Christchurch, New Zealand, Regensdorf, Switzerland, and Sydney, Australia – September 20, 2002— The packaging industry has been steadily adopting Hexachrome printing to gain major savings in make-ready time and ink stocking. With Hexachrome, you can reproduce rich, vibrant solid colors, realistic skin tones and elegant pastels. The Hexachrome color gamut exceeds that of CMYK, allowing the printer to achieve the same bright, vibrant colors as what was originally designed on the computer. Until now, there has not been a proofing solution that has offered a true digital Hexachrome proofing workflow. Gimle, developers of the AbsoluteProof software solution, announced today the availability of AbsoluteProof bundled together with GretagMacbeth solutions (and Roland DG’s Hi-Fi Jet printers), providing a complete Hexachrome proofing workflow. By utilizing the ProfileMaker Professional Multicolor Module from GretagMacbeth, AbsoluteProof from Gimle, and Roland DG’s FJ printers, the packaging industry can now achieve true Hexachrome-In, Hexachrome-Out proofing. Now it is possible to match up to 97% of Pantone colors with true integrity of the imagesetter rip, interpreting traps, overprints and all other file issues to accurately match what the final printing press will produce. Quote from Hugo. "Gimle is highly committed to providing a fully automated colormanaged workflow to all sectors of the printing industry. We came across the specific need in the packaging industry for a robust, flexible solution and we set out to develop Hexachrome support for AbsoluteProof. We have been co-ordinating with the packaging industry, Roland DG and GretagMacbeth while developing this Hexachrome color management and digital proofing solution. The Hexachrome proofing workflow is extremely color critical, requiring precision colormatching. It gives me great pleasure to say that after a lengthy period of development we now offer the only solution that enables fully automated colormanaged Hexachrome proofing on InkJet printers. I am especially proud of the achievement by AbsoluteProof (and the Gimle team) of a ‘world first’ by producing Hexachrome digital proofs to the highest attainable standard on the Roland Hi-Fi Jet Pro printers (with the aid of GretagMacbeth ProfileMaker)" Hugo said. Quote from Dr. Iris Mangelschots, VP OEM Business. (GretagMacbeth) "The issue of color matching and color management of Hexachrome is becoming increasingly important for the packaging industry. Our ProfileMaker Multi-color module, bundled with Gimle’s software and Roland’s Hi-Fi JET, offers pre-press and packaging users an easy to use, uncomplicated, solution for accurate color proofing. We are very excited about this joint relationship that provides the packaging industry with a much needed solution to meet the ever-increasing demands for accurate Hexachrome printing." Quote from Marcus "The teaming of Gimle and GretagMacbeth and the selection of Roland’s variable droplet Hi-Fi JET to deliver a true Hexachrome proofing solution has the potential to revolutionise the pre-press and packaging industries just as the introduction of wide-format printers for proofing has done over the last two years. "And at the business end of the new Hex package is the industry leading FJ-500 which enables Pantone Inc.’s 6-colour Hexachrome’s printing process to simulate over 97% of Pantone PMS colours, delivering new standards of photo realism that transcend the limits of conventional 4 and even 6 colour printing. "The Hi-Fi JET’s dual print heads and unique variable droplet printing technology enables a stunningly broad and realistic spectrum of colour to be achieved –like brilliant apple reds, the near infinite greens of a forest, rich natural skin tones and luxurious metallic sheens, with unrivalled consistency", Marcus said. About AbsoluteProof AbsoluteProof is a Macintosh digital proofing application that fits perfectly into any pre-press environment. It provides a complete fully automated Hexachrome-In, Hexachrome-Out proofing workflow with full ICC support using ProfileMaker Multi-Color for building Hexachrome profiles and the Pantone calibrated Roland DG Hi-Fi Jet. Flexibility: Using a Pantone calibrated device like the Roland DG Hi-Fi series printer you can not only simulate Hexachrome printing but also simulate up to 97% of PMS colors as specials. You are not tied into a system that only gives you limited amount of Pantone colors. You can proof any special color and/or combination of standard CMYK and other colors. AbsoluteProof takes in separated monochrome, composite CMYK or RGB tiff files from imagesetter rips and allows for utilization of the full color gamut of the printer for matching spot colors that are outside the CMYK (source) color space. As the source files come from the imagesetter, the results are exactly the same interpretation of traps, overprints and font issues as the final printing press will produce. AbsoluteProof also contains an advanced Linearization feature, Ink limiting feature, Density adjustments, and Ink-hue control (bypassing Colorsync). It also provides 6-channel linearization with support for GretagMacbeth's ProfileMaker MeasureTool. AbsoluteProof is capable of driving most wide format printers, and in addition, all postscript devices. About ProfileMaker Professional Multi-Color ProfileMaker Professional™ 4.1 color management software creates accurate and reliable ICC-profiles and provides color management for the most advanced printing devices available today. ProfileMaker Professional 4.1 is composed of modules that correspond to the different tasks in a typical color management workflow. The main application module, ProfileMaker, calculates ICC profiles for a broad range of input and output devices, including flat panel displays and digital cameras. The Multi-Color module provides full support for the latest multicolor output devices capable of up to 7-channel printing, including PANTONE Hexachrome. The MeasureTool module handles the data collection required for computing profiles and works with a broad range of color measurement instruments (from GretagMacbeth and other companies). The ProfileEditor module guides the user through the process of editing all types of profiles, including multi-color profiles. The ColorPicker™ module ensures accurate matching of spot colors and allows users to define their own color palettes. ColorPicker provides support for multicolor profiles, and the new PANTONE coated, uncoated and matte reference libraries. ProfileMaker Professional 4.1 works on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.