Prinect CtP-Tools

Prinect
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Information

Prinect CtP-Tools
Version 2016
User’s Guide
Revision 1.0
Order No.111.2212
 ABC

dress Copyright © 2015 Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. Kurfuersten-Anlage 52–60
No part of this book may be repro- 69115 Heidelberg
duced without prior written permis- Germany
sion. Phone +49 6221 92-00
Fax +49 6221 92-6999
www.heidelberg.com
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Important notice: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG If any problems occur with the product
We are dedicated to improving and assumes no responsibility for informa- described in this manual, please con-
enhancing our products. Conse- tion and description as far as third- tact the Heidelberg agency which is
quently, the information in this man- party products are concerned. responsible for you.
ual is subject to technical The information contained in this Order No.111.2212
modifications and other changes with- manual about performance and speed Version 2016
out notice. as well as technical data concerning Printed in Germany.
application of our products is not
legally binding as it does not consti-
tute a written contract of features.
 Table of Contents
Table of Contents

Prinect Signa Station 1

Prinect CtP-Tools 1

Table of Contents
1

Before You Start...

About This Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

What you should already know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Other Manuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Symbols and Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Important Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What's New?
Introduction
Shipment of CtP-Tools and Dipco Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Plate Control Strip (PLC)

General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Product Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Plate Control Strip Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Function of Plate Control Strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Universal Plate Control strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Plate Control Strip Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Info box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Visual Imaging Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Micro Control Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Spot symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Linearity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Horizontal and vertical lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Text field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Tonal Value Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Information about the screen quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Calibration Curve Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Calibration Check (CalCurveName)
General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 1

Table of Contents

Plate Variation Test (PLV)

Plate Variation Test (PLV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Plate Variation Test Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Index

2 Version 2016
 Before You Start...
Before You Start...

About This Documentation

i
i
Note: CtP-Tools version 16.0 has been tested within a Heidelberg Prinect software environ-
ment. We cannot warrant the compatibility of CTP-Tools with third-party prepress workflow
systems because unexpected effects are likely to occur when different hardware platforms
and software applications are used!

This documentation applies to "CtP-Tools" Version 16.0. This manual contains all the information you
need for operating CtP-Tools.
It is intended as a reference work for operation and CtP-Tools evaluation.

i
i
Note: In version 11.0, CtP-Tools was revised fundamentally and the function range
expanded. This also required modifications to other Prinect system components. This is the
reason why CtP-Tools do not (reasonably) interact with older Prinect versions. For the same
reason, we cannot guarantee proper functioning.

We recommend that you update all marks in use to CtP-Tools 16.0 or Dipco 16.0 when oper-
ating Prinect Signa Station 16.0.

What you should already know

You should be familiar with the quality assessment of printing plates.

Other Manuals
For more information, see the documentation of the used output device.

Symbols and Styles

The following typographical conventions are used in this manual:
• References to other chapters and sections are blue (on the screen) and underlined.

Example: See section "Symbols and Styles", page 3.

• Quotes are used to indicate menus, folders, names of functions, hardware conditions, switch
settings, system messages, etc.

Example: Set the switch to "off".

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 3

Before You Start...

• Menus, functions and sub-functions are separated by ">".

Example: Choose "File > Open...".

• A plus sign is used to indicate that several keys have to be pressed at the same time.

Example: Press Alt+A.

Important Information
Important information in the text is marked by symbols that are used as follows:
Warning: Contains information that must be taken into consideration to protect the user
from injury.

Caution: Contains information that must be taken into consideration to prevent damage to
hardware or software.

i
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Note: Contains important general or supplementary information about a specific topic.

Prerequisite: Lists requirements which must be fulfilled before the steps which follow can
be performed.

4 Version 2016
 What's New?
What's New?

New Features in Version 16.0

The scope of functions of CtP-Tools has not changed since version 15.0.
New Features in Version 15.0
The scope of functions of CtP-Tools has not changed since version 13.0.
New Features in Version 13.0
The *.eps files were moved and are now located in the "eps" folder.
New Features in Version 12.0
The folder structure was revised and the marks names shortened because the path names of the
marks had become too long. Panels 25, 40, 60, and 75% were added to the tonal value scales of the
PLC. To make room for this, the arrangement of elements was revised. The "pre files" were omitted
because the separated workflow was no longer supported.

