The following post was submitted by Color 2015 sponsor, HELIOS Software.   Carlos Gonzalez, plant manager of Proquinal S.A. installed HELIOS Soft Proofing Solution in his plant. Here’s what he had to say: “Proquinal S.A. in Bogota, Colombia has more than 400 employees, with customers in many countries. Ever since Grafix World installed the HELIOS Software PrintPreview soft proofing and annotation solution, we have drastically reduced our conventional hard color proofs, increased our production and quality, and reduced our waste. Today, our files are 100%-secured and controlled—our customers can now access the files securely via HELIOS WebShare and iPad Document Hub to make changes and annotations remotely from anywhere in the world.” For more information on HELIOS Soft Proofing Solution, contact Tom Hallinan at...

The following post was submitted by Color 2015 sponsor, HELIOS Software.   Carlos Gonzalez, plant manager of Proquinal S.A. installed HELIOS Soft Proofing Solution in his plant. Here’s what he had to say: “Proquinal S.A. in Bogota, Colombia has more than 400 employees, with customers in many countries. Ever since Grafix World installed the HELIOS Software PrintPreview soft proofing and annotation solution, we have drastically reduced our conventional hard color proofs, increased our production and quality, and reduced our waste. Today, our files are 100%-secured and controlled—our customers can now access the files securely via HELIOS WebShare and iPad Document Hub to make changes and annotations remotely from anywhere in the world.” For more information on HELIOS Soft Proofing Solution, contact Tom Hallinan at...

Who are the next industry game changers? Jim Workman, assistant vice president, Center for Technology and Research, tells you where you can find complete details on this year’s InterTech Award recipients. Attendees visiting Printing Industries of America’s booth #3802 at GRAPH EXPO 15 will be able to learn more about the ten technologies receiving the prestigious 2015 InterTech™ Technology Award. Read the press release announcing the 2015 InterTech Technology Awards here. The “Forecast Part 2, Midyear Update” issue of Printing Industries of America: The Magazine will be distributed at the booth and devotes 34 pages to the innovative technologies nominated and selected for an InterTech Award. You’ll find: •    Complete technology descriptions of all 2015 InterTech Award recipients•    Exclusive judge’s comments on the technology’s key benefits•    Images of each technology How we define “Innovative”The InterTech competition has been conducted annually since 1978 by Printing Industries of America as a service to the industry. Each entry is judged against specific criteria. First and foremost, the technology must be truly innovative—not just an evolutionary improvement on an existing product—and expected to have a significant influence on the graphic communications industry. Further, it needs to enable printers to operate much more efficiently or provide new products or services and offer a clear return on investment. Finally, it must be commercially available, yet not be in widespread use. Predictions for the futureThis year the independent panel of judges deliberated over technology nominations ranging from presses and finishing equipment to solutions to automate workflow and even determine the carbon footprint of print projects. This year’s awards show great developments in high speed web and sheetfed color inkjet presses, digital finishing equipment, use of metallic foil, patterning for optimal flexo ink laydown, and a portable spectrophotometer that can scan color bars. Also honored were solutions that facilitate cross-media marketing campaigns, use a new standard to define and communicate brand colors, and simplify the integration of production and business processes.    “The judges spend hours evaluating each technology submission and then come together to vigorously debate the ‘breakthrough’ nature and business merits of each technology,” said Dr. Mark Bohan, vice president, Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America. “Their judgments have proven to be a realistic predictor of a technology’s future success. Our research shows more than 80% of the technologies recognized in the past have experienced marketplace acceptance.” The ten technologies selected to receive the 2015 InterTech Technology Award (alphabetical by company): Océ VarioPrint i300Canon U.S.A., Inc. ORIS CxF CGS Publishing Technologies International LLC KODAK PROSPER 6000 PressesKodak NX advantage, KODAK FLEXCEL NX SystemKodak EFI DirectSmile Cross MediaElectronics for Imaging, Inc. Automation Engine Connect Esko Prinect Media ManagerHeidelberg Highcon Euclid Digital Finishing TechnologyHighcon Systems Ltd....

Who are the next industry game changers? Jim Workman, assistant vice president, Center for Technology and Research, tells you where you can find complete details on this year’s InterTech Award recipients. Attendees visiting Printing Industries of America’s booth #3802 at GRAPH EXPO 15 will be able to learn more about the ten technologies receiving the prestigious 2015 InterTech™ Technology Award. Read the press release announcing the 2015 InterTech Technology Awards here. The “Forecast Part 2, Midyear Update” issue of Printing Industries of America: The Magazine will be distributed at the booth and devotes 34 pages to the innovative technologies nominated and selected for an InterTech Award. You’ll find: •    Complete technology descriptions of all 2015 InterTech Award recipients•    Exclusive judge’s comments on the technology’s key benefits•    Images of each technology How we define “Innovative”The InterTech competition has been conducted annually since 1978 by Printing Industries of America as a service to the industry. Each entry is judged against specific criteria. First and foremost, the technology must be truly innovative—not just an evolutionary improvement on an existing product—and expected to have a significant influence on the graphic communications industry. Further, it needs to enable printers to operate much more efficiently or provide new products or services and offer a clear return on investment. Finally, it must be commercially available, yet not be in widespread use. Predictions for the futureThis year the independent panel of judges deliberated over technology nominations ranging from presses and finishing equipment to solutions to automate workflow and even determine the carbon footprint of print projects. This year’s awards show great developments in high speed web and sheetfed color inkjet presses, digital finishing equipment, use of metallic foil, patterning for optimal flexo ink laydown, and a portable spectrophotometer that can scan color bars. Also honored were solutions that facilitate cross-media marketing campaigns, use a new standard to define and communicate brand colors, and simplify the integration of production and business processes.    “The judges spend hours evaluating each technology submission and then come together to vigorously debate the ‘breakthrough’ nature and business merits of each technology,” said Dr. Mark Bohan, vice president, Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America. “Their judgments have proven to be a realistic predictor of a technology’s future success. Our research shows more than 80% of the technologies recognized in the past have experienced marketplace acceptance.” The ten technologies selected to receive the 2015 InterTech Technology Award (alphabetical by company): Océ VarioPrint i300Canon U.S.A., Inc. ORIS CxF CGS Publishing Technologies International LLC KODAK PROSPER 6000 PressesKodak NX advantage, KODAK FLEXCEL NX SystemKodak EFI DirectSmile Cross MediaElectronics for Imaging, Inc. Automation Engine Connect Esko Prinect Media ManagerHeidelberg Highcon Euclid Digital Finishing TechnologyHighcon Systems Ltd....

