Print industry leaders publish key color standard

A 27-company print industry consortium has begun to release key color components of the architecture used by clients worldwide for the high speed printing of bills, statements and other customer communications. The AFP Colour Consortium, created by IBM in October 2004, is publishing the new open standard as part of an effort to spur innovation in the rapidly accelerating high-end color print arena.

The consortium has been working collaboratively to define the color management portion of IBM’s Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) architecture.  Members are designing the architecture to help businesses develop device-independent color applications, resources and workflows that can be printed initially with high-quality grayscales and, eventually, in color.

‘This marks a milestone in the evolution of high-volume business printing,’ said Keenie McDonald, general manager of IBM’s Printing Systems Division. ‘By addressing the full range of technical specifications associated with printing in color, the consortium is helping take the industry to the next level and is paving the way for future innovation across the AFP architecture.’

The AFP Colour Consortium currently includes members from 27 international companies:

- Hardware vendors IBM, Kodak, Lexmark, Oc, Xeikon, and Xerox.

- Software vendors CDP Communications, Cincom, Compart Systemhaus, COPI, Crawford Technologies, DocuCorp International, Document Sciences Corporation, Elixir Technologies, Emtex, Exstream Software, GMC Software Technology, Group 1, Intermate, Inventive Designers, ISIS Papyrus, Metavante, MPI, Printsoft, Solimar Systems, StreamServe and Xenos Group.

The consortium also announced the formation of a new on-line community – afpcolor.org. The website is designed to provide information and documentation on the open color elements of the AFP architecture, which the consortium believes will help speed adoption of color transaction printing and offer more flexibility to clients.