Remote Director 2.0, from Integrated Color Solutions (ICS), has become the first soft-proofing system to be SWOP Certified. The system allows multiple users of Apple Cinema LCD displays to view and comment on a document or image online from different locations simultaneously.
SWOP certification means that the on-screen proofs produced in various locations by ICS Remote Director 2.0 look sufficiently close to the SWOP-certified press proofs used in the production of web-offset-printed materials. In other words: Remote Director is the first display-based, soft proofing system that can be used to approve jobs for print production.
Remote Director was developed by the color-management experts at Integrated Color Solutions, which provides color-management systems for graphic arts, printing, packaging, and manufacturing requirements. Remote Director uses industry-standard ICC profiles from cameras, scanners and printers to accurately display color simulations of final printing conditions. Remote Director's display calibration and profiling systems use technology sold under the ICS basICColor? brand.
In addition to allowing remote and collaborative viewing of color proofs, the Remote Director system enables users to use standard applications such as Adobe Photoshop? to make changes to a proof and display them side by side with the original. Clients can receive instant feedback on comments and edits, shortening the job cycle by eliminating the time and expense of exchanging and printing hard-copy proofs.
The Application Data Sheet that describes how ICS Director must be used to produce color-accurate soft-proofs can be downloaded by the SWOP web-site (www.swop.org/certification.html) The acronym SWOP stands for Specifications for Web Offset Printing. The SWOP Inc. organization overseeing the standards has been promoting consistency and quality of advertising material in publications for more than 25 years. (Integrated Color Solutions Inc.: www.icscolor.com).