Although ICS and other firms’ soft proofing tools have been used in the pressroom before the firm claims that Press Director is the first system optimised for use in the press room. For high volume and high pagination web-offset presses, whose on press consoles are fitted with a sliding rail system it is possible, thanks to a linear encoder, to show the exact area of the sheet that the operator is interested in on the monitor, eliminating the need to manually scroll around the sheet, or navigate though a multi-page PDF.
However, Malcolm Mackenzie, managing director at UK reseller Print and Proof added that the modular nature of the system and its low starting price meant it was "an elegant solution for smaller sheetfed printers".
"For those guys the cost of Press Director could be less than the cost of an Epson printer with RIP and with none of the ongoing consumables costs."
"Press Director eliminates the downtime, inaccurate colour and miscommunication caused by supplied customer proofs," said ICS vice president of operations Dan Caldwell. "Our interface was designed by press operators, and supports keyboard and mouse or touch screen controls for flexibility."
The firm claims that by ensuring all pages are viewed as colour-managed PDFs means there is no room for errors caused by proofs supplied out of specification, and by eliminating physical proofs cuts down on the overhead of managing the receipt of hard copies and any standing time caused by their late arrival.
"For me this is what will kick-start monitor proofing at all stages in the workflow," said Print Research International managing director John Charnock. "Doing it downstream will be the catalyst for it becoming widespread upstream."
He added he thought it was unlikely to be retrofitted to existing machines, but like closed loop colour controls over the past decade would become a standard option on new presses.
"It will take costs out of the supply chain – upstream proofing costs millions," said Charnock. Although he thought it unlikely printers could recover the costs by charging a premium, he said the benefit to clients could be the clincher for winning work.
Press Director uses ICC colour management to ensure the screen matches industry standard reference printing conditions, or a press fingerprint and supports CMYK and spot colour, including Pantone. On screen tools include a densitometer for CMYK and specials, gamut warnings and total ink coverage. It also supports paper stock simulation.
ICS offers the software as an open platform that can work with press consoles, viewing booths, spectrophotometers and monitors from a range of third-party vendors.
ICS PRESS DIRECTOR
Description press side monitor proofing package
Controls touchscreen or keyboard and mouse
Measurement Lab & density (CMYK and specials)
Price Software as a service (SaaS) from £2,6100 (€3,068), perpetual licence £5,220 (€6,136)
Platform Mac or PC
