Regensdorf, Switzerland and New Windsor, NY; September 24, 2004 — Computer-to-Plate and conventional plate making staff at print and prepress shops now have a comprehensive solution for plate quality control and comparison, with the availability of the new PlateQuality software from GretagMacbeth, the worldwide technological leader in color measurement and management solutions. This software offers extraordinary ease-of-use, unique features for history tracking and data management and data processing options for an in-depth analysis of plate measurements, ensuring the best plate quality. Introduced earlier this year at Drupa 2004 in Düsseldorf, GretagMacbeth’s new PlateQuality software was designed for use with the company’s iCPlate II series of portable plate readers. GretagMacbeth’s iCPlate II portable plate readers have received exceptional acceptance in the market and have been judged by major CtP equipment manufacturers as the “best in class” device because of its measurement accuracy, reproducibility and ease-of-use. The new PlateQuality software stores, visualizes, and documents both individual measurements as well as plate characteristic curve measurements taken with the iCPlate II device. It thus provides a database of information that operators can refer back to at any time for quality control comparison. It also provides a user- friendly interface tailored to the workflow of any plate quality control process, providing a plug and play experience for the operator. All new GretagMacbeth software solutions come with similar intuitive user interfaces, allowing for easy transition between different software packages, resulting in significantly reduced training time. The result is consistent plate quality that is verifiable, measurable and documented quality control, increased productivity and lower costs. “When used with our iCPlate II portable plate readers, our new PlateQuality software is the most comprehensive solution for plate quality control on the market today,” says Jan Keller, market manager, pressroom products at GretagMacbeth. “It enables operators to obtain a quality proof of the job and to see mistakes early – before sending jobs to the press. It provides standardization of the production process for overall quality improvements – all completely documented.” In addition to measurement values, the PlateQuality database can contain plate images which can be compared for a detailed quality analysis. Measurement data and plate images can be exported for a more in-depth analysis. The database contains job, customer, and reference information (including plate type, screening, plate setter, chemistry data, and more) which can be used to classify and order the data thereby ensuring users can find and track measurement data quickly and efficiently. Since the reference curves with the tolerance specifications are customizable the software supports all types of control wedges.