Prepress
X-Rite and Pantone Demonstrate Color Fidelity Across Commercial and Flexographic Production Supply Chains at Graph Expo
Monday 08. September 2008 - Live end-to-end production workflow features industrys first Optical Brightener Compensation module for i1iSis, new versions of IntelliTrax and vipPAQ, new PANTONE GoeBridge coated, and demonstrates the power of CxF
X-Rite, Incorporated (NASDAQ: XRIT), the world leader in color management, measurement and communication technologies, today announced that it will showcase a live end-to-end production workflow in its booth featuring its latest line of design, prepress and print solutions at GRAPH EXPO (booth #5214 McCormick Place South in Chicago, IL October 26-29, 2008). The company will demonstrate its newly-available, groundbreaking Optical Brightener Compensation (OBC) module for i1iSis, new versions of its Intellitrax and vipPAQ automated inline scanning systems, and the two latest additions to the PANTONE Goe System: PANTONE GoeBridge coated and PANTONE Color Cue 2.1. Visitors to the X-Rite/Pantone booth will be able to experience firsthand the power of X-Rites Color Exchange Format (CxF) through live demonstrations simulating end-to-end offset and flexo printing workflows.
X-Rite will showcase the industrys first complete optical brightener compensation module (OBC) designed to solve proof and print color matching challenges caused by the use of optical brighteners in paper stock. Used in conjunction with X-Rites i1iSis family of automatic spectral chart readers, X-Rites unique OBC solution allows users in color-critical proofing and printing environments to precisely correct color shifts caused by Optical Brightening Agents in most printing substrates.
X-Rite will also demonstrate version 1.5 of IntelliTrax, the printing industrys fastest automated color management scanning solution for press-side color control. Available immediately, the new version now supports the G7 proof-to-print process control, ISO, and CxF, the next generation file format for color communication. Designed for high-end, high-speed printing operations, IntelliTrax automatically scans the color bar of a typical press sheet in seconds (including PANTONE Colors, special colors, non-process colors and paper color) and immediately reports these results on-screen, allowing press operators to quickly make adjustments and get to the approved color faster. This allows for faster make-ready, improves quality control and ultimately leads to increased ROI.
Visitors to the X-Rite booth will also be able to see version 2.0 of vipPAQ, the industrys first inline color density measuring system for flexographic and gravure printing. Designed to optimize production control and quality assurance, vipPAQ is the only inline solution for flexo and gravure able to control the optical density of any spot color, enabling faithful and accurate ICC color management and allowing consistent reproduction of targeted printing conditions. With version 2.0, vipPAQ introduces a host of new features and enhancements that help reduce make-ready for print runs and ensure flexo press operators can recognize and correct errors before they become costly.
Throughout the simulated end-to-end offset and packaging workflow demonstrations, show attendees will also be able to witness the power of the next generation of Color Exchange Format (CxF), a file format designed to accurately and unambiguously communicate all commercially relevant aspects of color across devices, applications and geographies. X-Rites color experts will demonstrate how CxF applies to real world color scenarios, from design and prepress, to commercial, digital printing and packaging and across any industry where faithful communication of color and total appearance data is mission critical, including design, print production, architecture, manufacturing, fashion, and film and video.
Color professionals from all points of the production supply chain will see how CxF is able to faithfully carry the entire set of total appearance color reference data supplied by the content creator throughout the production and supply chain, maintaining the integrity of the original design, allowing global communication with unmatched accuracy, and achieving todays stringent demands by brand owners and specifiers for increasingly low delta tolerances.
CxF can include spectral color values, named colors such as PANTONE, color spaces and appearance effects (specific lighting conditions, type of substrate, type of ink, density, opacity, transparency of the color, gloss, texture, position and shape of color patches), as well as commercial aspects, mathematical, optical conditions, etc. CxF enhances existing standards, like PANTONE, by bringing a new set of dimensions to the colors that can be transmitted across workflows, in any global production supply chain.
Two new additions to the PANTONE Goe System, PANTONE GoeBridge coated and PANTONE Color Cue 2.1, will also be showcased on the X-Rite/Pantone booth. Available in a portable, fan-guide format, GoeBridge lets creatives accurately visualize and evaluate how the more than 2,000 solid colors in the PANTONE Goe System will reproduce in CMYK on coated paper. The guide also provides CMYK, sRGB and HTML data for repurposing projects in multiple color spaces. Pantones award-winning portable color identification tool, PANTONE Color Cue 2.1, which lets users instantly capture and store the closest PANTONE Color from any surface, will also be on display. Color Cue 2.1 now includes the PANTONE Goe coated and uncoated libraries, as well as the CMYK values from GoeBridge, for a total of seven PANTONE Libraries.
Attendees will also be able to view the recently launched ColorMunki family of products, including ColorMunki Design and ColorMunki Create. Developed for graphics professionals from freelancers to agencies and corporate in-house designers, ColorMunki Design allows users to quickly and accurately capture colors from any substrate, calibrate monitors, projectors and printers for accurate display-to-print matching, and verify spot colors for process-safe reproduction in any medium. ColorMunki Create, an affordable starting point for users whose primary requirement is color palette creation, offers color selection from system-level color pickers, inspirational images, color harmonies and key word searches, with the ability to snap built-in libraries to PANTONE Colors.
Reflecting the companys ubiquitous industry presence, X-Rite and Pantone color standards, devices, software and services will also be showcased on a number of other manufacturers and partners stands including Adobe, Canon, Epson, GASC, HP, Komori, Quark and Xerox.