Online Approval / Softproof

Online proofing and approval became mainstream topics in the last years, mainly because of economic considerations. While the cost of printed proofs didn't got any higher, the allowance to produce and deliver them tightened significantly. On the other hand, computer display technology reached a certain level of precision, when color-critical decisions can be brought with maximum confidence, using high-end wide-gamut calibrated screens.

As always, software has a big impact on the whole idea. It's always a good practice for a client to take a critical look on the documents before submission – the problem is that at that phase the data isn't RIPped yet, so it won't show faithfully what will hit the plates. It is perfectly possible, that a PDF which seemed to be okay on the producer's computer, would be considered unprintable at the printing house, for various reasons.

OmniTek's solution for that problem is the SmartProof online approval system, which can present high-resolution, colorimetrically matched, RIPped page data over the Internet using any ordinary PC as a client. Softproofs shown by SmartProof will contain and make visible all rendering problems caused by missing fonts, low-resolution images and colorspace mismatches. The service provider and the client can work together interactively, both sharing the same screen to understand critical errors, while others from the same client can assess the document and place requests using the multi-level remarking system. Approved pages or jobs are automatically released to the workflow, while a messaging system can send immediate mails about activities, or collected digests about events happened through a certain period of time. The optional configurator module allows seamless integration into workflow systems based on Enfocus Switch technology.