Hybrid Software, a software provider and innovator for the label and packaging industry, has collaborated with ICScolor, a business in remote digital colour proofing, announcing the seamless integration between Hybrid Cloudflow and ICScolor Remote Director.

This integration enables both companies to offer a simple and exact way to view and approve colour-accurate digital proofs. While Cloudflow users could always access Remote Director, now they can launch the Remote Director colour viewing window directly from within Cloudflow.

Hybrid Cloudflow is a modular production workflow suite for file processing, asset management, and workflow automation. It is a web-based application platform specifically tailored for packaging graphics with support for PDF, colour separation, trapping, screening, proofing and more.

Remote Director’s software ensures that all users are viewing the same colour on calibrated monitors and “heals” the break caused by hard copy proofs in the otherwise totally digital workflow.

All colour conditions, version control, auto compilation of comments and approvals and full audit trail assure that a project is completed properly and accurately – reducing errors, cost and increasing quality while being more environmentally friendly.

While Cloudflow with Proofscope has always allowed content proofing views and annotations, Remote Director adds the direct ability to view colour-accurate proofs on a remote monitor. Using tools from Hybrid Software Group’s ColorLogic to create accurate profiles and IC3D three-dimensional views, Cloudflow now offers a complete, colour-accurate digital proofing environment.

Hybrid Software Australasia sales manager Brenton King said the company actively finds the best technology partners to work with to provide agile solutions for the growing packaging and label industry demands.

“Brands are demanding, and rightfully so, colour consistency from their suppliers, and with workflow solutions going online, it is fundamental that remote and online proofing can achieve the same colour standards that traditional forms of proofing do,” he said.

“Online approval is a core platform that we are constantly developing, and with the acquisition of ColorLogic in 2021, we have the ability to create the correct colour profiles. Our acquisition of IC3D has now been incorporated into our Proofscope viewer to enhance the 3D model viewing.

“Naturally, with the ICScolor partnership, we have added another piece of the puzzle to enable customers the flexibility and convenience of an automated online approval system.”

ICScolor vice-president of business development Vicki Blake said, “The direct link to Remote Director from within Cloudflow saves a lot of time and ensures the client sees accurate colour. We are really looking forward to this. I think the partnership with Hybrid Software is going to be very beneficial for both of us as well as our clients”.

“Our work together really started during the pandemic, when it was more urgent to easily provide realistic, contract-quality soft proofs virtually. It is terrific to show the openness between two organisations and our technologies,” Hybrid Software Americas executive vice-president Mike Agness added.

“The implementation was quite straightforward. It’s another example demonstrating that open systems can play ‘nicely’ with each other. For anyone who wants to conduct accurate colour proofing, it is seamless from within Cloudflow.”