NEWS - Graphic Exchange

News
Adobe Illustrator 10 emphasizes HP Designjets combine remote
cross-media graphics production proofing with color sensing
Adobe Illustrator 10, just released, provides
integrated tools for cross-media professionals, enabling Web designers and developers to collaborate more closely. It also integrates tightly with other Adobe graphics
programs, including Photoshop, GoLive,
LiveMotion, Premiere, and After Effects.
Version 10 files maintain
transparency when used
with InDesign 2.0.
With Illustrator 10
users can generate unlimited variations using
scripts or dynamic image
servers such as Adobe AlterCast. With its new support for symbols,
users can insert instances into their artwork and update those instances automatically by redefining the original symbol. Illustrator 10 offers new support for objectbased slicing, HTML tables with CSS
layers, and enhanced SVG import/export,
and Flash (SWF) format export.
New creative features such as Live Distortion allow users to apply enveloping,
warping, and liquify tools to text, graphics,
and images—while retaining editability.
Symbolism tools enable designers to
quickly create masses of repeating elements such as foliage or crowds.
Adobe Illustrator 10 will be available in
the Q4/2001 for US$399 and can be pre-ordered at www.adobe.com/illustrator.
Epson takes equity position in
Applied Science Fiction
Epson America and Applied Science Fiction have announced that Epson has taken
an equity position in ASF, and the companies have executed a strategic alliance
agreement to cooperate in the development of digital imaging technologies.
Epson is the creator of digital imaging
products, and Applied Science Fiction is
the creator of Digital ICE technology and
the inventor of the cutting-edge digital dry
film processing (Digital PIC) system.
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Graphic Exchange
Hewlett-Packard’s Designjet 10ps, Designjet 20ps and Designjet 50ps printers combine remote proofing with color sensing
technology, so users can share files over
the Internet. The Designjet 10ps is a personal printer; the 20ps offers extra paper
handling and server-based processing for
workgroup printing; and the 50ps uses Heidelberg software for pre-press proofing.
The Designjet printers provide color
accuracy with up to 90 percent of Pantone
colors and 100 percent of all major offset
color standards (SWOP, EuroScale,
TOYO, DIC) through an Adobe Postscript
3 RIP for Mac and Windows. They output
six colors at 2400 x 1200 dpi on premium
photo paper. Even at “best” quality, an 11 x
17-inch full-bleed glossy image can be
printed in approximately four minutes. Remote proofing files are created using PDF
and JDF standards.
The Designjet 10ps and 20ps are available now; the 50ps is expected in spring
2002. Estimated list prices are US$1,663,
US$3,000 and US$5,841. For more info
visit www.designjet.hp.com.
Totally Hip releases feature-rich
Livestage Professional 3
Totally Hip Software has released version 3
of its QuickTime authoring program,
Livestage Professional.
Media skins allow the QuickTime interface to be thoroughly customized. Integration with Flash
4 provides direct
access to Flash
buttons, functions
and variables, including variable files located on remote
HTTP servers. As well, Livestage Professional 3 provides XML, Database, CGI
and WebObjects connectivity. Livestage
also enables VR panoramas, and linear
media such as streaming audio and video
transitions. Extended AppleScript support
has been added, in addition to drag-n-drop
authoring, wired sprite scripting, pre-defined and custom behaviors, and over 75
new wired actions.
Livestage 3 has been optimized for
Mac OS X, and is also available for Windows. For additional details, visit www.totallyhip.com. —Jason Lee
Jasc releases Paint Shop Pro 7
Microsoft will ship Macromedia Anniversary Edition
Flash Player 5 with Windows XP Jasc Software has released
Microsoft and Macromedia have announced
that Macromedia Flash
Player 5 will ship with
all versions of Microsoft Windows XP, the next major version of the Windows operating system scheduled for
worldwide availability on October 25.
Macromedia Flash Player is one of the
most distributed pieces of software in the
history of the Web, with broad penetration
across all leading platforms and devices.
Macromedia Flash is also widely used for
e-learning applications and was utilized by
Microsoft for the informational Tour of
Windows XP experience that ships with
the operating system.
a Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7
Anniversary Edition. This tenth anniversary product includes several applications,
enabling users to draw, paint, edit digital
photos, and optimize Web graphics.
