Scan2CAD raster to vector conversion software

Colortrac - 25th September 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Ives, Cambridge, UK

Colortrac's CopySmart Wizard makes Canon printer magic.

Colortrac's CopySmart professional colour managed scan-to-copy software is now available with specialist printer drivers which support Canon's first 44" high-speed printers for the AEC, CAD and GIS market, the imagePROGRAF iPF810 and imagePROGRAF iPF820 series.

Canon's new imagePROGRAF iPF810 and iPF820 technical document colour printers combine fast output production speeds with efficient ink usage and a low total cost of ownership. Their relative low price, high speed and great accuracy make them two of the most attractive super wide format printers in today's AEC, CAD and GIS market. When linked to a Colortrac SmartLF wide format scanner running CopySmart scan-to-copy software, the combination of scanner and printer provides a highly productive wide format multi-function colour copying system.

In prioritising the development of CopySmart software drivers which make full use of Canon imagePROGRAF iPF810 and iPF820 colour printers' performance, Colortrac has recognised the growing importance of Canon as a successful wide format technical document printer manufacturer.

Full details of Colortrac's CopySmart software is available on its website: www.colortrac.com.

Much liked by professional wide format users for its simplicity, ease of use, flexibility and comparatively low price, CopySmart uses a file-based TIFF driver for accurate copy size control, minimum paper wastage and minimum configuration effort. Its new Canon imagePROGRAF iPF810 and iPF820 colour printer drivers are quickly and easily selected from a list of supported professional print devices. CopySmart's printer data is routed via the existing printer's Windows driver connection. Copying begins just seconds after pressing Copy.

CopySmart includes an easy to use Wizard Profiler, a built-in colour calibration tool. This can be used at any time to simply and quickly produce new media profiles. Using a supplied IT8 target sheet with the Wizard-controlled Profiler, CopySmart can be profiled (calibrated) to any paper / ink combination. CopySmart's Wizard Profiler allows users to easily switch from one paper supplier to another and to create a new media profile. The flexibility and simplicity of this system ensures the best possible professional colour reproduction in the least amount of time.

By bringing together independently calibrated ICC profiled devices, (the screen, scanner and printer), CopySmart's back-to-back ICC Color Management provides demanding graphics professionals with a fully colour managed hardware environment. An additional benefit is that in CopySmart tones and colours for the input and output devices are held separately, not interconnected as in closed-loop systems. This makes CopySmart's colour management system more flexible, much faster and more accurate than in constrained closed-loop calibration systems.

ICC based profiling is a powerful and practical professional colour tool which CopySmart delivers at a very competitive and affordable price. With CopySmart, external CMYK media profiles can be used, if and when required. However, Colortrac recommend that CopySmart users create their own set of profiles because this will ensure the best performance from their investment in hardware and software. For graphics perfectionists who need to see the "toughest to copy" tones get through to the printer, the Colortrac ICC colour manager system's support for external devices like Gretag-Macbeth spectrophotometers ensures that their demands can be quickly and easily satisfied.

CopySmart includes third party RIP (raster image processor) support. By selecting the TIFF file driver, a CopySmart user can automatically route the data from any copy operation, black and white or colour, to any folder using a standard browse box. This allows the highly efficient front-end of CopySmart to be combined with the users preferred RIP software and its own profiling system. This allows the CopySmart user to produce top-quality, queue managed copies from any SmartLF scanner. The CopySmart operator can enjoy the benefits of RIP job queue management in repositioning print jobs, storing partially ripped images on disk and also reprinting them as required.

Colortrac's growing global success as a wide format scanner manufacturer is seen in its fruitful relationship with Canon. The new, soon to be announced Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40 large format scanner was recently given its world preview on Canon Europe's impressive stand at drupa 2008, Dusseldorf, Germany, the world's biggest print show.

Anne Sharp, European Marketing Manager, Large Format Solutions, Canon Europe, said "Canon is totally customer focused in our approach to offering products and solutions that fit their needs. Our partnership with Colortrac is delivering a product portfolio that serves users at several levels, and links in well with the print capabilities of our imagePROGRAF range of large format printers. The SmartLF Ci 40 gives us yet another tool to encompass all the needs of a rapidly growing CAD and GIS sector."

Peter de Winter Brown, Colortrac sales and marketing director, said "We are delighted to be working in conjunction with Canon to develop this sector of the market. Our association with Canon now goes back to 2000 and our combined knowledge and expertise is enabling us to develop very competitive imaging products for the large format markets. The addition of these new Canon drivers to CopySmart is proof of Colortrac's determination to provide its SmartLF large format scanner customers with the industry's best support for Canon imagePROGRAF iPF810 and iPF820 printers".

CopySmart is a software option for the SmartLF scanner series. Suggested retail price £295 / US $595.

For further information contact:

Peter de Winter-Brown,
Sales & Marketing Director,
Colortrac Limited

Tel +44 1480 464618

Fax +44 1480 466793

Email:
www.colortrac.com

About Colortrac ...
Founded in 1989 Colortrac Ltd is a dedicated manufacturer of large format scanners and scanning software based in St Ives, Cambs, UK, a region of British excellence in science and technology. As an acknowledged wide format innovator and industry leader, Colortrac can claim a number of notable "firsts", most importantly the development of the first large format colour scanner. Not bound by doctrine or technology, Colortrac was the first wide format scanner manufacturer to recognise the individual merits of CIS and CCD sensor technology. Colortrac use both technologies to provide practical solutions that meet the divergent needs of the Graphic Arts, AEC, CAD, GIS, EDM and FM technical documents scanning markets to best effect. The Colortrac range of SmartLF large format scanners, now in their fifth generation, excel in meeting the specific requirements of these markets while offering unrivalled price and performance benefits. Colortrac Ltd also has offices in Beijing & Suzhou in P.R. China and in Golden CO, USA.

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