Success stories:
Macy’s East and West prepress centers
install GMG ColorProof systems

GMG software drives Epson 10600 digital printers to replicate color and dot patterns on press

Randolph, MA USA (July XX, 2004) – GMG USA, the US office of GMG, developers and marketers of high-end color management and proofing solutions, announces that Macy’s East and Macy’s West have both installed GMG ColorProof software driving Epson 10600 digital printers to replicate the color and dot patterns found on press. Digital workflow integrator Rods and Cones, part of the Color Management Distribution group of resellers, was responsible for the implementation of the system at Macy’s West, while Zenplex installed a similar system at Macy’s East. Although both purchase decisions were made independent of each other, they were initiated by the same motivating factors.

Macy's East and West operate two of the largest corporate prepress departments in the U.S. Macy’s West, handling most of Federated’s prepress work west of the Mississippi (including Hawaii and Guam), makes aggressive use of new technologies to produce 7,000 printed pages per year. Macy’s East’s employees support all of Macy’s catalogs and mailers – including versioning for most geographic areas east of the Mississippi. They also do work for other Federated companies, such as Burdines. Ultimately, both groups send either rasterized TIFF-IT or PDF/X-1a digital files to their printers.

Both departments’ searches for a new inkjet-based proofing system were driven by similar motivators: the desire to reduce consumables costs, the ability to proof on a wider variety of media such as newsprint, and the need to reduce proofing time. Because Macy's produces many images of clothing, they required a proofing system that can faithfully fingerprint the halftone dot pattern found on press. By using GMG DotProof, Macy’s is able to detect moiré patterns – caused by the interference of fabric textures with line screens – at the proofing stage, before they turn up on press.

While saving money and time were driving forces, Macy’s was also clear that there could be no sacrifice in quality. To that end, Rods and Cones built custom calibrations and profiles for every paper used with the Epson printer, as well as reference profiles for several printing presses Macy's prints to most frequently. Using GMG’s powerful profiling tools for color correction and paper simulation, they created proofs that accurately match the press with a color match superior to that of the previous traditional proofing methods. Similarly, Zenplex achieved press-matched proofs for Macy’s East’s catalogs and mailers while using GMG’s spot color editor to precisely match Pantone spot colors and printed results.

“At first I was a bit skeptical about GMG ColorProof’s ability to match our other digital proofer’s quality, but the cost savings were so compelling I decided to give it a try. “This was an incredible breakthrough for us. Rods and Cones did a great job. Our two Epson 10600 printers, which we purchased for flexibility, backup and redundancy, simulate our presses even more effectively than our high-end digital dot proofing system. We've reduced our consumables costs by over 80%, and we’ve been able to use our Epson printers for in-house poster printing as well,” comments Frank Windgassen, Manager of Prepress & Color Reproductions, Macy’s West.

Lee Paciello, Macy’s Color Analyst, reviews proofs for Macy's East direct mail catalogs for color accuracy and retouching, as well as creating profiles for the Epson 10600, to match to Macy's various printers. Paciello was closely involved in the decision process to select GMG ColorProof. He was pleased with the ability of GMG ColorProof to match the final printed piece and the ease of creating and adjusting profiles when necessary. "Production speed and cost effectiveness without sacrificing quality is what makes this proofing system so remarkable", explains Paciello.

Diane Gogates remains meticulous about matching proofs to presses and automating workflow. "After extensive research of all inkjet proofing systems, GMG ColorProof is the only device that let us match the exact screen angles and algorithms reproduced on most industry platesetters. The software accepts screened tiff files generated from any digital front end RIP station, and applies precise color to that 1 bit tiff screen. This was a key factor in our decision, because our main goal is to match the press," remarks Diane Gogates, Digital Technical Operations Manager for Macy's East prepress division.

About GMG: The software company, founded in 1984 and located in Tuebingen, near Stuttgart, Germany, has a distribution network throughout Europe and local presences in the US and Asia. GMG has specialized in high-end color management for the entire graphic arts industry. Today, more than 4,000 systems have been sold across the industry spectrum from ad agencies, prepress houses and offset printers to international gravure printing plants. The GMG ColorProof system has become the de-facto standard of Europe's large gravure printing industry. For further Information, please visit: http://www.gmgcolor.com.
 
About GMG ColorProof: GMG ColorProof, a color management software system, provides the most accurate way of calibrating digital inkjet proofing engines to produce digital contract color proofs, precisely matched to the printing press. The GMG ColorProof system consists of the GMG Color Engine, profile editor/creator and RIP, and output modules for various printing devices. The core element is the 4-D color-transformation engine that assures the highest possible contract proof quality on a variety of output devices. To calibrate the system all standard color targets can be automatically measured, using a spectrophotometer. Device-independent color profiles can be archived, making the system, together with some very sophisticated linearisation tools, highly suitable for remote-proofing applications, too.
GMG ColorProof supports all standard spot color systems with up to 64 individual color channels, and is compatible with standard ICC profiles, which can be combined with GMG profiles. The GMG ColorProof system features a variety of workflow capabilities, and handles a wide range of file formats, including TIFF-IT, DCS, Postscript, and PDF (up to level 1.4). The optional GMG FileOut module allows the conversion of one CMYK color space to another, while keeping the integrity of the black channel. Offset data, for instance, can be automatically converted to gravure data.
 
About the GMG family of products: Apart from GMG ColorProof, GMG offers other specific proofing and color management solutions, such as the DotProof® option, to generate contract quality halftone proofs, using the original bitmap data. Specifically tailored to the needs of the packaging industry is GMG FlexoProof, which supports specific flexo file formats and includes a complete Pantone® spot color library, along with other functions. GMG CamFlow is the all-encompassing workflow solution for optimization and separation of RGB data, imported, for example, from digital cameras. GMG InkOptimizer automatically reduces chromatic colors, thus achieving drastic ink and therefore cost savings, along with better print stability on press.
 
© 2004 GMG GmbH & Co. KG. The GMG product names mentioned in this document are trademarks or service marks of GMG GmbH & Co. KG and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Other company and brand, product and service names are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Data is subject to change without notice.
 
Contacts: GMG GmbH & Co. KG Bernd Staudt
 
Marketing Communication
Phone: + 49 (0) 7071 938 74-48
Fax: + 49 (0) 7071 938 74-22 |
Email: bernd.staudt@gmgcolor.com
 
Press contact: Ruth Clark
Splash!PR
Phone: + 44 (0) 1580 2411 77
Email: ruth@splashpr.co.uk
 
USA:Irvin Press
Press +
Phone: +1 508-384-3660
Email: irv@press-plus.com