Jasc Media Center Plus 3.1 is a photo
album organizer—it supports over 50 file
formats, including MP3s, MPEGs and
AVI video files. Jasc Animation Shop 3.04
provides transitions and effects for animating Web and presentation graphics. The
edition also includes special effects filters
from Alien Skin Eye Candy, Virtual Painter and Flaming Pear Essentials.
Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7 Anniversary Edition is available at a suggested list of
$US109. To get more information, visit
www.jasc.com/products/psp.
QuarkXPress 5.0 beta version now available for
download and public testing, no ship date set
Quark’s beta version of QuarkXPress 5.0 is available for download
and public testing.
Version 5.0 adds a Tables feature that enables users to create
graphically rich tables for structuring design elements or organizing complex data. With the new Layers feature, users can isolate
items on separate “tiers” within QuarkXPress files, and publishers
can quickly and easily manage document variants. In addition,
version 5.0 provides a more efficient print user interface, enhanced PDF support and color management, plus contextual
menus.
QuarkXPress 5.0 has a wide range of new and enhanced features to support print, Web, and PDF workflows. Users can import and export dozens of file formats, including HTML, PDF,
and XML.
QuarkXPress 5.0 can be downloaded from www.quark.com/products/xpress/beta. Quark has not yet announced the pricing or
shipping date for the new version.
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Adobe has announced the new version of its professional layout
and design program, Adobe InDesign 2.0. New features include a
streamlined printing interface and native Mac OS X support.
New creativity features include a transparency function; users
can also apply editable drop shadows, feathering, and opacity settings to objects, and import transparent Photoshop, Illustrator and
PDF files. New table creation features turn tab-delimited text
into tables or import styled Microsoft Word and
Excel tables directly.
With long document support, designers can
group files into book lists with tables of contents
and indexes. InDesign 2.0 integrates more tightly
with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat through
its Adobe standard user interface, native file import and direct export of PDF files. Common
core technologies such as the Adobe Color Engine enable more
reliable color production. Performance enhancements make InDesign 2.0 significantly faster.
The new upgrade enables more effective delivery to multiple
channels, including print, Web and PDAs. With the new Structure View and Tag palette, InDesign introduces extensible support for SVG export as well as XML import and export. Through
tagged PDF support, InDesign exports graphically rich eBooks.
InDesign also supports Adobe’s XMP for embedding metadata in
documents.
InDesign 2.0 will be available in the Q1/2002 at US$699. For
more information, visit www.adobe.com/products/indesign.
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News
ViewSonic introduces two large
LCD monitors for business
ViewSonic has expanded its line of LCD
monitors with the ViewSonic VP230mb
and VP201mb.
The VP230mb multimedia display delivers a 23.1-inch viewable screen and
black bezel. This MegaPanel features a 4:3
aspect ratio, 1600 x 1200 resolution, and
XtremeView 160-degree viewing angles. In
desktop publishing applications, the
VP230mb can fit two full pages of information side-by-side on the screen at once.
The VP230mb also includes SuperClear
MVA technology, providing a high 400:1
contrast ratio and brilliant colors for phot
like image quality. Its ultra-fast 3x LCD
display enables quick video response, making it ideal for video editing.
The VP201mb offers a 20.1-inch viewable screen and 1600 x 1200 maximum resolution. And with its PerfectPortrait software, the VP201mb monitor pivots easily
between landscape and portrait mode.
Both the VP230mb and the VP201mb
LCD monitors come with two 3-watt,
bezel-integrated speakers, and offer analog
and DVI-D digital input and a ViewPlex
panel protector.
The estimated street prices for the
VP230mb and VP201mb LCD monitors
are $7,849 and $4,599 respectively. You
can get more info at www.viewsonic.com/products/lcd.cfm.
SCREAMSAVER
Lantana’s Crackerjack 4.0 adds
new PDF printing functions
Lantana Crackerjack 4.0’s new features for
PDF print production include separations
preview, spot color mapping, a
font embedding Fixer, expanded RGB conversion options,
plus support for Acrobat 5.05,
Mac OS X and Windows XP.
Crackerjack employs a visually-intuitive user interface to tune all aspects of
print production.
