 4 software also bundled in the Pro package.

While not strictly positioned as a proofing device, the CL30 HSE (Heavy Stock Enabled) laser printer from Xanté Corp. provides the opportunity to proof on heavier stocks. The device can handle stocks up to a 130-lb. or 16-pt. cover and 200-lb. index with a straight paper path. It features a 12.9x47.24˝ maximum print size, 30 page per minute print speed and 1,200x1,200 dpi resolution.

Xanté ColourMatch can be used in combination with the printer to build custom profiles to match a specific printing press or other output device. The software also enables users to compensate for different color paper stocks.