Guardian News and Media Ltd., publisher of U.K.-based The Guardian and The Observer, selected Remote Director from Integrated Color Solutions to handle monitor-based soft proofing of the two full-color newspapers.

Remote Director will help the publisher transition to a paperless proofing print workflow, according to Dave Kirwan, project manager at GNM’s London printing plant, Guardian Print Centre.

No sacrifice

The app will allow users at different locations to collaborate on color-accurate proofs in real-time, or work at their own convenience, allowing agencies, brands, publishers, prepress shops and printers to communicate, he said.

Because proofs can be shared, marked up, reviewed and revised faster than a paper proof could have previously been picked up for delivery, the publisher is now spending just hours to do what used to take days, according to Kirwan.

“Eliminating paper proofs does not mean we will have to sacrifice print quality and consistency in our workflows,” he said. “Of all the systems that we tested, Remote Director was the only proven color technology that could integrate easily and consistently ensure proof matches that are more than adequate for the advertising workflow in the UK.”

Remote Director is also licensed in the U.K. by ad transmission providers Adstream and Vio, offering GNM another advantage, Kirwan said.

“Remote Director technology, as part of Adstream and Vio, already helps to streamline the ad proofing process and for us further guaranteed consistency and a level of quality for our proofs from the start,” Kirwan said.

Remote Director met expectations during the evaluation phase, he said.

“Proofs were far closer to the ISO print standard and to what we are achieving on press,” he said.  “The results were better than the hard copy proofs we were used to seeing.”

The project was overseen by ICS’ U.K. partner Targetcolour.