Los Angles, CA; June 14, 2005 – Quickcut, the leading international provider of digital production workflow solutions, today introduced Quickcut ICC 2.0, an enhanced version of its powerful color management software that uniquely integrates the highly regarded Adobe Color Engine with a host of other advanced features enabling creative and production professionals to achieve highly consistent and predictable color from proofs to the printed piece. When launched in 2003, Quickcut ICC created a color revolution by instantly combining advanced software tools with industry-standard ICC profiling in a specifications-driven approach to workflow to provide accurate and consistent color at every stage of production. New Quickcut ICC 2.0 uniquely taps the power of the same Adobe Color Engine (ACE) used in Photoshop along with new features such as enhanced RGB and CMYK color conversion flexibility, intelligent file compression and selective global rendering intents to give everybody with a stake in the production process the ability to predict exactly how the color in a job will look when printed to the specifications of destination magazines, newspapers or brochures produced anywhere in the world. In addition, Quickcut ICC 2.0 reinforces Quickcut’s position as the only workflow supplier that uses each publication’s exact production specifications, including color profiles, to guide and manage advertising materials from the point of creation to the point of print delivery, including page layout, preflighting, validation, and delivery. Eliminates color guesswork “As part of our unique, specifications-guided QuickPrint workflow, Quickcut ICC 2.0 provides the sophisticated tools users need to virtually eliminate color guesswork from print production, regardless of the workflow type or the design freedom employed,” remarked Quickcut Director of Technology & Strategic Planning Craig Schuetrumpf. “Using Quickcut ICC 2.0, a production team at an agency anywhere in the world can see how an ad developed anywhere in the world will appear when printed in a New Delhi newspaper or a magazine published in Manhattan, and how collateral materials might be produced in Tokyo or Toronto – precisely reflecting each specific print process,” he explained. Unique Workflow Approach Quickcut ICC takes advantage of color profiles contained in Quickcut’s QuickPrint global specifications database in the industry-standard International Color Consortium (ICC) profile format. Each of these ICC profiles specifies the color transformations required for a specific publication or print process. When customers download the specifications to a particular print process from the QuickPrint specifications database for page layout, the associated ICC profiles are also retrieved. Using Quickcut ICC software, QuickPrint users can apply the specific profile of the destination magazine, newspaper or print process to preflight, validate and predict with certainty how color in their job will appear as printed. “Rather than isolating color as a separate component, our solutions treat color as an integral part of the entire workflow,” stated Schuetrumpf. “Quickcut ICC tackles tasks ranging from profile selection to color space conversion, and outputs proofs and PDF/X files seamlessly and often automatically, freeing creative and production professionals to be more productive. It then factors into the validation stage, to ensure files have been created and proofed to the exact specification of the target publication or print process. “By applying industry-standard ICC profiles and linking the production of each job to the unique color characteristics of the destination print process, Quickcut ICC uniquely ensues accurate color output to monitors, printers and presses from start to finish – and from advertiser to publisher to printer.” Powerful Color Handling Features Quickcut ICC 2.0 applies sophisticated color technology to the color data contained in the custom or generic ICC profiles to enable a broad array of color handling features and capabilities, including: Proofing – Quickcut ICC can be used alone or with third-party proofing systems to generate destination-specific hard copy or on-screen soft proofs that accurately portray final results by simulating the paper, dot gain and other parameters of the destination press. When proofing to screen, Quickcut ICC can even output a color-converted proof of the original PDF and display both files in a tiled window format to allow accurate comparison. Converting – Enables flexible color separation from source RGB or CMYK working spaces to the color space of the print destination to accurately compensate for a specific printing press and create color separations matched to the intended output. Users can choose to convert device CYMK images or CMYK line art and text individually and to limit ink weight without conversion. • Automatic profile selection and dynamic updating – Automatically selects the correct profile for proofing and converting. Source profiles can be embedded or ‘assumed’ to fit color managed or un-color managed workflows. In addition, Quickcut ICC 2.0 now dynamically updates the ICC profiles from the QuickPrint database. • Global rendering intent selection – Allows users to control file conversion to best simulate the intended result and best suit the type of workflow and files they are color managing. • Adobe Color Engine “Black Point Compensation” – Sophisticated black point compensation combines the best of ICC conversion rules and produces a better ‘across the board’ result in converting images and vector and line art. • “Ink Limiting Only” – This new feature allows files requiring ink limiting only to be applied to over-ink-weighted files without converting the underweight CMYK data. This allows minor adjustments to be made to files that are otherwise correctly color managed. • PDF/X conversions – Quickcut ICC 2.0 can convert files to conform to the PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-3 standard, including for PDF versions 1.3 and 1.4. This let users create worldwide industry-accepted, color-managed PDF files. File compression – Intelligent file compression, added in version 2.0, ensures optimal file size for each destination, cutting transmission time and cost to a minimum. Profile tracking – Embeds comments in the QuickPrint PDF file allowing publishers and printers to verify that the correct version of ICC profiles is being used and that advertiser’s proofs and color conversions are relevant. Control strip/color bar management – Default or custom color control strips enable file verification, allowing tight control over hardcopy proofs. Selective color and space-space conversions – Advanced users can apply manual settings in situations requiring more color control. Specific colors and spaces-spaces such as grayscale, spot colors, pure primaries, images and line art can be selectively converted or not converted to allow for partial and totally color managed files or workflows. Flexible – Like other products in the Quickcut suite, Quickcut ICC 2.0 supports a variety of workflows by applying the most commonly used features and settings by default, while still providing advanced settings for users who require more control. The new program is available directly from Quickcut offices located in countries around the world.