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 5

 Introduction
Introduction

Shipment of CtP-Tools and Dipco Elements

Content of the shipped USB stick
The following installation folders and the executable file "SetupPrinect.exe" are located on the USB
stick:

The "CtPtools" and "Dipco" folders are located in the "Prinect Signa Station" subfolder on the USB
stick:
USB stick > "Prinect Signa Station > CtPtools"
USB stick > "Prinect Signa Station > Dipco"

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 7

Introduction

Access to CtP Tools and Dipco control elements

CtP-Tools and Dipco control elements can be accessed in the following ways:
• They are integrated in the Signa installer.

During installation of Prinect Signa Station, the CtP-Tools and Dipco control elements are filed
automatically in the Signa Station program folder in the "..\Marks\ctp-tools" or
"..\Marks\dipco" subfolder.

• They are available in their own folders named above:

USB stick > "Prinect Signa Station > CtPtools"

USB stick > "Prinect Signa Station > Dipco"

As a result you can use the CtP-Tools and Dipco control elements separately to a Prinect Signa
Station setup. You can navigate to these folders as follows:

· You navigate to the folders directly on the USB stick.

· You start "SetupPrinect.exe". In the dialogs that appear select as follows:

"Prinect 2016 Core > Prinect Signa Station > Open CtPtools Folder" or
"Prinect 2016 Core > Prinect Signa Station > Open Dipco Folder".

Folder structure of the CtP-Tools folder

The folder structures of the "CtPtools" folders on the USB stick and the installed "..\Marks\ctp-tools"
folder are identical. The folder structure is as follows:

• Instructions for use can be found in the CtP-Tools_Beschreibung.pdf (German) or CtP-Tools_De-

scription.pdf file.

• Control elements from earlier versions, "Discontinued" folder

This folder contains all the control elements that will no longer be revised.

• Control elements for eps workflow, "eps" folder

This folder contains the latest control elements as encapsulated PostScript, known also as eps,
for third-party workflows.

8 Version 2016
 Introduction

• Control elements for Heidelberg Prinect-Workflow, "Prinect" folder

This folder contains the latest control elements for Heidelberg Prinect workflows for all output
resolutions. The subfolders have the same structure as in the "eps" folder.

• Control elements for third-party workflows with 2400 dpi resolution, "foreign2400dpi" folder

This folder contain the latest control elements for third-party workflows using an output resolu-
tion of 2400 dpi. The subfolders have the same structure as in the "eps" folder.

• Control elements for third-party workflows with 2540 dpi resolution, "foreign2540dpi" folder

This folder contain the latest control elements for third-party workflows using an output resolu-
tion of 2540 dpi. The subfolders have the same structure as in the "eps" folder.

Subfolders with CtP-Tools elements

The "eps", "Prinect", "foreign2400dpi" and "foreign2540dpi" folders each have the following subfold-
ers:
• "PLCcalCurvename" folder

This folder contains marks representing the calibration curves used.

• All other folders contain the plate control strips for our various imagesetter families.

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 9

 Plate Control Strip (PLC)
Plate Control Strip (PLC)

General Information
The plate control strips described here were called process control strips (abbreviated PCS) in CtP-
Tools versions < 2.0.
The plate control strip should always be included in the non-printable area of the plate to continu-
ously assess the imaging process.
It is therefore feasible to permanently place it as a mark on the template in question.
You can assume a reproducible imaging process as the prerequisite for stable print quality if the com-
parison panel tonal values in the given tolerance panel are equal for conventional screens up to 80
l/cm.
For conventional screens exceeding 80 l/cm and for FM screens, the match should be in the toler-
ance panel middle.
The specified working range is optimized for each plate type. This minimizes negative features such
as scumming, banding, increased sensitivity of the development process, etc. As a result, a major
prerequisite for high-quality print results is met since the used calibration curves were based on this
stable working point.
In practice, deviations from the nominal working point can occur due to plate sensitivity fluctuations
(possibly dependent on the plate lot), changes to the development parameters (aging of chemicals,
temperature fluctuations, etc.) and drift of effective laser light power (e.g. soiled optics). We strongly
recommend to take appropriate measures (replacement of chemicals, cleaning, readjustment, etc.)
in such a case to warrant proper print quality.

