June 24, 2003 - IDEAlliance (International Digital Enterprise Alliance) and IPA, The Association of Graphic Solutions Providers, announced today that measured pre-release GRACoL Press Sheets, representing a reasonable approximation to the IDEAlliance GRACoL TR 004 guidelines, are available for purchase and distribution from IPA at www.ipa.org/gracol. "Because these press sheets are so close to TR 004 guidelines, we felt it would be supportive to the industry to make them available now," said David Hultin, Director, Print Initiatives of IDEAlliance. "We have had a tremendous volume of inquiries by members of both IPA and IDEAlliance for these sheets. Since we will be reprinting the final press sheets upon CGATS approval of TR 004, we will credit the full purchase price of these pre-release sheets toward the purchase price of the approved sheets." The press sheets will help the printer, prepress service provider, photographer, and creative studio evaluate whether their proofing systems are reasonable predictors of the final printed product for commercial offset lithography. The press sheets may be used for visual comparison to proofs that emulate the proposed GRACoL Grade #1 characterization, soon to be published as a Technical Report, ANSI/CGATS TR004, by NPES (www.npes.org). "This sheet is invaluable," remarked Chip Harding, Vice President and COO of Harper House of Dallas, Texas. "It gives Harper House the ability to measure and prove how close a proof is to the specification and greatly reduces our time to create a standard profile and proof." The press sheets were printed by LAgraphico of Burbank, California. Al Shapiro, President of LAgraphico, remarked, "Our aim is for the entire graphic community to strive for TR004 as the destination profile through all phases of production, so that all concerned will know what the final results will be." The cost per Pre-release Press Sheet for IPA and IDEAlliance members is $125 for the first sheet, $25 for each additional sheet. Non-members may purchase the first sheet for $200, $30 for each additional sheet. Prices do not include shipping and handling. Order sheets online at www.ipa.org/gracol or by calling (800) 255-8141. The Press Sheets include two files from the Altona Test Suite as prepared for the proposed GRACoL Grade #1 characterization. (Altona files available at www.ipa.org/altona.) The Altona-Visual page can identify correct processing of such elements as fonts, overprints, spot colors, RGB-CMYK conversion, and shading. For color managed proofing systems the Press Sheet can be utilized by first measuring the ECI2002R target in the Altona-Measure page and then creating an ICC profile that is used as a target.