Hainburg, Germany (November 14, 2006) - Gravure printers and their major publishing customers marked a major workflow milestone today, with the European Color Initiative's (ECI) recent approval of ORIS Color Tuner as a gravure-specific contract proofing system for the widely used Epson x800 series of inkjet printers. The ORIS system was one of only two systems driving an Epson 4800 to comply with reference for light-weight coated paper, known as ECI/PSR/LWC ñ recommended for the production of advertisements in gravure printed publications. The test was conducted on optical brightener-free CGS PearlPROOF Super paper ñ an integral part of the system's configuration. A panel of experts from several different German gravure printing plants unilaterally found that ORIS was in full compliance with the standard's measurement and visual evaluation criteria. Results from other major c! ompetitors, which were also submitted, were not approved. In many respects, the ECI/PSR approval process goes beyond the proofing certifications for non-gravure printing. Apart from minimum measured deviations in the sample proofs, specific emphasis is put on the slightest nuances when comparing the proofs visually to the master. For the comparisons, the well-known ECI 2002 test chart is used, as well as a number of critical catalogue pages for visual reference. Following this approval, CGS will make the ECI/PSR/LWC profile available for free downloading, along with the required ID checksum and measured values. CGS' European Sales Director, Heiner M¸ller, expressed the company's satisfaction with the results. "The ECI has been in the forefront of ISO-based color standardization for the entire graphic arts industry. This is especially the case for gravure printers, who were among the first to adopt a universal proofing standard for their advertisers. We are very happy to have one of the first systems of its kind for the popular Epson x800 series approved for the gravure industry." ORIS Color Tuner's success with proofing to the ECI/PSR/LWC standard, using the cost-effective Epson x800 series, will be followed by submissions for other standard gravure printing papers, like SC (super-calendered), MF (machine finished), and HWC (heavy-weight coated) papers. ECI's approval of ORIS is the latest in a long series of firsts ñ including certification by SWOP, FOGRA, 3DAP, PPA and SICOGIF.