The Only constant may be change, but things have gotten pretty quiet on most fronts of the digital revolution in printing. Even computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), arguably, is more about a workflow evolution than revolution. One area that remains unsettled is proofing. Decades after the first digital systems were introduced, the industry is still debating what's the "right" solution. It's probably not reasonable to think one solution could meet the needs of every print shop and application. Nonetheless, the proliferation of systems is leading print execs to ask, "Why do I have so many proofers in my shop?" A related question is at the heart of the matter. What is an acceptable proof? Several industry initiatives hold promise to answer all or part of that question. Twenty color proofing solution vendors recently participated in a Color Proofing Roundup held in conjunction with the IPA Technical Seminar in Chicago. They accepted a challenge to make proofs from a PDF/x-3 file utilizing the Altona Test Suite (www.eci.org/eng/ index_e.html). The suite was devised by the Germany-based European Color Initiative (ECI), which had already conducted two rounds of tests in Europe.
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