EFI Premium Proofing Media Earns IDEAlliance SWOP and GRACoL Certifications

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. and FOSTER CITY, Calif.—Chromaticity, Inc., a leader in distribution and deployment of color management and inkjet technologies, and EFI, a world leader in color digital print servers, superwide format printers, and print management solutions, announced that standards organization IDEAlliance has awarded SWOP and GRACoL certifications to EFI Validation 250 Premium Satin ink jet proofing media for the graphic arts and design markets. Chromaticity is the authorized distributor of EFI Validation proofing media in North America.

Validation 250 Premium Satin from EFI is a 250 gram/square meter premium grade proofing media designed for use with Epson UltraChrome K3 and similar ink sets. This media features a white point and gamut capacity that meets the requirements of high-end commercial proofing as defined by GRACoL(General Requirements and Applications for Commercial Offset Lithograph) 7 (G7), the latest guidelines for quality color printing. Currently being applied to many types of printing, including commercial, publication, newsprint and flexo, G7 is the new IDEAlliance proof-to-print process based on principles of digital imaging, spectrophotometry, and computer-to-plate (CTP) technologies

“Gone are the days of the $400 roll of 24˝ media,” says Bruce Bayne, president of G7-certified color management training and solutions consultancy Alder Technology. “With EFI Validation media, my customers hit G7 specs on proofs easily and consistently—especially with the EFI Colorproof XF ink jet client/server-based proofing solution. This represents a quantum leap in cost savings and quality.”

IDEAlliance SWOP (Specifications for Web Offset Publications) certification of EFI Validation proofing media assures graphics, publishing and production professionals that their color output represents consistent and accurate color to match the appearance of certified press proofs used in publication production.

Chromaticity is the authorized distributor of EFI Validation proofing media, including the Validation 250 Premium Satin media as well as the Validation 155 offset media, in North America. EFI Validation 155 Offset Premium Proofing Media is a 155 gram offset proofing media for use with both pigmented and dye-based inksets, which offers the look and feel of an actual offset press stock. EFI Validation proofing media provides users with simplified installation, improved productivity, increased profitability, and ease of use—all with the consistency and reliability sealed by SWOP and GRACoL certification and the support of EFI and Chromaticity.

“Reliable and consistent color remains a critical issue and, despite rapid changes in our industry, we’re committed to providing our customers with products of the highest standards,” said Ian Mackenzie, Chromaticity’s vice president of marketing and business development. “SWOP and GRACoL certifications are the gold standards in our business and we’re proud to offer EFI Validation proofing media to our dealers, partners and customers.”

“Our customers greatly benefit from interoperability among the solutions they use, so EFI is a driving force for industry standards adoption,” says Stefan Spiegel, general manager, Graphic Arts Solutions, EFI. “EFI Validation proofing media earning SWOP and GRACoL certifications affirms its high caliber and underscores the fact that EFI consistently delivers state of the art solutions.”

Validation joins several EFI products Chromaticity distributes to the North American graphic arts reseller channel, including EFI’s industry-leading, color management software Color Profiler Suite, pre-press workflow solutions and the scalable and versatile client/server-based ink jet proofing solution driven by Bestcolor Technology, EFI Colorproof XF.