Same Company, New Name. SA Media is Now CMYK enterprises!

We are now CMYK Enterprises. We have changed our name and we are excited about it! Same awesome products and services, same people….just a new name. It is something we wanted to do for a while and we just went for it at last. We think this name is a little more us!

SA Media Now Offering Caldera Software, Installation & Training

We have been an admirer of Caldera’s RIP software for the last couple of years and once we really dug into using it, we were completely hooked.  There were many projects on which we could have benefited greatly had we had the tools the software offers.  Caldera Graphics is a software company specializing in color management, imaging and driving solutions for large format peripherals.   With 19 years of experience in imaging solutions and technologies, Caldera Graphics has thousands of users worldwide and has been endorsed by key people and organizations in the industry.   Given this, we felt that Caldera was the perfect fit with us as Color Management and Technical Consultants to the imaging industry.

Now that we have extensive knowledge on how to install, configure, and operate Caldera RIP software (made by Caldera Graphics), particularly in the large and grand format production environment, we can’t wait to share with people how much more efficient, flexible and dynamic it is.  We are also happy to report that it runs on an efficient and secure Linux or Mac OSX platform rather than relying on Windows which tends to eat up all of your processing power which is what you need to run an efficient RIP.    The Caldera software packages are “production oriented” with an emphasis on color quality.  Another key factor in us making the decision to be a Caldera dealer was the cost and flexibility, with several options available depending on the needs of the production house.  This also allows a user to later make easy and inexpensive software additions and upgrades as their needs change or budgets open up.

Caldera’s RIP software was voted best product in 3 categories of Wide Format Imaging’s Reader’s Choice Top Products of 2010.

• - Best MIS (Management) Software : FLOW+
• - Best Color Management Software : EasyMedia
• - Best Overall Product : VisualRIP+

Wide-Format Imaging readers were asked to cast their ballot for those breakthrough products that have caused the most excitement in the industry and have had the biggest impact in their bottom lines over the past year.

Short Video Presentation Here…   http://www.caldera.com/animations/corporate/uk/.

Getting Our Geek On at DEF CON 18

Since SA Media loves all things techy, we are excited to share our enthusiastic overview of DEF CON, hailed as the world’s largest annual hacker conventions. DEF CON, created by the founder of Black Hat and DEF CON, is held every year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first DEF CON took place in June 1993, and in 2008, over 8500 people attended DEF CON 16. This will be the 18th annual conference and we can’t wait to attend all of the great speeches and events.

Many of the attendees at DEF CON include computer security professionals, journalists, lawyers, federal government employees, crackers, and hackers with a general interest in computer code and computer architecture. The event consists of several tracks of speakers about computer- and hacking-related subjects, as well as social events and contests in everything from creating the longest Wi-Fi connection and cracking computer systems to who can most effectively cool a beer in the Nevada heat. Other contests include lock picking, robotic-related contests, art, slogan, coffee wars, and Capture the Flag. Capture the Flag (CTF) is perhaps the best known of these contests. It is a hacking competition where teams of hackers attempt to attack and defend computers and networks. CTF has been emulated at other hacking conferences as well as in academic and military contexts.

You better believe we will also be writing a review of our experience there.

How It All Began…

DEF CON was founded in 1992 by Jeff Moss as a farewell party for his friend and fellow hacker. The party was planned for Las Vegas a few days before his friend was to leave the United States, because his father had accepted employment out of the country. However, his friend’s father left early, taking his friend along, so Jeff was left alone with the entire party planned. Jeff decided to invite all his hacker friends to go to Las Vegas with him and have the party with them instead. Hacker friends from far and wide got together and laid the foundation for DEF CON, with roughly 100 persons in attendance. The term DEF CON comes from the movie War Games, obviously alluding to the U.S. Armed Forces defense readiness condition (DEFCON). In the movie Las Vegas was selected

Microsoft Tag…The Next Digital Marketing Wave?

