Colour Management And Proofing's High Rankings

GMG's colour management and proofing software received first and second rankings at the third annual IPA Colour Proofing Roundup during the IPA Technical Conference in the USA.

GMG's colour management and proofing software received first and second rankings at the third annual IPA Colour Proofing Roundup during the IPA Technical Conference in the USA.

Thirteen vendors entered 27 submissions for evaluation.

GMG scored first among all entries in the colourimetric match to a GRACoL-derived characterisation data set, first and second in the visual match among inkjet-based systems costing less than $79,000 and first among all entries in colourimetric match to spot colours.

The Roundup consisted of a number of tests that were specially designed to provide end-users the best possible information about the colour capabilities of commercial proofing systems.

Submitted proofs were judged for colourimetric accuracy, hardcopy and softcopy visual image quality, spot colour and PDF/X compatibility.

This year's roundup examined a colourimetric test based on a colourimetric correlation of each vendor entry (proof sheet) to the IPA Roundup Characterisation Data Set (press sheet) based on a modified GRACoL data set and the ECI 2002 target layout.

For each system, the visual matches, on a one to 10 rating scale, between proofs and the IPA Roundup Press Sheet images were assessed by a panel of judges.

The results of the test were demonstrated in a simple bar chart, with the vendors ranked according to the average score awarded by the judges.

Another graph was used to show the correlation between visual and colourimetric results.

Spot colour testing - both colourimetric and visual - involved numerical evaluations with the results plotted for each vendor to compare the average DeltaE values for a series of spot colour solids and tints using Pantone referenced values.

Visual results in tints and highlights of an image were also evaluated by a team of colour experts and ranked on a scale of one to 10.

Participants were also asked to proof specialised test pages from the Altona Test Suite to assess RIP capabilities, overprint correctness, spot-colour and colour management support, focusing on RIP and output intent profile, testing the capability of the proofer RIP to automatically detect the output intent profile and use it for proofing, for PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3, and correct colour conversions, as well as the capability of the RIP to apply all colour conversions as defined in a PDF/X-3 file.

Robert Weihing, the chief executive officer of GMG, said: "The Roundup continues to be an extremely helpful forum for member companies to make objective decisions about which proofing system will best fit their pre-media environments.

For GMG, the event results are similar to those reported by third parties in many other proofing events around the world.

Our Colorproof consistently scores either first or among the top software based on colourimetric or visual tests.

It confirms for our customers that they can comfortably rely on Colorproof for consistent contract-quality digital halftone and continuous tone proofs." The Roundup process was led by a group of independent industry experts including Florian Suessl of MetaDesign), Abhay Sharma of Western Michigan University, Tom Collins from Quad Graphics, Ray Cheydleur of X-Rite) and Vertis's Steve Smiley, as well as a panel of judges from printers, publishers, service providers and agencies.

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