Mellow Colour has signed distributor agreements for its ISOLithO Precision-Colour Quality Control System in Asia Pacific and Europe. Following widespread success in the UK, it is anticipated that IPEX will serve as a platform to facilitate more partnerships across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and the United States. The benefit of the Mellow Colour system is that it provides an international standard enabling printers to compare jobs at different sites or with customers, locally or internationally. Its user-friendly design allows small files containing the reports to be easily transferred anywhere by email, making it a very accessible and user-friendly interface. “Over the next few months, we will continue to build on the UK success while extending our focus to distribution abroad,” comments Alan Dresch, Founder, Mellow Colour. “Forging relationships with local distributors is key for Mellow Colour – they understand the needs and requirements for their markets and are best placed to advise and educate customers on the products benefits. We have a product that is responding to a need in the market for consistent print appearance, job-to-job and device-to-device. ISOLithO has been proven to deliver a more efficient workflow, reducing downtime, cost, and waste, while improving customer satisfaction. We need to communicate this to the worldwide audience.” Asia Pacific Success: Australia DES, one of Australia and New Zealand''s most innovative providers of integrated digital imaging solutions for the professional printing industry, has signed a distributor agreement for Mellow Colour''s ISOLithO range of products. Sales and support is handled by Chromaticity Australia, a provider of colour management training, technical support and consulting services. “DES now has a marketing advantage in colour critical printing. As the exclusive distributors of a superior product, we can offer a unique package that our competitors don’t have access to,” comments David Crowther, director, Chromaticity Australia. “ISOLithO has been successful because it is not just measuring colour in comparison to an irrelevant chart – it is an international benchmark, giving Australian printers a standard comparable to anywhere else in the world.” European Success: Scandinavia The concept of using ISO12647 to rationalise and streamline print production has also rapidly taken hold in Scandinavia. Since January 2006, the graphic arts consultancy Medit Consult, with offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus, has been distributing ISOLithO in Scandinavia. “Through thorough testing of Mellow Colour’s ISOLithO application in Danish press rooms, we found it delivers an excellent combination of both colour accuracy and ease-of-use,” says Bård Blytt Sandstad, print quality consultant, Medit Consult. “Installations have already been confirmed in the run-up to IPEX, and we have no doubt the show will only serve to generate even more interest.” The Scandinavian pilot site for ISOLithO was the Danish book printer Norhaven Book, based in Denmark. "Our customers increasingly expect all printing jobs to be produced according to FOGRA standards and ISO 12647,” says Kim Birk Laursen, Norhaven Book. "ISOLithO is a good fit for our need to continuously monitor the production processes in our two sheetfed plants." Aimed at pre-press, printing and print buyers, ISOLithO is purchased as a colour managed “Project Package”, made up of ISOLithO System Software, a GMB or X-Rite Spectrophotometer and a 3-day implementation. The implementation includes installation, colour theory and measurement training for managerial, sales and production staff, process control checks, on-press set up and ISOLithO report evaluation training. “Over the past couple of years, we’ve worked with companies such as Williams Lea, St Ives and DuPont in the UK, while developing international business, and have come to realise using ISO 12647 is more than process control, it is about changing attitudes to colour control and consistency. It is inevitable that printers will follow customer pressure to implement printing standards internationally and now is the time to take the first step on that journey,” concludes Alan.