GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (August 28, 2008) --X-Rite, Incorporated, the world leader in color management, measurement and communication technologies, today announced the immediate availability of the industry's first ever complete Optical Brightener Compensation (OBC) solution. Unveiled in May at DRUPA 2008, the new OBC Module allows users in color-critical proofing and printing environments to effectively and precisely compensate for color shifts in custom ICC output profiles typically caused by Optical Brightening Agents (OBAs) in papers and other printing substrates.

This breakthrough technology offers a complete solution for high-end applications requiring consistent color measurements and visualization of printed output in the prepress (proofing), printing and photo (studio printing and fine art) markets. The combination of the new OBC Module with i1iSis' unique spectral measurement technology, additional UV LED illumination features and X-Rite's powerful profiling software, allows users to capture the full spectral data of the charts they measure, effectively and precisely compensate for color shifts caused by brightening agents, while still taking full advantage of the higher whiteness levels and sharper image contrasts offered by substrates containing OBAs.

X-Rite's product manager for prepress and pressroom solutions, Tobias Rausch explains: "Optical Brightening Agents (OBAs) are increasingly used by paper mills and premium inkjet paper manufacturers to make a yellowish paper appear whiter and brighter. However, until now, available color measurement and management technologies have been unable to effectively deal with the color variations caused by OBAs. With our new Optical Brightener Compensation solution, users are now able to achieve visual equivalence between color measurement results from instruments and from the visual appearance of a sample in a viewing booth."

X-Rite's Optical Brightener Compensation solution is now included with every new i1iSis automatic spectral chart reader and is designed to work seamlessly with X-Rite's high end profiling suites ProfileMaker and MonacoPROFILER. The attractively priced bundles offer a complete solution that includes an i1iSis or i1iSis XL device, the new Optical Brightener Compensation Module and the choice of X-Rite's ProfileMaker 5 or MonacoPROFILER profiling software. OBC upgrade kits are also available for existing i1iSis and ProfileMaker 5 or MonacoPROFILER users.