Hainburg, Germany (September 8, 2005) -- CGS Publishing Technologies International GmbH and GretagMacbeth AG have announced a major technology breakthrough for the proofing and production of complex, multi-channel color files used in the packaging industry. As confirmed in recent tests, ORIS Color Tuner directly handles N-color ICC profiles (containing up to 10 channels) generated by GretagMacbeth's recently-released ProfileMaker 5 Packaging software. This means that the new ICC profiles can now be used with ORIS technology to consistently optimize all aspects of packaging production, including display-based soft proofing, contract-quality inkjet proofing and high-resolution output. “ProfileMaker 5 Packaging will revolutionize digital production for the packaging industry,” said Mark Geeves, Vice President of Global Business Development at GretagMacbeth. “By applying the open ICC standard to the problem of multi-channel files, we have provided packaging designers and printers with the color management tools they need to accelerate time-to-market schedules and greatly reduce production costs. The fact that ORIS works directly with our N-color profiles is an enormous benefit for customers using this powerful workflow.” GretagMacbeth announced ProfileMaker 5 Packaging on August 15th, to meet the color management needs of imaging workflow in the packaging market for flexographic, gravure, offset and inkjet printing environments. The configuration underwent rigorous testing, using ORIS Color Tuner 5.1, released in March, which included enhanced support for proofing non-traditional color spaces, including Pantone Hexachrome. Details In various field tests at several high-profile customers, multi-channel ICC profiles were applied to image data as well as final layout files. The production data consisted of 10-channel DCS or PDF files, using a variety of design and layout applications. The same files were used for both proofing, in ORIS Color Tuner, and final output for gravure. Because ORIS successfully used the same 10-channel ICC profile used during the creation and output process, the proof met or exceeded all quality expectations. Not all inkjet proofing systems are able to work with GretagMacbeth's new methodology. When ORIS is not used, image data must often be separately converted to CMYK for proofing, bypassing the N-channel ICC profile created by ProfileMaker 5 Packaging. This creates separate and often inconsistent proofing for image and vector elements of a job. In some cases, text and other vector elements are not included in the CMYK image proof. ORIS' success with the new workflow is not limited to proofing. By using ORIS Color Tuner PLUS! workflow modules, such as ORIS Press Matcher, color-managed high-resolution files can also generated, creating consistent color output for gravure, flexographic or offset packaging printing.