X-Rite, GMG Developing Print-Quality Automation

Color management and measurement technologies supplier X-Rite Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., and color management and proofing solutions developer GMG, Tuebingen, Germany, are jointly developing a line of X-Rite-branded automated print-quality control and standardization solutions.

Beginning in July and except for a free downloadable reader, the packages will be sold both as standalone software and bundled with X-Rite prepress and pressroom solutions.

The four wizard-driven solutions are designed to allow print buyers and pressroom operators to follow a job from contract to delivery and ensure quality consistency and standards compliance. All will support X-Rite prepress and printing instruments, and will be offered only through X-Rite's worldwide network of sales partners.

The free, downloadable PrintCheck Reader is targeted at print customers and buyers, facilitating import of print quality data for further verification by streamlining communication throughout the printing supply chain. Besides being able to remotely oversee print jobs, buyers also can supply key accounts with PrintCheck Reader software.

Aimed at professional print buyers (brand owners, ad agencies, publishers, packaging designers) who want to check print quality themselves, PrintCheck Review can be used with an i1Pro spectrophotometer and supports the ISO 12647-2 and 12647-3 (G7, SWOP, PSO) and Japan Color standards, as well as individual in-house tolerance metrics.

To meet small to mid-size offset printers'quality-control needs, PrintCheck is optimized to work with handheld X-Rite spectrophotometers. It tells a printer whether a press is operating within a defined standard. Based on one measuring procedure, the software supplies all relevant information about a given print job including density and contrast, tone value increase and spread, primary and secondary colors, gray balance, ink acceptance, paper, slur and doubling. Printers also may compare jobs and run trends on job histories and press performance.

For mid-size to large offset printers, PressOptimizer affords effective process control and press standardization, supports the same standards as Printcheck Review, and is optimized to work with X-Rite's automated scanning systems. X-Rite says the solution can increase print quality, even on older presses, helps attain the same colors on different presses, and allows printers to produce repeat jobs fast while cutting paper-waste and energy-consumption costs. The interface guides users through standardization and process control, for easier determination of optimum printing density, gray-balance analysis, tone-value increase and spread measurement, primary and secondary color checking, CTP correction curve generation, ink acceptance control, optimum print contrast determination, and control wedge measurement for daily quality assurance.