pressSIGN

Update substrate and tonal curves

Auto Substrate adjustment

Printers who are asked to print to international printing standards like ISO 12647-2 or name=GRACol will often be asked to produce work on paper stocks that deviate from the standard. pressSIGN 6 gives print buyers and printers the option of allowing pressSIGN to automatically amend the print target based on the substrate's white point.

Changing the white point target in response to paper color gives a better visual representation of the original.

Set and update tonal curves

pressSIGN offers three methods of creating tonal curve adjustments, Tonal Value Increase (TVI), 4CX or Neutral Print Density. By measuring the colour bar containing a name=minimum of three tonal patches per colour (e.g. 25%, 50% and 75%) pressSIGN creates tonal adjustment curves and exports these curves to a whole variety of RIP formats for platesetters and digital devices.

Alternatively output the tonal curves to Autocurves and apply the adjustments to a PDF workflow. AutoCurves is an additional application that is useful in a digital environment or where a platesetter RIP is unable to update an existing curve.

TVI, usually deferred to as dot gain, is the traditional way that printers have matched international standards such as ISO 12647-2. It is a simple method of achieving colour matching to the standard.

4CX (4 Colour Exchange) technology targets grey balance for the tonal adjustments. 4CX takes into account black and white points of the target and print to produce the best visual match. For more details on 4CX technology visit the dedicated web page. pressSIGN 6 additional adds NPDC adjustments as a further means of attaining grey balance. NPDC reports maximum and average Delta L and F for CMY and maximum and average Delta L for black

When all conditions including ink and paper are ideal on a sheet fed offset press then 4CX, NPDC and TVI adjustments will produce the same results. However, we recommend 4CX on non-offset devices and where ink and paper do not precisely match the ISO standards.

pressSIGN Clients

pressSIGN Clients

pressSIGN 6 is a SQL Server based product that allows multiple clients to input and monitor the data from the printing devices connected to it. As part of the basic configuration pressSIGN-Pro v 5 is shipped with three clients additional clients can be added as required.

the Pro client that is used by the operator to measure and control the print device
the Trends client for use in the production/pre-press office - to assign jobs to the operator, to update tonal curves, to analyse performance and communicate to customers and colleagues. Has the same functionality as the Pro client without the ability to read in new data.
the Mobile client for the production manager to monitor performance and communicate with the operator from anywhere connected to the internet

While the Pro client sits by the printing device in order to read and monitor individual printed sheets and show the operator how to make the necessary adjustments to the press, the Trends and Mobile clients allow pre-press and production managers to monitor the press performance without the need to be on the shop floor.

The pre-press manager can see all jobs that are currently printing from the office, new jobs can be created, targets created and jobs assigned to the right press and the right operator. When the operator signs into pressSIGN he only sees his own jobs. From the pre-press office, the manager can update tonal curves without the need to visit the factory floor or disturb the operator. All production reports and analysis can take place using the pressSIGN-Trends client.

Keep in touch with the performance of the operators and presses from anywhere connected to the internet with the pressSIGN-Mobile client. Send and receive chat messages directly with the operator.