X-Rite to Unveil New Technologies at DRUPA.Business & Technology Editors DRUPA GRANDVILLE, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2000 X-Rite, Incorporated (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :XRIT), the world color measurement leader, will introduce core technologies, products and partners in its "Color Tools That Work"-themed DRUPA exhibit, worldwide marketing manager Iain Trevor Pike announced today. Products and partners that will utilize these technologies will be announced in the weeks leading up to, and at, DRUPA. At the forefront of X-Rite's developments is a method for obtaining ICC ICC See: International Chamber of Commerce press profiles without disturbing a press run, and a color data communication technology for graphic arts graphic arts: see aquatint; drawing; drypoint; engraving; etching; illustration; linoleum block printing; lithography; mezzotint; niello; pastel; poster; silk-screen printing; silhouette; silverpoint; sketch; stencil; woodcut and wood engraving. applications. Also on tap is a new member of X-Rite's 500 series spectrodensitometers providing unique capabilities for comparing proofing or printed materials. Significant next- generation versions of existing X-Rite software and hardware products will also be on exhibit. In addition to the range of color-critical solutions on display at X-Rite Stand A61, Hall 09, DRUPA attendees will find X-Rite- based solutions at dozens of partner exhibits throughout the show. "This Spring is the culmination of one of X-Rite's most fruitful development and marketing cycles for the graphic arts," said Pike. "X-Rite's development team has engineered several new-to- world innovations, and these breakthroughs are now in the final development stages. We are fortunate that X-Rite's partners and customers will have the opportunity to explore these new technologies while drinking-in the wealth of advanced technology displayed at DRUPA." Print Process Profiling in Ongoing Print Production Pike emphasized that X-Rite's newest developments don't add products to existing application categories as much as they create new applications for workflow efficiency. An example is the company's development of an automated method for measurement of a miniaturized characterization test In computer programming, a characterization test is a means to describe (characterize) the actual behavior of an existing piece of software, and therefore protect existing behavior of legacy code against unentended changes via automated testing. form outside the live print area. A primary hindrance to color management applications that call for press profiling is slow print-shop adoption attributed to implementation investment (time, effort and expenditure) that outweighs the under-perceived benefits of the process. Despite the prepress workflow impact of color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. See also: Color management implementations, the impact of press trials and test forms can weigh heavy on pressroom productivity and efficiency. Based on X-Rite advances in auto-tracking and micro-spot spectrophotometry spectrophotometry Branch of spectroscopy dealing with measurement of radiant energy transmitted or reflected by a body as a function of wavelength. The measurement is usually compared to that transmitted or reflected by a system that serves as a standard. , X-Rite's breakthrough solution makes it possible to embed in a small area the sufficient quantity of miniaturized color patches for generation of characterization and ICC profile (International Color Consortium profile) An ISO-approved color management standard for specifying the attributes of imaging devices such as scanners, digital cameras, monitors and printers so that the color of an image remains true from source to destination. data. This enables automated color measurement of process control images (i.e. color bars), as well as miniaturized color management test images, within the non-image area of a print run. This technology delivers the ability to dovetail dovetail (dov´tāl), n a widened or fanned-out portion of a prepared cavity, usually established deliberately to increase the retention and resistance form. up- to-date print-process profiles into a color-managed production workflow, without any compromise to press operation or productivity. Color Communication Technology Advances X-Rite's has made considerable progress in the area of electronic color data communications data communications, application of telecommunications technology to the problem of transmitting data, especially to, from, or between computers. In popular usage, it is said that data communications make it possible for one computer to "talk" with another. . The explosion in consumer branding has required specific brand colors to be reproduced on a variety of graphic arts materials, including packaging, labels, business cards, reports, advertising and even web-sites. As a result, the color review cycle, in particular for special brand colors, can be a long, expensive process. Often, the half-dozen parties involved in the full specify-to-design-to-prep-to-press workflow have different expectations and methods for describing brand colors. With these issues in mind, X-Rite has developed a new color communication technology that allows defined brand colors to be precisely communicated instantly between parties. This method employs electronic definition of color names, spectral color In computer graphics, the color of a single wavelength of light, starting with violet at the low end and proceeding through indigo, blue, green, yellow and orange and ending with red. data, color evaluation geometry, and acceptability criteria. With these elements as a foundation, Internet and e-mail transports are harnessed to instantly communicate color information between parties. Once communicated, process