Product Description
The plate control strip is designed for the PostScript and PDF workflow.
It is a quality assurance instrument used for the computer-to-plate workflow.
Computer-to-plate does not require the conventional prepress control strip used for the plate copy.
Instead, the digital plate control strip quality provides quality assurance here.

Plate control strip

Plate control strips come in several variants, each matched to the plate type used.

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 11

Plate Control Strip (PLC)

Plate Control Strip Formats

The plate control strips support up to 16 colors and are plate- and device specific. Their dimensions
are 360 mm x 17 mm.
Color tokens B, C, M, Y, X, Z, U, V, S1 thru S8 are used for the 16 colors.
Mapping of real spot colors occurs automatically or manually using the application software.
Each plate control strip comes in 2 data formats:
• PLC"Recorder"_"Platemanufacturer"_"Platename"_360x17_v15.0g.eps

This control strip is intended for use in a composite PostScriptTM workflow. It can be used in con-
junction with third-party imposition software, and also by positioning it directly, e.g. with Quark-
XPress.

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Note: Please do not convert the "eps variant" with Acrobat Distiller but use the provided
PDF variant if you need this control strip in the PDF format.

• PLC"Recorder"_"Platemanufacturer"_"Platename"_360x17_v15.0g.pdf

This control strip is intended for use in a composite PDF workflow. It can be used in conjunction
with Prinect Signa Station and third-party software.

Function of Plate Control Strips

The plate control strip's main function is to check the reliable, reproducible imaging of the printing
plate.
Using a simple, visual tonal value comparison, the control strip highly sensitively implements this
function using a programmed resolution of +/- 1% in the midtone, related to a screen of 60 l/cm.
The obtained assessment is the result of the entire imaging process, independent of printing plate
exposure and development.
Other information in textual and graphical format contained in the strip provide a comprehensive
overview of all process parameters governing the plate imaging process.

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Note: Many of the plate control strip elements are directly matched to the properties of the
output devices. For this reason, scaling the strips is not recommended because this can fal-
sify the control elements in a pure PDF workflow.

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Note: When strips are used in third-party systems, errors can occur or the control strips
provide a restricted assessment quality.

12 Version 2016
 Plate Control Strip (PLC)

Universal Plate Control strips

In addition to the plate control strips mentioned above there is a folder with universal plate control
strips.
They are not customized for specific recorders or plates from different manufacturers.
These plate control strips are designed such that they can be safely used on third-party RIPs. Any crit-
ical components that can cause issues have been removed.

i
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Note: As a universal strip is not optimized for a specific plate, the comparison scale of the
imaging control area is accordingly larger, and each panel of the scale is tagged with a num-
ber. When setting up the platesetter, determine the optimum working point, note down the
pertaining number and compare it with future outputs.

There are universal plate control strips for four different plate types:
• chemfree plates

• polymer plates

• silver plates

• thermal plates

Universal Plate Control strips

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 13

Plate Control Strip (PLC)

Plate Control Strip Layout

The plate control strip comprises various control areas; its layout from left to right is as follows:

Info box

Data format and version of the plate control strip used

Output device
Manufacturer

Plate type
Plate control strip description

This panel indicates the output device, the plate control strip version, the plate manufacturer, and the
plate type.

Visual Imaging Assessment

Comparison scale (zigzag line screen)

1% Optimal 1%

Fine screen Tolerance range

Visual imaging control area

The actual imaging control area contains a 7-level comparison scale in tonal levels of 2.5% and a fine
screen strip.
The comparison scale consists of zigzag line screen panels. Gradation occurs with increasing line
widths.

14 Version 2016
 Plate Control Strip (PLC)

Imaging process fluctuations have only very little effect on the tonal value of this coarse and virtually
one-dimensional screen. Contrarily, fine screen structures (e.g. with square dot of 3 pixels edge
length in a 4x4 pixel screen cell) readily reflect process fluctuations.
Considering the printing plate's imaging properties, a tolerance area of three fields (= 2.4 cm) is
defined where the tonal value of comparison scale and fine screen strip should match. This optimum
workspace warrants reliable imaging on the basis of a reproducible, constant pixel area.
The tonal level of the comparison scale is 2.5% in the tolerance field.
This and the selection of a suitable fine screen results in a tonal value match offset of one field caus-
ing a midtone change of approx. 1% for a screen of 60 l/cm.

i
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Note: For an FM screen with a dot size of approx. 20µm the deviation increases to approx.
3%.