Separations preview includes controls
to turn off selected inks and to see the effect of overprints, knockouts, and transparency. It also shows how Crackerjack settings affect output. Spot color mapping
permits users to map selections into other
spot colors, eliminating extra separations.
The font embedding Fixer can automatically check for non-embedded fonts and
include them in the output. UCR/GCR
has been extended to all separation modes,
enabling specification of images to be converted using UCR/GCR or ICC profiles.
Crackerjack 4.0 requires Adobe Acrobat
4.05 or above. It will be available for the
Macintosh (MacOS 9.x/OS X) and Windows (98/2000/NT/XP) before the end of
the year. SRP for Crackerjack 4.0 is
US$495. Consult www.lantanarips.com for
further details and demo versions.
Extensis announces free
upgrade to Suitcase for OS X
888.846.1668
50
Graphic Exchange
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creativegroup.com
© The Creative Group.
N E E D A G R E AT I D E A I N A H U R R Y ?
1 . TA K E A D E E P B R E AT H .
2 . E X H A L E S L O W LY.
3 . C A L L T H E C R E AT I V E G R O U P .
Extensis is making its Suitcase font
management solution available
for Mac OS X on November 19,
2001. Suitcase makes font
management faster and easier by providing automatic
activation of fonts, activation on demand, collect
for output, tracking of corrupt fonts, handling of font conflicts, and other features.
Suitcase for Mac OS X will be available to all registered owners of Suitcase 10
at no additional charge. Visit www.extensis.com/suitcaseten for additional info.
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Enfocus locks down
PDF workflow with
Certified PDF
Graphic Exchange
It seems the acronym PDF has been with
us forever. Quark used it first for its Printer
Description Files—Quark’s version of a
PPD or PostScript Printer Definition.
When Adobe introduced its Portable Document Format, it was stolen in a certain
case of what might be labelled acrimonious crony acronym theft.
Adobe’s PDF, the little file that stayed
small, has gained increasing numbers of
proponents among the digital prepress
crowd. Other manufacturers covet early
adopter Agfa’s Apogee workflow—now that
it’s been around long enough to mature—
but Canada’s CreoScitex has responded
with Prinergy, and everyone else has or is
developing their own PDF solution.
Trade acceptance, largely driven by
market demand, has created a niche for
PDF preflighting, correction, editing and
repurposing tools. Along the way, the ‘X’
standard—PDF/X as defined by ANSI—
became the standard for the blind exchange of PDF files. Blind exchange
means the sender and receiver cannot
communicate with each other.
ANSI has defined two less vigorous
standards as well. Neither has entered
common use (see Exacting Standards sidebar).
Along comes Enfocus, a Belgian company with a U.S. branch. In a short time it
has cornered the market in PDF editing
by exploiting Acrobat’s PDF plug-in technology. Founded by Peter Camps in 1992,
Enfocus’ first product was a PostScript editor, Tailor for NextStep; the majority of the
code was developed in Camps’ bedroom.
Recognizing that PDF was going to be
an important piece of future workflows,
and that PostScript was on the downside of
the curve, Enfocus started to work on PDF
tools for the Macintosh platform. The result was PitStop Professional (a PDF editor) and PitStop Server (a hot folder-driven
version of PitStop that automates a host of
editing functions).
So thorough is its market penetration
that a host of manufacturers have integrated Enfocus technology into their workflows, including Agfa, FujiFilm, Electronics For Imaging (EFI), CreoScitex, and
Heidelberg. PitStop Professional is essential to countless prepress cowboys who
have cobbled together their own workflow.
Enfocus has another offering: InstantPDF, a sort of wrapper for Adobe Distiller
generating AppleTalk queues (you see
them in the Chooser), combined with PitStop technology for repairing Distillergenerated PDFs. For example, Distiller
doesn’t embed all fonts, so they are forceembedded afterwards. It is very similar to
CreoScitex Synapse.
Now, Enfocus is introducing its own
standard, Certified PDF, and they hope it
will supplant all others in use. Enfocus has
set its own criteria for qualifying a PDF as
prepress-ready and borrows a native Acrobat attribute combined with its own technology to force it into that state.
When you try to certify a PDF file for
the first time, the software compares the
file’s structure to an enhanced preflight
profile. Enfocus technology fixes the PDF
so that it is considered (by Enfocus’ standards) perfectly imageable. From that
point on, changes to the PDF are tracked
using Acrobat’s native tracking. If someone
makes a change that cannot be fixed, or violates predetermined rules, the PDF loses
its ‘certification’.
