Asian commercial print customers can now maintain and track performance with pressSIGN new SaaS solution and the X-Rite eXact 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – X-Rite, Incorporated and Bodoni Systems Ltd. have signed an agreement for the Asian distribution of Bodoni's suite of pressSIGN print standardization software that reduces costs and improves quality for printers and print buyers alike.

For commercial printers, the professional editions of pressSIGN 5 offer powerful tools to identify target colors from a variety of platforms, set tolerances on targets, guide operators on how to adjust presses to remain in tolerance and collect and report data from multiple presses to boost efficiencies.

"Going back to running the presses without pressSIGN would be like trying to do work on a car with just screwdriver and pliers: it might be possible to do it, but you would be very aware that you were missing the proper tools," said Steve Alkazian, prepress supervisor of V3 Corp., a Los Angeles-based printer that uses the X-Rite IntelliTrax for color measurement and recently installed pressSIGN workstations on three of its Mitsubishi presses to increase the ability to measure and control its printing processes.

“We can identify and analyze quality and wastage issues early in the process to head off potential problems and achieve accurate, consistent color more quickly and efficiently,” Alkazian said.  Print managers can compare the performance of presses operators, shifts and print sites using the software.

The pressSIGN software integrates seamlessly with X-Rite graphic arts solutions, including the eXact, IntelliTrax S, EasyTrax S, the SpectroEye, 530, i1 and i1Pro2 instruments and the X-Rite Graphic Arts Standard (XRGA).  London-based Bodoni Systems, a long-time dealer of X-Rite products, will now distribute pressSIGN software through X-Rite’s Asian sales and applications offices. 

For print buyers, the pressSIGN Global Print Management (GPM) edition provides a peek into pressrooms anywhere in the world to see if their jobs are running on time and how colors being printed compare with the designated target colors -- all from the convenience of their offices. 

The pressSIGN 5 GPM, which moves away from a server-based solution for printers to a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, which helps reduce IT costs for customers by outsourcing hardware, software and support costs to Bodoni.

"Our products make it hugely easier for printers to hit whatever color standards their customers want," said Ian Reid, managing director of Bodoni Systems. "We are able to define a target color from just about any print standard: ISO 12647, Japan Color, GRACol, a previously printed job or an ICC profile." The software that can monitor up to 12 spot colors then guides the operator how to maintain tolerance when chemistry, paper color or other variables change.

Founded in 1990, Bodoni has developed a suite of software products to satisfy the needs of large and small printers as well as print buyers.  Its offerings include:

• pressSIGN print buyer for smaller sized companies 
• pressSIGN standard edition for printers that use CMYK processes and define tonal curves, dot gain or gray balance adjustments;
• pressSIGN pro edition that includes all the features of the standard edition and adds powerful tools to monitor multiple pieces of equipment and generate reports for quality control; and
• pressSIGN GPM edition is designed for large-scale print companies and buyers that want to centralize standards, tolerances and scoring, monitor how jobs are progressing and how well presses are being utilized. 

Both print managers and print buyers can use their computer monitors to see "soft proofs" in nearly real time that compare how colors being printed on a job compare with target colors. "Customers can see a soft proof of the job wherever they are, which is really useful for large- scale print buyers or printers " Reid said.

"We are very pleased to have strengthened our relationship further with Bodoni," said Chris Winczewski,  Director of Product Marketing & Application Support for X-Rite Asia Pacific.  "There is an obvious synergy in providing solutions that meet the marketplace needs today for our common commercial print customers in Asia."