November Meeting Recap

THE QUEST FOR THE GRAIL:The lastest in monitor proofing  

The APALA met last month in quest of the holy grail of print production: accurate monitor proofing. Both skeptics and true believers in the total digital workflow partook of The Beverly Wilshire’s usual delicious buffet. Then both vendors and production folk crowded into the Le Grand Trianon room to hear true tales from the front lines of virtual proofing.

 Linda Manes Goodwin, as VP of the DDAP (Digital Distribution of Advertising for Publications Association), was the expert moderator of a panel comprised of soft proofing veterans. Representing the formerly skeptical vendor viewpoint was Rene Negron, Executive VP of Grafico. Conrad Janur, Graphico’s Director of Technology, presented the technical considerations of contract CMYK proofing on an RGB monitor.

And Laurie Schiada, VP Creative of Accentuate, Inc., testified as an enthusiastic convert to the total digital workflow.

 “How did I go from resistance to ‘I want my MVP’?” Schiada asked. She then outlined the concerns she originally had about taking on monitor virtual proofing. She was already on tech overload. She’d had a disappointing history with tech promises. She was sick of the limitations of pdf files. She needed to proof both PMS and CMYK. Cross-platform proofing was a must. And she had absolutely no time to learn anything new. When Negron suggested she test their new Kodak Matchprint Virtual Proofing System, Schiada says, “I went in with my arms crossed, thinking, ‘It’s gonna be kinda sorta close.’ But the color is amazing! I’d give it a 98 to 100 any day of the week.”

 Schiada then walked us through her digital proofing workflow on a recent job for Piazza’s. It was much like seeing hard proofs—all the members of the proof approval team had their own color of “digital Sharpie” and were able to make sequential notes on the digital proofs. But Schiada gleefully revealed that Matchprint Virtual Proofing took only ten days instead of the usual sixteen: six extra days for her to devote to the creative!  

Conrad Janur pointed out that not only is Matchprint Virtual Proofing fast, it’s SWOP certified, secure, and maintenance-free. Accurate color is assured through the use of viewing kiosks that are color-calibrated online every twenty-four hours with the touch of a button.

 “I’m an evangelist now,” says Rene Negron. “Seeing is believing.” He offers tours of the Kodak Matchprint Virtual Proofing System at Grafico in Santa Fe Springs. Call Rene Negron at (562) 921-6731to see MVP in action.  

Vendors who’d like more information about Kodak’s MVP System may go to www.kpgraphics.com/printmedia or contact Sally Toth, Print Media Manager, West, at toths@kpgraphics.com . 

As Linda Mades Goodwin said in closing our November meeting, “Everybody can share in this technology.”