LONG BEACH, Calif.--Oct. 7, 2002-- Epson America today announced its EPSON Stylus Pro 7600 and EPSON Stylus Pro 9600 have received SWOP (Specification for Web Offsight Publications) certification in combination with EPSON UltraChrome Ink, EPSON Semimatte Proofing Paper and the Colorproof XXL RIP from Best GMBH. The certification recognizes that these printing systems meet SWOP's strict industry guidelines for commercial proofing applications, producing images that are consistent and accurate with those of final Web offset-printed images. "The introduction of our Stylus Pro 7600, 9600 and 10600 printers, along with our UltraChrome inks and new proofing media have become a winning combination of products for today's proofing market," said Mark Radogna, senior product manager, professional graphics, Epson. "This SWOP certification will give our customers peace-of-mind knowing that our products produce ``industry standard' proofs while reinforcing our position as the printer of choice for professional pre-press proofing and other CTP applications." The new EPSON Stylus Pro 10600 is currently being evaluated for SWOP certification and completion of the testing is expected to be announced in October 2002. In order to achieve SWOP certification, manufacturers of off-press proofing systems must submit a SWOP Application Data Sheet (ADS) and representative proofs to SWOP for testing. SWOP representatives check proofing systems submitted for certification against the supplied application data sheet for quantitative conformance and determine the acceptance of each system's visual match to a SWOP Certified Press Proof. An ADS must provide directions for producing proofs as closely as possible to the appearance of the SWOP Certified Press Proof as defined in ANSI CGATS TR 001. Application Data Sheets for each analog and digital off-press proofing system are available through SWOP, Inc. About the EPSON Stylus Pro 7600, 9600 and 10600 The EPSON Stylus Pro 7600, 9600 and 10600 represent the company's three newest wide format printers, designed specifically for professional graphics, photography, fine art reproduction and several commercial imaging applications. All three printers take advantage of Epson's exclusive MicroPiezo DX3 print head technology, as well as a variety of Epson media and inks including EPSON UltraChrome -- the company's latest and highly acclaimed professional-level ink. The Stylus Pro 7600 prints on either cut sheet or roll-fed media up to 24 inches in width, while the Stylus Pro 9600 offers the same output quality and media handling up to 44 inches wide. Both printers use a seven-color ink system designed to produce exhibit-quality output in either color or black and white. The Stylus Pro 10600 also prints up to 44 inches in width using the same ink formulas in a six-color configuration with the benefit of a higher speed engine that is optimized for higher volume workflows. SWOP Mission The mission of SWOP is to continually raise the level of quality of publication printing by setting forth specifications and tolerances. This is accomplished by providing specifications to everyone in the graphic arts production process for all forms of magazine advertising and editorial input, whether analog or digital. When these specifications are followed, all input received by the printer can be reproduced as intended and desired by the advertiser/publisher with minimal difficulty. Quality should be measurable and verifiable at each step in the reproduction process, which will allow everyone in the imaging chain to monitor and improve performance by statistical methods. For more information about SWOP, visit the organization's Web site at www.swop.org.