Blackmagic includes a suite of customised applications designed to provide the user with all the tools required to set up and maintain a digital proofing workflow. Functions include display and printer calibration, on screen softproofing, configuration backup and transfer, and colour verification.

Archives

The Archives application allows you to make back ups or archives of your Workbench configurations. Individual items or complete systems can be archived for safekeeping. Stored items can be loaded into Archives for adding to the Blackmagic database. This can be used for copying a database to another Server, or for recovery from failure or corrupt configurations. The Archives application can be configured to automatically back up your settings on a regular basis.

Calcheck

The Calcheck application is used to verify the current calibration status of a printer. Target charts are created in the Calcheck Chart module in the Workbench and are fully customisable. When a measurement is initiated, you are prompted to choose the chart used for the proof. This provides the target and relative tolerances required for a pass. Results on the pass or fail state of the printer are reported and can be printed to a label printer and stuck on the job. A monitor Calcheck can be performed before viewing a job in SoftProof using the Displays application. Each patch is displayed on screen and measured using a supported Spectrophotometer. The values read are compared to a target set and a pass or fail status is reported. A pass means the proof you are viewing on screen is colour accurate to your chosen standard.

Clustering

Clustering is the ability to share the workload of processing jobs across multiple devices. Nodes can be installed on other machines on the network and jobs can be sent to them from the Master for processing. The Clustering application allows you to add and manage node devices for use in imaging, rendering or both.

Densitometer

The Densitometer application allows any supported Spectrophotometers to be used as Densitometers. Readings can be used in a one-off fashion to compare densities, or exported for plotting to a graph. Paper and solid references can be set so that true dot percentage can be calculated. The Yule Nielsen number can be changed to better simulate your media's characteristics. Densities are displayed for the Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow channels. Measurements can be exported in KCMY or CMYK order, to tab or space delimited files.

FlipBook

The FlipBook application allows you to view a publication on screen as it will appear after binding as a 2D or 3D virtual book. Publications usually comprise of a magazine or book that has been de-imposed, but any collection of jobs or pages can be assigned a publication name and viewed in this way. Using FlipBook, you can turn through pages as you would a magazine or book. This enables you to check your de-impositions for correct page order and orientation; for duplicates, bleed and so on. The page navigator clearly shows the loaded, missing, doubled-up and revised pages. Full imaged or rendered soft proofs of any page can be called up at any time and the whole publication can be exported as a PDF or a QuickTime movie to send to clients.

Lineariser

The Lineariser application creates a linearisation curve of your output device and applies it to the Pagesetup. It is the third step in the calibration process and brings your output device to a known state (linear) meaning, for example, a 50% Cyan will print at 50%. Lineariser options include a list of available Pagesetups; Linearisation History and charts to plot the history. Advanced options include adjustment of the Yule Nielsen number, maximum densities override (to limit the top end density for each process colour), and preview curves.

Displays

The Displays application, using a supported Spectrophotometer, can be used to calibrate your display or lightbooth and create monitor ICC profiles to dramatically improve the colour accuracy of softproofs. Specialist graphics monitors can be calibrated in this way to pass a number of internationally recognised ISO print standards - all verifiable with the use of the Calcheck application. Specific settings may be set for each monitor when in a multi-monitor environment. The System Settings will show additional sections with Monitor 1, Monitor 2 etc listed. To identify which monitor is which, a graphic may be displayed in the centre of the relevant screen.

SoftProof

Any graphic or colour management application will show you previews of proof jobs on screen, but what about software that will let you PROOF a print job on your monitor? The SoftProof application does just that. Using a calibrated monitor and your press settings, you can verify a proof on screen, colour matched to your press, as it will look in print. Plates can be turned on and off to see the job as it will look at each press station. Colour attributes, plate characteristics and paper type can be changed to see the effects on the printing process. The Back Page feature simulates show-through from the reverse side of a job, based on the media chosen. The softproof can be verified at any time against your chosen colour standard, using the Calcheck application. This means another user anywhere in the world with the same configuration can view a certified, identical proof.

Spectro

Blackmagic supports the use of a range of Spectrophotometers for the purposes of measuring colour density, linearisation, monitor calibration and calcheck verification. In addition, the built-in Spectro application allows the user to measure from swatch books or directly off printed sheets to create special colours. These colours can be used for jobs containing special plates or stored in colour libraries. Measurements can also be exported as Lab or XYZ text files for use with other programs.

Studio

The Studio application enables users to manually position or tile images for printing. Jobs submitted to the Studio queue are stored in a gallery of thumbnails. A visual interface then enables jobs to be dragged from the gallery, placed and arranged on a defined media space. Images can be spun, sized and shuffled around; or large jobs placed on a grid of overlapped media tiles. Users can create a library of standard nesting templates into which images can be placed. When the layout is ready, the nested images or tiled jobs are sent to be printed, exactly as they appear on screen. Further information on the Studio application can be viewed here.

Touch Console

Blackmagic's Touch Console application is designed to offer enhanced control and usability of SoftProof through the use of a touch screen. Ideal for Press Room environments, the separate touch screen acts as the console, controlling jobs being loaded and softproofed on the main screen. Individual jobs or entire publications sitting in the QueueManager can be quickly located for proofing. A Touch Console settings menu saves valuable time, enabling the operator to choose default navigation options; the queues the Touch Console will search for jobs; and whether after loading jobs the console switches automatically to the Main control screen, the SoftProof view navigator, or the page navigator (for publications). A mode bar allows instant switching between control interfaces from the Main image and navigation control, through to Ink Keys and Channels, the Virtual Loupe, Press Configurations, Page Navigation, Notes and Tabbed Views. The Main control screen - for macro manipulation of jobs - includes functions such as image inversion and rotation, back page show-through, image size on screen and so on. The Navigate screen - for closer examination of proofs - features controls for the viewed image size (fit width or height, original 100%, printed size, show all) and zoom controls. The job's image is shown in the centre - simply touch and drag to move the proof around on the main viewing screen.