Additionally, when you perform a
“Save as” (for instance, changing the file
name to a docket number), all that history
is lost; the PDF no longer knows it is certified, and the process must be repeated.
This certified technology was originally
scheduled to be released as a separate
product called Certify PDF, but Enfocus
has decided to integrate the technology
into its current product line
and will soon release integrated versions of PitStop
There are three existing standards for
PDF files:
(US$549), PitStop Server
PDF/X-1a:2001 is used for ‘blind’ ex(US$1699) and InstantPDF
changes where the two parties have
(US$249).
no other communication.
While the obvious benefit
PDF/X-1:2001 is similar to PDF/Xis to content creators who
1a:2001 but the standard is loosened
can hand off a PDF to proslightly, making it appropriate for use
duction without reservation,
in a collaborative environment. It also
it’s also true thatany accepted
allows for OPI operators in the PDF
standard is better than no
file and limited types of encryption.
standard at all.
PDF/X-1:1999 is the original ANSI
Enfocus views PDF/X
specification and has been supplanted
standards
as particular subby PDF/X-1:2001 and PDF/X-1a:2001.
sets
of
PDF
attributes. Why
Certified PDF is Enfocus’ definition of
isn’t
theirs
as
appropriate as
a prepress-ready PDF.
any other? After all, Fuji will
be using Certified PDFs in its workflow.
The gloves are off—TIFF/IT, look out!
You can get time-limited but fully functional versions of Enfocus’ software at www.enfocus.com and Apago’s PDF/X-1 Checkup
at www.apago.com.
EXACTING STANDARDS
Lerrick Starr is a digital prepress and marketing consultant. He can be
reached at lstarr@tube.com.
ALTERNATIVE PDF CHECKING SOFTWARE
PDF/X1 Checkup by Apago is an Acrobat
plug-in that checks a PDF file for conformance to all three existing PDF/X standards
(see Exacting Standards).The Checkup plug-in works within Adobe Acrobat. Open the file you want to check and select the Checkup plug-in
from the Tools menu.
Apago PDF/X-1 Checkup is set to use PDF/X-1a:2001 as the default
conformance level. PDF/X-1a:2001 is designed to be used for blind exchanges where no information is passed regarding the type of file, color settings, fonts available, or other prepress considerations.
Checkup examines all elements in the PDF file for compliance and
fixes most common problems.
PDF/X-1 Checkup offers a choice of nine different characterizations
which are publicly available via the accredited standards process or industry trade associations. One is from the Committee for Graphic Arts
Technologies Standards and is commonly used in North America for
SWOP publications.The others are from The Federal Association of
German Printers (BVD) and the German Research Association for
Printing and Reproduction Technology (FOGRA).The BVD/FOGRA
characterizations address a wide range of printing applications.
Visit apphost.infosrc.com/icc/drsection1.html for the most up-todate information on these characterizations.
News
Special Report
Print 01 zeroes in
on digital printing
and proofing
by Dan Brill
Print 01, held in Chicago September 6-13,
was for all intents and purposes transformed from an eight-day show into five
days by the events of September 11; but in
truth, that was probably as much time as it
needed, judging by attendance during the
first five days. As I did my ritual walkaround through the gigantic exhibit halls of
McCormick Place on the first two days I
was somewhat amazed at just how empty
the farthest reaches of the floors were.
I had the distinct impression that, as
has been the case with every show I have
attended over the past few years, the days
of the mega-show are rapidly disappearing.
So, although I was lucky enough to have
arranged to fly home on September 10th, I
have the feeling that those last three days
would probably have been largely unproductive for most exhibitors.
There was a lot to see, so I’ll limit this
report to just a few highlights that I
thought designers might be interested in.
It was obvious that Xerox had come
prepared to steal as much thunder as it
could from Heidelberg’s launch of its NexPress digital press. Day One at Print 01 was
a non-stop barrage of Xerox events, highlighted by the announcement of the iGen
3 digital press (formerly codenamed FutureColor). According to Xerox, the iGen
3—when it appears in about a year—will
be a 100-page per minute device capable
of printing accurate color and variable
data. Although no information was released regarding pricing, a high level
source at Xerox told me that this machine
will be no more than US$500,000—still
not pocket change, by any stretch.
