Color Management and Screen Proofing (II)

(Color Management and Proofing Focus on the Monitor) Integrated Additional Online Evaluation The Retail Netvantage Package Sales Planning Tool Developer Integrated Software has added a new program named ISProof Online Image Evaluation and Approval. It allows brand managers, buyers, photographers, and manufacturers to check the suitability of images for advertising or production of catalogs. It also allows users to list the products they want to advertise and check their characteristics. Those photos are displayed in the size of a thumbnail and can be viewed in full size with a single click. This ISProof does not have color management capabilities. The initial design of the system was used for promotional activities. When the activities involved in the print production stage, color proofing was put on the agenda. However, there are still some specific approvals and evaluations that question the time limits of this activity. In addition, the system assumes that exceeding a certain time limit will be defaulted to give up evaluation rights. Each step of the approval process has a certain amount of time, and failure to comply with it is considered to be passed. The system was originally designed for the Toys 'R' Us chain and is based on Oracle 8. Compared with other integrated software products, ISProof is mainly applicable to large-scale enterprises in multiple locations. For these enterprises, the integration of various databases is very important. Studion recently launched ColorBlade After a long period of testing, Studion finally released their ColorBlade plug-in product. The product was released for the first time and several major innovations were made to the user interface. Of course, some were decorative, such as the independent zoom settings of the image window. Others are functional. For example, their pre-release version allows users to select different monitor solutions. The plugin can play a big role when running inside Photoshop 4, because Photoshop 4 lacks certain color management capabilities. However, when the plug-in runs inside Photoshop 5 or 6, it often plays the opposite control because Photoshop 5 or 6 itself has advanced color management controls. Therefore, the ColorBlade application should open or hide the monitor scheme accordingly based on the version of software it runs. In addition, the current operating rules of the plug-in have also changed somewhat. Since Photoshop supports 8-bit data, the plug-in runs entirely in 16-bit mode to minimize the loss of dynamic fields during color conversion. ColorBlade can be downloaded directly from Studion's website, with a store price of $200, but the market price is $140. Studion also handles the software distribution business. The company has a CD-ROM version of the software, which is currently the main medium for the distribution of the software in overseas markets. After the release of ColorBlade version 1, Studion is considering in-depth development of this technology. VAR technology may be applied in the plug-in, in addition, the company also considers the development of plug-ins for Acrobat. Since Prolatus launched the ASP business Colorcentric.com since its opening in autumn last year, his founders discovered that the printing industry's customers are very interested in the online color correction and revision technology called Colorcentric. However, printing clients are not willing to deal with ASPs. In fact, they want to become ASPs of their own customers. In view of this market situation, they decided to adjust the business model and decided to sell servers supporting Colorcentric technology to print customers, and decided to rename Colorcentric.com to Prolatus and make this technology into five components. The general name is Catalytic. Technology. The Prolatus Messenger (Prolatus Courier) is a software that runs on various client desktops. When a customer places a picture on the Courier icon, the program generates a job task tag and a high-compressed version of the picture saved in CXM format. The file can be placed in a hot folder on the server, or via email , FTP and other network channels to send. The Courier application is free and can be run on a Mac or Windows system. Prolatus Expert (Prolatus Expert) is a color guide program for image correction and revision. It can decompress CXM files and then import the changes made by the program into the picture. These changes are also saved in the CXM file format and returned to the user. This is a complete solution for handling image revisions and returning them to the user, and enables any unnatural elements generated by the compression program to not be left behind in the final result. The application sells for $5,000 and can run on Mac or Windows systems. The Prolatus Courier Server enables the automation of CXM file generation and transmission to the Prolatus Expert process, which is primarily designed for large-scale operational businesses and is priced at $10,000 for Windows 95 or higher. Version of the operating system is running. The Prolatus Expert Server is a companion to the Prolatus Courier Server. It not only automates file transfer and decompression, but also automatically sends notification emails after file corrections are completed. It sells for $20,000 and can run on Windows 95 or later operating systems. Prolatus WebConnect is a custom e-commerce server that printers can use to create a fully-branded website that includes security management, user registration, account management, invoices, email notifications, and work. Task archive and other content. Obviously, the remote color correction process can be implemented without any Catalyst Technology tool software. If the bandwidth allows, the user can send the original picture file directly through the Internet. Unfortunately, the bandwidth problem has always been a problem that plagues everyone. Prolatus said that in a test they found that an 18MB original image file can be compressed into a 900KB CXM ​​file for transmission and returned in a 200KB CXP file. Although JPEG and wavelet compressors can also achieve the same compression ratio, they are mainly used to deal with color conversion and other non-natural issues. In contrast, Prolatus's solution is to eliminate the legacy of non-natural factors. Prolatus claims that they are in-depth development of this technology, one is remote proofing, manuscript submission and remote approval of the project, the other is a remote layout and production projects. Prolatus will also continue to provide support to Colorcentric's customers. Related tips Finally talk about some of the recent changes in the topics discussed in this article. The first is X-Rite. In addition to the previous Windows toolkit, X-Rite now offers a Macintosh SDK that can support spectral filters. This will be of interest to all Mac dealers. Now these dealers do not have to provide The spectrometer of the PC was guilty of being paralyzed. Next to Pantone, Pantone continues to attract retailers to join their "The Right Color" e-commerce program. Recently, Pantone added the Studio Direct and Tapestria projects to retailers joining the program. More importantly, the National Retail Federation has adopted Pantone's Textile Color System as the color information management standard for retailer databases. And then Trumatch, Trumatch is Pantone's competitor in the color fan book business. Recently, the company's application software for Mac and Windows systems, users can print the sample customers need on a desktop printer. This kind of application software is available on the company's website http://, their Mac is priced at $183, Windows is $133, and of course the corresponding discount is still there.