Predictable Colour Between Proof And Print

Quickcut has introduced Quickcut ICC 2.0, an enhanced version of its colour management software that integrates the Adobe Colour Engine to enable predictable colour from proofs to the printed piece.

Quickcut has introduced Quickcut ICC 2.0, an enhanced version of its colour management software that integrates the Adobe Colour Engine with other features to enable consistent and predictable colour from proofs to the printed piece.

When launched in 2003, Quickcut ICC combined its software tools with industry-standard ICC profiling in a specifications-driven approach to workflow to provide accurate and consistent colour at every stage of production, said the company.

Quickcut ICC 2.0 uses the same Adobe Colour Engine (ACE) used in Photoshop along with new features, such as enhanced RGB and CMYK colour conversion flexibility, 'intelligent' file compression and selective global rendering intents to give everybody with a stake in the production process the ability to predict exactly how the colour in a job will look when printed, said the company.

In addition, Quickcut claimed that ICC 2.0 reinforces the company's position as the only workflow supplier that uses each publication's exact production specifications, including colour profiles, to guide and manage advertising materials from the point of creation to the point of print delivery, including page layout, pre-flighting, validation and delivery.

"As part of our unique, specifications-guided Quickprint workflow, Quickcut ICC 2.0 provides the sophisticated tools users need to virtually eliminate colour guesswork from print production, regardless of the workflow type or the design freedom employed," remarked Quickcut's director of technology and strategic planning, Craig Schuetrumpf.

"Using Quickcut ICC 2.0, a production team at an agency anywhere in the world can see how an ad developed anywhere will appear when printed in a New Delhi newspaper or a magazine published in Manhattan, and how collateral materials might be produced in Tokyo or Toronto - precisely reflecting each specific print process," he explained.

Quickcut ICC is said to take advantage of colour profiles contained in Quickcut's Quickprint global specifications database in the industry-standard International Colour Consortium (ICC) profile format.

Each of the ICC profiles specifies the colour transformations required for a specific publication or print process.

When customers download the specifications to a particular print process from the Quickprint specifications database for page layout, the associated ICC profiles are also retrieved.

Using Quickcut ICC software, users can apply the specific profile of the destination magazine, newspaper or print process to pre-flight, validate and predict with certainty how colour in their job will appear as printed, said the company.

"Rather than isolating colour as a separate component, our solutions treat colour as an integral part of the entire workflow.

Quickcut ICC tackles tasks ranging from profile selection to colour space conversion, and outputs proofs and PDF/X files seamlessly and often automatically, freeing creative and production professionals to be more productive.

It then factors in to the validation stage, to ensure files have been created and proofed to the exact specification of the target publication or print process.

By applying industry-standard ICC profiles and linking the production of each job to the unique colour characteristics of the destination print process, Quickcut ICC uniquely ensues accurate colour output to monitors, printers and presses from start to finish - and from advertiser to publisher to printer," said Schuetrumpf.

Quickcut ICC 2.0 iss aid to apply colour technology to the colour data contained in the custom or generic ICC profiles to enable a broad array of colour handling features and capabilities.

The company said that Quickcut ICC can be used alone or with third-party proofing systems to generate destination-specific hard copy or on-screen soft proofs that accurately portray final results by simulating the paper, dot gain and other parameters of the destination press.

When proofing to screen, Quickcut ICC can output a colour-converted proof of the original PDF and display both files in a tiled window format to allow accurate comparison.

The product is also said to enable flexible colour separation from source RGB or CMYK working spaces to the colour space of the print destination to accurately compensate for a specific printing press and create colour separations matched to the intended output.

Users can choose to convert device CYMK images or CMYK line art and text individually and to limit ink weight without conversion, said Quickcut.

Automatic profile selection and updating can automatically select the correct profile for proofing and converting.

Source profiles can be embedded or 'assumed' to fit colour managed or non-colour managed workflows, whilst in addition, Quickcut ICC 2.0 now updates the ICC profiles from the Quickprint database.

The global rendering intent selection facility allows users to control file conversion to best simulate the intended result and best suit the type of workflow and files that they are colour managing, whilst the Adobe Colour Engine's 'black point compensation' combines the best of ICC conversion rules and produces a better across the board result in converting images and vector and line art, claimed Quickcut.

Ink limiting only' is a new feature thaty is said to allow files requiring ink limiting only to be applied to over-ink-weighted files without converting the underweight CMYK data.

That allows minor adjustments to be made to files that are otherwise correctly colour managed.

Quickcut ICC 2.0 can convert files to conform to the PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-3 standard, including for PDF versions 1.3 and 1.4, which is said to let users create worldwide industry-accepted, colour-managed PDF files.

File compression, added in version 2.0, ensures optimal file size for each destination, cutting transmission time and cost to a minimum, added the company.

Profile tracking embeds comments in the Quickprint PDF file to allow publishers and printers to verify that the correct version of ICC profiles is being used and that advertisers' proofs and colour conversions are relevant.

Default or custom colour control strips enable file verification, allowing tight control over hardcopy proofs.

Advanced users can apply manual settings in situations requiring more colour control.

Specific colours and spaces, such as grayscale, spot colours, pure primaries, images and line art can be selectively converted or not converted to allow for partial and totally colour managed files or workflows, added the company.

Like other products in the Quickcut suite, Quickcut ICC 2.0 is said to support a variety of workflows by applying the most commonly used features and settings by default, while still providing advanced settings for users who require more control.

The new program is available directly from Quickcut offices located in countries around the world.

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