In the Heidelberg space, where most of
the crowds seemed to be centred, the NexPress 2100 was on display running 70 pages
per minute. A Heidelberg spokesman told
me that fifteen units had been sold in the
first two days; their goal for the show was
forty, but I don’t know whether they actually hit that target, given the news that
transpired. Nonetheless, the NexPress
stood out as one of the key introductions.
Why should designers care about presses? That should be easy to figure out: the
next big wave in direct marketing will be
focused on narrowcast print advertising,
and the cross-pollination of database information with specifically targeted messages
that carry variable text and graphics.
Imation was conducting private show-
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ILLUSTRATION: LEIF PENG
ings of an interesting CMYK soft proofing
technology. Not due for release until early
next year, the Matchprint Virtual Proofing
system consists of customized CRT monitors, Imation’s proprietary color management technology, and RealTimeImage’s
web-based collaborative proofing software.
Certainly the comparisons I saw of hard
copy and screen images were impressive.
Kodak Polychrome introduced a niche
market proofer which should sit well with
packaging designers. The First Check
desktop proofer can handle up to nine ink
cartridges, including gold and silver
metallics, white, orange and green, in addition to standard CMYK. Front-ended by
a Bestcolor RIP and capable of printing on
a variety of substrates, this unit prices out
at around US$5,000 and will be available
in November for Windows systems (a Mac
version will be ready by Q1/2002).
Hewlett Packard had its new low cost
six-color designjet series of printers on display (curiously, they are manufactured in
Spain), available in three flavours (10ps,
20ps and 50ps), all of which deliver output
sizes from 3”x5” up to 13”x19” at 2400x1200
dpi. The 50ps, priced near US$6,000 and
featuring Heidelberg color management,
is the one aimed at the high end crowd,
but it won’t be on the market until early
next year.
Speaking of HP. it wasn’t a huge shock
to learn at the show that Hewlett-Packard
had bought the balance of Indigo, clearly
taking aim at the same digital printing
market that both Heidelberg and Xerox
are coveting. The introduction this past
summer of the 6600, HP’s own version of
Indigo’s digital press, was a tipoff that
something was in the works. Not to mention the fact that it was a badly kept secret
that Indigo was struggling to maintain
sales in a tight and highly competitive
market. Perhaps with HP’s clout behind it,
Indigo’s excellent printing technology will
finally complete the total desktop-to-print
workflow that HP has been lacking.
And yes, I got yet another preview of
Delano, Agfa’s collaborative workflow software which I have raved about in earlier
writeups. If Agfa could only resolve whatever internal problems they have and ship
this product, I’m sure its rich interface and
intuitive icon-based design would be an
instant hit with those in the fields of creative content. Alas, all I saw was a canned
HTML demo. But they promised it should
be out by Q1/2002.
However Agfa also announced its
Grand Sherpa digital proofer which is expected by year end. This jumbo cousin of
the existing Sherpa models will produce
up to eight color proofs in sizes up to
33”x46”.
Most of these new products should be
available for Canadians to view at Graphics Canada, set to take place at the International Centre in Toronto in November.
procreate KPT effects introduces
nine Photoshop plug-ins
KPT effects is the second application to
join the procreate line of creative enhancement tools. It is a collection of nine Adobe
Photoshop compatible plug-ins: KPT Pyramid Paint provides a painted look; KPT
Lightning creates realistic lightning effects; KPT Fluid makes an image look as if
it were floating on a liquid; KPT Hyper
Tiling generates complex tiling effects;
KPT Scatter is a 2D particle system for
scattering imported images; KPT Channel
Surfing applies effects to the RGB, Hue,
Luminance or Saturation Channels; KPT
Ink Dropper adds drops of liquid to surfaces; KPT FraxFlame II creates stunning
fractals; and KPT Gradient Lab provides
multiple layers and sampling options for
enhanced gradient control.
KPT effects has a suggested retail price
of US$199. It is available for Mac OS 8.6
or higher (including Mac OS X) Windows
98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0 and
Windows Me. For more information, visit
www.procreate.com.
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Graphic Exchange
55