control and color matching technologies can take over to ensure the colors are reproduced accurately and consistently. This new technology will prove to be the basis for forthcoming color advances in print reproduction. New 520 Spectrodensitometer for Proof or Print Comparisons X-Rite adds the 520 spectrodensitometer to the 500 Series, to be shown for the first time at DRUPA. Designed to bring high-end densitometric functionality to printers who may want to start exploring colorimetry colorimetry Measurement of the intensity of electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum transmitted through a solution or transparent solid. It is used to identify and determine the concentrations of substances that absorb light of a specific wavelength or colour , the 520 includes essential density features and adds basic colorimetric col·or·im·e·ter n. 1. Any of various instruments used to determine or specify colors, as by comparison with spectroscopic or visual standards. 2. functions like L*a*b* all at the price of a traditional densitometer A device that calibrates the relative strength of a color using complementary filters. Contrast with colorimeter. . Several international industry organizations are now promoting the use of colorimetry in addition to basic density measurements as a practical method for evaluating four-color process four-color process: see printing. color matches between proofing materials or prints. "The model 520 will include the most popular features of our successful densitometers, and will also give most users their first experience with the advanced benefits that colorimeter A device that measures the red, green and blue values of color. See colorimetry and color calibration. Contrast with densitometer. functions like L*a*b* have to offer in four-color workflows from proof to press," said Pike. "Because all of our densitometers have spectrophotometer spectrophotometer, instrument for measuring and comparing the intensities of common spectral lines in the spectra of two different sources of light. See photometry; spectroscope; spectrum. underpinnings, only X-Rite can give users the unique features that this new model affords." The newest member of the popular 500-Series family will offer the common features of the 500-Series, like aperture size options for all applications, ranging from 1.6mm to 6mm, as well as UV and polarization filters. The compact 520 also features the company's lauded inter-instrument agreement, allowing users to get very close measurements without relying on complicated cross- calibration techniques. More Color Tools That Work... X-Rite will showcase other recently announced and completely new solutions at DRUPA. Shipping later this month and scheduled for demonstration at the X-Rite DRUPA stand is the ATS Publication, a new version of the Auto-Tracking Spectrophotometer system now able to handle a 1/16" (1.6 mm) color bar to accommodate the smaller cut-off format of new publication web presses. With X-Rite's new ATS Publication solution, the system provides auto-locating as well as automatic re-ordering of color bar sections (ribbons) into the correct master format. The ATS Publication comes with X-Rite's 530 microspot hand-held spectrodensitometer for greater flexibility and versatility in color-bar and image-area color measurements. X-Rite's award-winning ColorShop technology will be shown in the latest 2.6 version for Windows. The technology taps into the host color management engine (ICM ICM Intercom ICM Integrated Crop Management ICM International Congress of Mathematicians ICM Information Classification and Management ICM Intelligent Contact Management (Cisco) ICM International Creative Management ) and uses International Color Consortium The International Color Consortium was formed in 1993 by eight industry vendors in order to create a universal color management system that would function transparently across all operating systems and software packages. (ICC) profiles to preview, assess and modify color in publishing workflows. ColorShop palettes are compatible with creative color software applications on both Windows and Macintosh platforms. Now providing the full spectrum of color tools for graphic artists, publishers and prepress operators, ColorShop 2.6 includes numerous feature and functionality additions, such as inclusion of previously optional Density and Profile Viewer Toolkits and a functioning demonstration version (available from the X-Rite web site) that allows users to choose and indefinitely use pre-defined categories of ColorShop's 12 popular tools for managing and communicating color. Also new are Drop-In Drivers for current and future X-Rite instruments, USB USB in full Universal Serial Bus Type of serial bus that allows peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, digitizers, data gloves, etc.) to be easily connected to a computer. support, and improved monitor calibration. About X-Rite X-Rite, Incorporated (NASDAQ/NMS:XRIT), headquartered in Michigan, USA, along with Labsphere, its wholly owned New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). subsidiary, maintains offices in Massachusetts, Germany, England, Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, France and Japan. X-Rite, Incorporated is the world's leading provider of technically sophisticated instrumentation and user-friendly software solutions for a wide variety of color-critical applications, including corporate branding, medical diagnostics, consumer products and on-line commerce. For more information, contact X-Rite, Incorporated: 3100 44th St., S.W., Grandville, Mich., 49418, USA; Telephone (616) 534- 7663; Fax (616) 534-1466; Web site: www.x-rite.com All product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. NOTE TO EDITORS: PICTURE AVAILABLE |
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