Colorgate released Version 9 of the company’s Productionserver, Filmgate, Plategate and Proofgate solutions and are available for download today.
Highlights of Version 9:
• Adobe PDF Print Engine 3.5.
• New modules: Access Control Module (ACM) – Workflow Management, Multichannel PSD Module (MPSDM) – Colour Management.
• New functions, enhancements and improvement: System configuration: backup and restore, Profiler Module (PFM), Target generator, Container+.
All ColorGATE RIP Software solutions of Version 9 are equipped with the Adobe PDF Print Engine 3.5 for processing PDF and Postscript files. APPE 3.5 uses the same rendering technology as Adobe Acrobat XI. By utilising special Colorgate integration methods the overall rendering performance of the APPE 3.5 has been further enhanced and the entire workflow concerning stability and reliability has been optimised.
Access Control Module (ACM) allows the easy creation of editing rights for individual users or user groups, restricting the access to particular functions or whole function sets (tabs). This ensures that only privileged users are able to change settings, for instance in Colour Management.
The list of restrictable features contains all essential RIP Software functions, which can be linked individually or as a complete set of functions (tabs) with respective access rights. Furthermore, it is possible to assign different user rolls with specific access rights, e.g. administrator, operator or colour expert. These user rolls can be assigned to respective users or user groups, in order to preserve the clarity of the rights management. Additionally, the access to the entire RIP Software can be restricted via password protection.
Multichannel PSD Module (MPSDM) enables to process multichannel files (e.g. native Photoshop files PSD, PSB) via a sophisticated processing workflow. MPSDM is especially suitable for textile or ceramics printing as well as other printing applications with special colour handling requirements, which are beyond typical process colour combinations. Moreover, MSPDM enables a complete ICC colour management for files using three to eight channels. Custom ICC profiles can be applied in the correct colour mode with the designated multichannel ink-set to ensure a colour accurate output.
Using the new backup and restore function of the system configuration it is now possible to backup and restore the current installation of the RIP Software. The user is able to save their current software configuration in order to simplify the upgrade or the general system setup (installation) procedures.
It’s possible to choose between different backup options, e.g.: Cost Calculation database, printer definitions, profiles and linearisations, job files etc. Furthermore, the user can now change the standard paths for hotfolder as well as for archive files. This is especially helpful in a case of a new installation on a new PC or if a backup of an older version will be reinstalled for security reasons on the same system on which a current version is installed. The enhanced system configuration including backup and restore function is available in all products of Version 8.11 and Version 9.
During the linearisations as well as in the profiling stage, it is now possible to exclude one or more patches from the calculation, for example if there are print artifacts in the patches or the measurement device failed to read correctly. Faulty measurements can be the result of certain media which is difficult to measure like textiles. Depending on the severity of the faulty measurements they will impact the calculated result.
While displaying the measured profile chart a new option is available which offers a comparison of the actually measured colours in the linearisation process with an approximate estimation of the colours. This will allow the user to easily spot faulty measurements. The approximate estimation will be displayed in primary colours.
The option to add printer profiles to the Windows colour management will now be available in Version 9 in order to use them in different application, such as Adobe Photoshop for soft proofing purposes.
An additional improvement enables the user to apply a user-defined Delta E formula through-out the whole workflow especially while working with the Media Device Synchronisation (MDS) and Device Link Profiler Module (DLPFM), to ensure a consistent media wedge evaluation.
Further improvements in the Profiler Module (PFM):
• Display of estimated black point profile.
• Preview of grey composition curve.
• Profile size can be increased.
• Measurement correction.
The newly added Target Generator allows the creation of profiling charts with customisable layouts. Apart from some standard presets which enable a convenient quick selection the generated charts are fully customisable in size, patch count and feature on the fly preview features.
Predefined limits ensure that the settings can be handled by measurement devices. Minimum patch dimensions are required for most devices.
The Target Generator supports the following measurement devices:
• Barbieri: Spectro LFP, Spectro Swing, SpectroPad.
• Epson: SpectroProofer.
• X-Rite: i1Pro, i1Pro2, i1iO.
All other devices will still be supported via standard targets as before. Applying the container function it is possible to gang several print jobs in the container into one collective job (nesting). Afterwards they can be arranged either optimised for cutting, optimised for material savings or according to individual settings.
Particularly on the hot-folder level, the functions of Container+ have been further sophisticated. The new tab holds the options for the hot-container now. This setting was previously located on the ‘Workflow’ tab.
The Container settings of the first hot-folder are now the default setting that will be applied to all newly created containers from the job archive. These settings will be also automatically assigned to all jobs in the job queue. The goal of this is feature to increase the effectiveness of the workflow and decreases the error-proneness through falsely dedicated assignments.
