Ridgefield Park, NJ – June 22, 2006 – Agfa Graphics announced today that its proofing and workflow solutions ranked in the top tier at the IPA Proofing and Workflow RoundUP events. The RoundUPs, which rank participating vendor systems on their abilities to meet certain thresholds in hard and soft proofing and workflow efficiencies, were held June 6-8 during the 2006 IPA Technical Conference in Chicago, IL. All Agfa proofing systems performed exceptionally well, scoring at, or near, the top in every category. :SherpaProof 17 powered by :ApogeeX ranked in the top tier (excellent rendering) for visual match for color, Delta-E tests, multi-channel images (CMYK) and Pantone spot color match categories. :ApogeeX with the :SherpaDot inkjet halftone proof solution, also ranked in the top segment for Delta-E tests. :SherpaProof, :Sherpa and :ApogeeX customers around the world, including flexible packaging powerhouse Bemis Inc., count on Agfa’s technology to help their products stand out above the rest. “We did our own studies and found the :Sherpa to have the widest color gamut. It consistently matches the color on the press,” said Jeff Ross, Bemis Graphics’ color systems manager. “Product packaging is all about spot color and with the :Sherpa we are able to hit the spot colors dead on.” Agfa achieved the highest ranking in the IPA RoundUP for spot color behavior. :ApogeeX scored well amongst the five other workflow systems in all Workflow RoundUp categories. Systems were judged based on various capabilities, including preflighting, imaging, creating, rendering, ability to pass along XMP metadata, and the blind exchange of JDF job tickets. “It demonstrated that in a blind test, vendors can comply with the published JDF ICS (Interoperability Compliance Specification),” said IO Integration’s Linda Manes Goodwin, the Workflow RoundUP leader. “We know from our customers that the :SherpaProof and :ApogeeX are delivering excellent performance, but it is certainly gratifying to see that independent “clinical” tests such as those run by a respected organization as IPA confirm their findings as fact,” said Deborah Hutcheson, senior marketing manager, workflow and color systems, Agfa Graphics, North America. “We are especially pleased that the :SpectraSpot function of :SherpaProof, which enables straight on spot-color proofing, achieved the highest score in that category,” Hutcheson added. Participating vendors in the Proofing RoundUP built ICC color profiles using supplied targets from press sheets and output proofs strictly to the numbers with no visual guidance. “The IPA RoundUP demonstrated an incredibly powerful message – all of us can work from the numbers. Based only on measurement of the IT8.7/4 target, vendors were able to create accurate press to proof matches on their inkjet and other proofing systems,” said Dr. Abhay Sharma, chair, School of Graphic Communications Management. “This is a very significant result that helps our industry use and adopt reference printing conditions such as SWOP, GRACoL and ICC characterization data sets. The results showed that the underlying color algorithms and color science in many of our products at the school [which include :ApogeeX and :Sherpa proofing systems] are able to match images on a press sheet based exclusively on the test target or fingerprint. The RoundUP this year was totally blind, the vendors did not see the press sheet – this demonstrated that it is not necessary to tweak images to achieve a good match.” As a founding member of the ICC and CIP4, and one of the four developing partners of the initial JDF specification, Agfa Graphics is an industry steward for standards. This commitment to standards forms the core of Agfa’s proofing and workflow solutions, enabling enhanced consistency and efficiencies for Agfa customers, and the broader market.