DIGITAL MEDIA SERVICE GMBH – COLOR TUNER

CGS ORIS COLOR MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS GIVE DMS MEDIA· ALL·IN·ONE! THE COMPETITIVE EDGE.

Located in Selm, Germany on the Southeast fringes of the industrial Ruhr area, DMS shares the state-of-the-art facilities of their parent company, one of the most capable and innovative printing companies in North Rhine Westphalia. DMS’ CEO, Claus Gerdel, is a proven expert in all aspects of the industry and can count on many years of experience in his field. When you meet Mr. Gerdel, you are immediately impressed by his energy and by his personal engagement in all of the projects that are driving his company forwards in technology. If you are familiar with companies of similar size and focus, you can only guess how much expertise and vision is necessary in today’s economic environment to keep a media company on a successful growth path. DMS provides an impressive spectrum of services today, from silkscreen printing and large format prints to digital commercial printing on a brand-new HP Indigo 5500. Combined with the ultra-modern printing equipment of the parent company, DMS can offer its customers a one-stop complete package. Two criteria play a major role: color and standardization. Colors have a signaling effect and are most important for brand identity, but brand colors can only make an impact if they are globally consistent, regardless of the printing process. DMS takes this a step further by using special color processes and enhanced color spaces to create impressive photorealistic representations of real-life colors; especially important for customers for whom absolute color fidelity and intensity are a must.

“Using special colors as a norm makes printing even more complex and requires a lot of know-how and expertise. Random results are not acceptable, so an extensive standardization of the complete production process is required. The most important tool is a proof that perfectly matches the printing press. Based on an imposition proof generated in Kodak Prinergy, the specialists decide which critical pages are proofed with COLOR TUNER on two Epson printers. This means that the printer has at least one accurate color proof for each imposed form. This gives him a perfect visual reference,” says Gerdel.

THANKS TO CGS ORIS WE PRODUCE IDENTICAL RESULTS ON ALL DEVICES

“In the past, images were not kept in RGB, nor were there any meaningful proofs. This made re-runs extremely difficult and time-consuming. Previously, we used different high-end proofing software on an Epson Stylus Pro 7600, but this did not cover the complete special color gamut. We therefore looked at the new Epson printer with its 10-color technology and the built-in spectrophotometry. Unfortunately, the first results were completely disappointing because the installed proof software did not completely address the full gamut of the printer, and a subsequently redeveloped version of the software was actually a change for the worse. At that time, we were under immense time pressure as we were right in the middle of producing a large premium catalog for RWE, one of Europe’s largest energy companies. In the worst case we would have had to do the proofs on the Epson 7600, which would have differed significantly from our offset results. I then decided to take CGS ORIS up on their offer to test the latest COLOR TUNER version together with the new Epson and I have to say, I was impressed.”

“The software was installed, and the entire system was running promptly with no difficulties. After a comprehensive training, we were immediately able to produce perfect proofs, something we had not been able to do for weeks. We are now also using exclusively the optical brightener-free CGS ORIS PearlPROOF paper, which fits perfectly with the system. COLOR TUNER with the Epson printers has quickly become the most important tool in our company. A few days ago, we added another Epson with COLOR TUNER. For one reason as a back-up but primarily to have enough capacity for the future.”

COLOR TUNER with the Epson printers has quickly become the most important tool in our company.”

Claus Gerdel, CEO, DMS

“We now have various color profiles for different screenings which we can reproduce 1:1 in the proof. RGB images, and their representation under different printing conditions, can even be exactly reproduced in the proof. Now the printer in the press room, relying one hundred percent on the proof, only needs a few press sheets to be up to color and can maintain it over the entire print run, aided by the Heidelberg Inpress system on the press. Not without reason, our parent company has been a reference customer for Heidelberg for many years.”

COLOR TUNER fits perfectly to the mission statement of DMS: Web-based, process-oriented, and ecological.

The latest technology is not only used in the pressroom and the finishing department, but also within DMS itself. Prinergy is used for their workflow together with the fully automatic Magnus Quantum 800 CTP system, installed in the printing office. In this environment, COLOR TUNER has smoothly integrated into the workflow and can be used from any client station in the intranet, thanks to COLOR TUNER’s browser-based interface. Completing the picture is CERTIFIED, fully integrated within the workflow and providing a certified output proof to a defined industry or custom standard. Each proof is directly measured with the built-in spectrophotometer and the resulting ‘ok’ label is printed directly on the proof. The printer can be automatically calibrated at any time as directed by COLOR TUNER. DMS produces jobs for many clients for whom special colors are simply indispensable. Whether Hornschuch, one of the world’s leading producers of synthetic leather used for the famous MCM travel goods and for automotive applications, or other companies producing laminate flooring, CGS ORIS software has helped them in special color management. Using the included spot color libraries from Pantone and HKS, perfect results can be achieved for coated and uncoated stock, not only for solid colors, but also for the finest pastel shades and vignettes.

The latest addition at DMS is an HP Indigo 5500, which ideally complements the conventional presses at the printing company. First advances have also been made in web-to-print with their web shop for large format printing. The concept of extending a workflow into the client’s operation, using customized web portals, will be developed in the near future. Even more reason to look at other products from CGS ORIS such as PRESS MATCHER, particularly when color-accurate and consistent printing on both digital and conventional presses is a challenge, both of which can be mastered thanks to CGS ORIS color management.