Remember when sending a client a physical proof of a print job was a chargeable service? That seems to have disappeared when we went to electronic distribution and suddenly clients started expecting a free emailed PDF proof. Many challenges arose with this system due to color inconsistency, productivity loss due to multiple revisions, etc. Today’s soft proofing systems offer convenient sharing, color accuracy thanks to screen calibration, automation, enhanced project monitoring, and other benefits that improve your workflow and reduce costs. How can you implement a system like this in your business? Here we spoke with Dan Caldwell, President of Remote Director, on the latest soft proofing innovations and how they can be the solution you’ve been looking for. Want a preview? Before you read this take a guided tour of Remote Director. PIA: What are the downsides of traditional soft proofing? DC: Most people feel that a PDF proof displayed on a monitor should cost nothing. But this has been eroding our value and profits as print providers. It used to be that the physical proof was like a signed “contract” for what we would deliver to our customer as the final job. These contract proofs had value and were charged for as part of the prepress costs. However as desktop publishing and CTP removed the need for creating film-based proofs, we shot ourselves in the foot by devaluing the cost of professionals in prepress. To regain prepress value, we can’t un-ring the bell of emailing free PDFs, but we can offer a better solution to restore value to the client, improve productivity, and create an automated audit trail for comments, revisions, and signoffs that were previously hidden in various email threads.. PIA: What is the solution? DC: Using today’s soft proofing systems, we provide a server-based solution where the final full-resolution files from prepress can be stored for all stakeholders to review. These systems eliminate the need for low-resolution files to be created along with the duplication required by email. PIA: Can you tell us about some of the key benefits of these systems? DC: There are plenty of benefits. For instance some systems can be automated with your current workflow software to provide hands-off creation. Once set up, files are added automatically and reviewers receive an email with the link to open the proof on their desktop. Using the provided tools, users can mark up and sign off on the proof. Another key functionality is the color management these systems provide through screen calibration. As dictated by the prepress coordinator, you can assign each user with a role that defines what tools they have access to. For example a legal viewer would not need the color...

Remember when sending a client a physical proof of a print job was a chargeable service? That seems to have disappeared when we went to electronic distribution and suddenly clients started expecting a free emailed PDF proof. Many challenges arose with this system due to color inconsistency, productivity loss due to multiple revisions, etc. Today’s soft proofing systems offer convenient sharing, color accuracy thanks to screen calibration, automation, enhanced project monitoring, and other benefits that improve your workflow and reduce costs. How can you implement a system like this in your business? Here we spoke with Dan Caldwell, President of Remote Director, on the latest soft proofing innovations and how they can be the solution you’ve been looking for. Want a preview? Before you read this take a guided tour of Remote Director. PIA: What are the downsides of traditional soft proofing? DC: Most people feel that a PDF proof displayed on a monitor should cost nothing. But this has been eroding our value and profits as print providers. It used to be that the physical proof was like a signed “contract” for what we would deliver to our customer as the final job. These contract proofs had value and were charged for as part of the prepress costs. However as desktop publishing and CTP removed the need for creating film-based proofs, we shot ourselves in the foot by devaluing the cost of professionals in prepress. To regain prepress value, we can’t un-ring the bell of emailing free PDFs, but we can offer a better solution to restore value to the client, improve productivity, and create an automated audit trail for comments, revisions, and signoffs that were previously hidden in various email threads.. PIA: What is the solution? DC: Using today’s soft proofing systems, we provide a server-based solution where the final full-resolution files from prepress can be stored for all stakeholders to review. These systems eliminate the need for low-resolution files to be created along with the duplication required by email. PIA: Can you tell us about some of the key benefits of these systems? DC: There are plenty of benefits. For instance some systems can be automated with your current workflow software to provide hands-off creation. Once set up, files are added automatically and reviewers receive an email with the link to open the proof on their desktop. Using the provided tools, users can mark up and sign off on the proof. Another key functionality is the color management these systems provide through screen calibration. As dictated by the prepress coordinator, you can assign each user with a role that defines what tools they have access to. For example a legal viewer would not need the color...