Kodak Proofing Software

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Kodak Proofing Software is an application from Eastman Kodak for managing and controlling the process of Prepress proofing. It supports the Veris printer, Kodak Approval and various inkjet printers from Epson and Hewlett Packard.

Kodak American company

The Eastman Kodak Company is an American technology company that produces camera-related products with its historic basis on photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated in New Jersey. Kodak provides packaging, functional printing, graphic communications and professional services for businesses around the world. Its main business segments are Print Systems, Enterprise Inkjet Systems, Micro 3D Printing and Packaging, Software and Solutions, and Consumer and Film. It is best known for photographic film products.

A contract proof usually serves as an agreement between customer and printer and as a color reference guide for adjusting the press before the final press run. Most contract proofs are a prepress proof.

The Veris printer is a medium format 1500 DPI color inkjet printer manufactured by the Graphic Communications Group of Eastman Kodak, which is used for digital Prepress proofing. A refinement of the Iris printer, the Veris also uses a continuous flow ink system to produce continuous-tone output on specially designed media. Unlike most inkjet printers which fire drops only when needed, the Veris uses eight 1 micrometer glass jets that operate continuously under high pressure, vibrated by a piezoelectric crystal to produce drops at a 1 MHz rate, or 8 million drops per second in total. Drops that are not needed to form the image are deflected electrostatically into a waste collection system, and individual drops can be directed to a specific position on the media. The Veris prints with the same quality of the Iris, only faster because of the larger number of jets.

Contents

The four dots: blue/yellow, red/green used in the splash screen and application icon are a symbolic representation of the Lab color space central to color management technology.

In digital imaging systems, color management is the controlled conversion between the color representations of various devices, such as image scanners, digital cameras, monitors, TV screens, film printers, computer printers, offset presses, and corresponding media.

History

Kodak Proofing Software is derived from the original Creo software used to control the Veris printer. In 2005 Kodak purchased Creo and the software first became internally known as Kodak Proofing Software, whereas Kodak Veris, Kodak APPROVAL and Kodak MATCHPRINT Inkjet are the proofing solutions marketed to customers.

Creo, now part of Eastman Kodak Company, was a Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada-based company involved in imaging and software technology for computer to plate and digital printing. The name derives from the Latin creo, "I create."

Veris 1.6 was released in 2004 by Creo. Much of the actual functionality of the Veris printer is actually embedded in the Veris software. Compared to conventional drop-on-demand inkjet printers the Veris hardware is quite 'dumb' relying on the controller software for most of its high level functions.

The Creo Integris proofing solution for drop-on-demand printers was a re-marketed version of software from Best. Best was later bought by EFI. [1]

Kodak Proofing Software 3.0 was released in fall 2005 which added support for the Epson Stylus Pro drop-on-demand inkjet printers. This was used to replace the previous Integris software. During the acquisition of Creo, Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) had their own proofing solution for inkjet printers known as MATCHPRINT ProofPro, but Kodak decided to replace it with the Veris derived software instead.

The trademark MATCHPRINT came from the Imation analog and thermal proofing media. KPG bought Imation, KPG and Creo. The MATCHPRINT name was kept for brand recognition value.

Version 3.1A was released summer 2007 which added support for the Kodak APPROVAL proofing system.

The Approval proofer, also known as the Approval Digital Imaging System or Kodak Approval System, was designed for use in Prepress proofing, especially for the highest quality contract proofs.

Version 4.0 was released Summer 2009 which added n-color processing and a new calibration technology known as Precision Color. The previous 4-color technology, known as ColorZone, is not able to handle the new 6 and 7 color printers that have become popular because of their wider color gamut. Also Precision Color introduced a progressive or iterative calibration method that is more accurate than the single shot calibration used in ColorZone.

Architecture

Kodak Proofing Software is a client/server solution. The server, written in C++ and C#, runs on Windows XP and performs all the fundamental processing of color images and control of the printers. The client, written in Java, runs on Macintosh and Windows computers and presents the user interface to the system. There is a many-to-many relationship between clients and servers.

There are two connectivity modes for Kodak Proofing Software: with Direct Connectivity users can submit jobs directly from Prinergy or Brisque workflow systems into Kodak Proofing Software; with Open Connectivity users can just drop press-ready PDF files into hot folders. With Direct Connectivity the raster image processing is performed by Prinergy, whereas with Open Connectivity it is performed internally by Kodak Proofing Software (using a subset of Prinergy technology).

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Multi-function printer

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Seiko Epson Corporation, or simply Epson, is a Japanese electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers, and information and imaging related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano, Japan, the company has numerous subsidiaries worldwide and manufactures inkjet, dot matrix and laser printers, scanners, desktop computers, business, multimedia and home theatre projectors, large home theatre televisions, robots and industrial automation equipment, point of sale docket printers and cash registers, laptops, integrated circuits, LCD components and other associated electronic components. It is one of three core companies of the Seiko Group, a name traditionally known for manufacturing Seiko timepieces since its founding.

An Iris printer is a large-format color inkjet printer introduced in 1985 by Iris Graphics, originally of Stoneham, Massachusetts and currently manufactured by the Graphic Communications Group of Eastman Kodak, designed for prepress proofing. It is also used in the fine art reproduction market as a final output digital printing press, as in Giclée.

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Kodak EasyShare

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Prinergy is a prepress workflow system created by Creo in 1999 and maintained and sold through Kodak. It is a client/server system that integrates Whitepaper creation, job proofing, imposition, and a raster image processor (RIP) into one unified workflow.

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Scailex Corporation

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Monitor proofing or soft-proofing is a step in the prepress printing process. It uses specialized computer software and hardware to check the accuracy of text and images used for printed products. Monitor proofing differs from conventional forms of “hard-copy” or ink-on-paper color proofing in its use of a calibrated display(s) as the output device.

The G7 Method is a printing procedure used for visually accurate color reproduction by putting emphasis on matching grayscale colorimetric measurements between processes. G7 stands for grayscale plus seven colors: the subtractive colors typically used in printing and the additive colors. The method is used in many applications of printing such as offset lithography, flexography, and gravure since it uses a one-dimensional neutral print density curve (NPDC) to match neutral tonality between two G7 calibrated printing systems. The G7 method is not a completely accurate color management system nor is it officially standardized by the International Color Consortium (ICC).

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