Norwalk, Connecticut, USA — On March 31, Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) will extend the versatility of its successful First Check Proofing System to Mac computer users when it launches a new RIP in Europe, the Best Designer Edition Mac OSX. Utilized by designers for the packaging industry, the First Check system brings mock-ups in-house with its ability to print orange, green, spot black, opaque white, foils, metallics, and a finish coat on a variety of mediums including transfer and shrink films. “Many of our customers in the package design market use Mac computers to create their work and we feel it’s important to customize our products to fit their needs,” said Olivier Michaud, Packaging Segment Manager, KPG Europe. “Now, with the new Mac RIP, the entire graphic arts community can access the color capabilities and versatility of this easy to use, affordable desktop proofing system.” In addition to transfer and shrink film, available proofing media for the First Check system include high-quality commercial, standard commercial, matte and publication papers. The First Check transfer film can be laminated to other substrates such as boards and some plastics, and the shrink film can be shrink-wrapped to bottles or containers for realistic mock-ups, making it ideal for flexographic proofing applications. For more information visit http://www.desktopproofing.com. The Best Designer Edition Mac RIP works with the following Mac platforms – Power Mac G3, G4 or G5, iMac, eMac, Powerbook G3 or G4 or iBook Computer, Mac OSX 10.2.1 and above, minimum 512 MB RAM. Featuring an Adobe CPSI Interpreter, which allows over printing, In-RIP-Separation and font download support of 2-byte fonts, the new software boasts full PDF/X1, PDFX1a and PDF/X3 support. Other features of the new RIP include object oriented color management (support of embedded profiles), output of RGB as grayscale, and support of reference ColorSync profiles and L-A-B color space.