Canon launches its KPG-enabled proofing solution

Canon Australia has made an entry into the short-run colour and proofing markets by partnering with Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG). For KPG this replaces the combination with Fuji Xerox, which was discontinued this year.

The new alliance uses the Canon CLC1100 series printers with the KPG Matchprint Professional Server - a RIP server unit that processes and manages print jobs to deliver high-quality, accurate colour results.

"Through this partnership with KPG, Canon has responded to customer demand for colour accurate results with each and every print," said Steve Brown, National Segment Manager, Production and Graphic Arts division. "Whether these customers are in design agencies or prepress shops, the need to repeatedly produce precise colour is universal to them all - and is the mark of an excellent business, rather than a merely competent one."

With its patented "Colour Locking" technology, the Matchprint Professional Server handles device calibration, compensating for a printer's own variations (which can even include its local environmental conditions) to ensure colour consistency from proof to proof and also from proof to the final print job - whether printed digital or sent to offset.

Designed for professionals

Design agencies are a key market for the Canon/KPG product combination.

"This solution gives designers much greater colour control than if they were simply working from their design package direct to the printer," said Brown. "With the designer being able to convey the colours in their design in such a true manner, the client knows exactly what they are signing off on."

At the heart of the Matchprint Professional Server is a software RIP, incorporating KPG's Colour Fidelity Module (CFM). It is this module that processes and colour manages jobs within production workflows. It provides consistent and accurate colour transformation of digital files resulting in completely accurate prints.

Prepress shops area a target market

Another market for the Canon/KPG solution is in prepress shops, where the need to perform "rework" - repeating a print job over and over until its colours match the customer's expectations - is a major financial concern, especially to smaller operations.

"One of the things I hear every time I speak to a prepress shop without a colour solution is how much money they lose in rework," said Brown. "By adding a KPG Matchprint Professional Server to an existing CLC1160 or 1180, or by purchasing a complete solution from the beginning, they can start saving money from the first proof or short-run colour job they put through the printer. It also makes a nice adjunct to any Canon wide format printers a prepress shop might employ."

With the short-run digital printing market showing signs of real growth, prepress shops can no longer afford to be printing material on behalf of customers without a branded colour accurate proofing solution.

Pride in partnership

Critical colours, such as those in company logos, branded packaging or fabrics, are reproduced to their specified standards because of the accurate spot colour simulations provided by the PANTONE licensed colour engine embedded in the Matchprint Professional Server.

"We are pleased with our partnership with Canon and feel this will be of great benefit to both our companies and the graphic-arts industry as a whole," said Ross Gilberthorpe, Business Development Manager, KPG. "Combining the Canon printers with our award winning Matchprint Professional Server and our graphic-arts expertise, customers will benefit from offering consistent, accurate results with complete confidence from the first print."

"Canon is extremely proud of every printing device it sells, with high performance a characteristic of each machine right out of the box," said Brown. "Naturally, when it comes to critical printing work, where customer satisfaction is paramount, we do understand the need for RIP devices and are extremely proud to deliver this Matchprint solution in conjunction with KPG."