So you’re shopping at the local super store and you see this funny looking little 2D image that tells you to use your smart phone to scan it for a coupon? Huh? That’s right. In May of this year, Microsoft launched a new way for businesses to communicate to consumers through the use of 2D image barcodes called Tag.

Tag places bar- or QR-code-like labels in physical places, or on objects or products, that can be scanned by mobile phones to provide new, on-the-fly information.
Microsoft claims that over a million tags have been created, with codes being placed on billboards and signs, in magazines, movie theaters and transit stops. The initial use of the service is available for free to brands or small businesses wishing to utilize the Tag technology, as Microsoft attempts to expand their network.
Microsoft’s Aaron Getz explains:

“Today we can imagine a world where any physical object can become a gateway to a world of digital content and engagement: Scan a product in a newspaper, get a personalized offer, buy it on the spot, or get directions to the store to buy it later.

This is what Tag can do for you, for your users, for your marketing campaign, and for your business. All you have to do is simply click on things in your physical world to make your world interactive on the spot.”

Here at SA Media, we made our very own. Got a smart phone? Print this article, scan the barcode and see what happens.  Check out the demonstration below.

ICC Profile Defined

Gracol Gamut

In color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium (ICC). Profiles describe the color attributes of a particular device or viewing requirement by defining a mapping between the device source or target color space and a profile connection space (PCS). This PCS is either CIELAB (L*a*b*) or CIEXYZ. Mappings may be specified using tables, to which interpolation is applied, or through a series of parameters for transformations.

Every device that captures or displays color can have its own profile. Some manufacturers provide profiles for their products, and there are several products that allow end users to generate their own color profile, typically through the use of a tristimulus colorimeter or preferably a spectrophotometer.

The ICC defines the format precisely but does not define algorithms or processing details. This means there is room for variation between different applications and systems that work with ICC profiles.

Hexachrome Printing…What Is It?

Hexachrome is a six-color printing process designed by Pantone Inc. In addition to custom CMYK inks, Hexachrome added orange and green inks to expand the color gamut, for better color reproduction. It was therefore also known as a CMYKOG process.

Using this process we are able to match a more vast array of Pantone Spot colors far exceeding the limitations of the standard CMYK process.

4/c vs Hexachrome
The most widely publicized hifidelity ink configuration is justifiably the Hexachrome process. Hexachrome certified inks are not the run of the mill cyan, magenta etc. inks but have brighteners to achieve a cleaner color resulting in a larger color gamut. You really aren’t taking advantage of the Hexachrome process if you just add orange and green to your normal CMYK ink set. The Hexachrome process was introduced in 1996 by a direct descendant of Pantone’s founder; Pantone boasts 90 percent or better matching with Hexachrome certified inks and paper combinations.

Hexachrome requires color management ICC profiles for conversion. Ideally the RIP will recognize and use embedded ICC profile information for bitmap graphics and allow default designation for EPS. If the RIP does not support six color ICC profiles, pre-seperate them in Photoshop or Illustrator using the PANTONE HexWare plug-ins or within a page layout program. Verify that the RIP accepts pre-separated files like DCS 2.0, EPS or PDF to get around proprietary color systems. Proprietary color systems utilize tables instead of standard ICC profiles.

In most cases two additional colors work best instead of odd color configurations. You wouldn’t really want to build a five color ICC profile of just an additional red primary for photographic output. Adding blue with red primary provides the complimentary color to balance hue back. So a RIP that does not support five or seven channel ICC profiles is not necessarily a limitation.

Offset and sheet-fed printers charge a premium for additional spot color bump plates because of the additional make-ready and clean-up in the printing. Hexachrome ink configuration minimizes make-ready and clean-up. The time, materials and labor savings alone justify using a six color configuration. Jobs designed for four color plus spot plates can be converted to Hexachrome process to allow more jobs on the same press without clean-up between jobs.

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