The adjacent 5 panels contain special graphics illustrating the imaging quality in various ways.

Micro Control Elements

Spot symmetry
Horizontal lines

Font

Vertical
lines Linearity

Imaging quality

Spot symmetry
The panel for evaluating the spot quality contains four square areas with a horizontal, a vertical, a
45° and a 135° line screen of identical ink coverage.
All areas of a symmetrical spot (pixel) feature the same optical tonal value. Imaging with an unequal
tonal value results in an asymmetrical pixel geometry.
In practice, a slightly asymmetrical pixel geometry is uncritical. Knowledge of the tonal value offset
on the plate can be of importance since the same method is also applied for assessing slurring and
ghosting effects during the print run.

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 15

Plate Control Strip (PLC)

Linearity
The adjacent linearity panel provides information on the optical (and thus also approximate geomet-
rical) imaging linearity.
With linear imaging the four areas (checkerboard pattern with squares of 1x1, 2x2, 4x4 and 8x8 pixels
each) have the same tonal value.

i
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Note: Heidelberg does not recommend optimizing for best linearity as each plate needs a
typical amount of light energy for reliable imaging. You can compensate any resulting non-
linearity with the "Calibration Manager".

Horizontal and vertical lines

The two panels containing horizontal and vertical lines also allow for an assessment of spot symme-
try and imaging linearity.
The horizontal and vertical lines are 1, 2, 3 and 4 pixels wide. Immediately adjacent to each other
they are exposed positively and negatively.
Imaging is linear and the pixel geometry symmetrical if positive and negative lines have equal widths
in both directions. There is an asymmetrical pixel structure if line widths are direction-dependent.
Imaging is nonlinear when there are differences between positive and negative lines.

Text field
The adjacent text panel with fine positive and negative type (0.5, 1. 2 and 4 point Times) allows the
plate resolution and the effect of nonlinearity and spot asymmetry to be assessed.

Tonal Value Scales

Another section lets you assess highlights and shadows in a conventional way and measure the ink
coverage values on the printing plate.

Plate background Linearized and process-calibrated tonal value scale

Solid ink field Tonal value scale without linearization and process calibration

Linearized tonal value scale

Ink coverage

The two solid ink and plate background fields can be used for measuring device calibration.

16 Version 2016
 Plate Control Strip (PLC)

Capturing of the top measuring fields determines the tonal values of the calibrated output in the cur-
rent screen.
With the measuring fields in the middle, you determine the tonal values of the linearized output in the
current screen.
With the measuring fields at the bottom, you can measure the ink coverage without linearization and
without process calibration in the current screen.
The nominal ink coverage values are given at the bottom.

Information about the screen quality

Output resolution in Y- and X-direction

Screen system
Dot shape

Nominal Actual
screen ruling screen angle

Allocation of Colors to Angles

The above detail shows the screen system used, the dot shape used, the nominal screen frequency
and screen angle. The name of the separation and the respective color token are also displayed here.

Calibration Curve Representation

Linearization

Process calibration Scale

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 17

Plate Control Strip (PLC)

The last two sections of the plate control strip indicate the effect of the calibration, the date and time
of data was processed in the RIP.
Tonal value change (related to data input) and calibration curves applied by specifying the file name.

i
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Note: The scale factor of the calibration curve may have been different for each separation
until now. The scale factor is now identical for all separations.

Date and time File name of linearization

File name of process calibration

Information about the calibration curve representation

Further information on the calibration is provided in the above section.

18 Version 2016
 Calibration Check (CalCurveName)
Calibration Check (CalCurveName)

General Information
Now and again in production, there are situations where it would have helped to have known what
calibration curves were used in prepress when creating the plates.
In principle, the names of the used plate linearization and process calibration are also output on the
plate control strip (PLC). However, the PLC is generally not found in the printable area.
The "CalCurveName" mark was created for this reason. With a size of 50mm x 5mm, it has been kept
very small so that it can also be printed in the trim. If need be, its size can be reduced even further
by scaling it.

Structure
The "CalCurveName" mark consists of a single output field. This shows the name of the mark, the
version number and the file type. The main content of the mark concerns the names of the plate lin-
earization and process calibration curves that were used.

Mark name Version number File type

Name of the linearization curve Name of the process calibration curve

CalCurveName mark

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 19

 Plate Variation Test (PLV)
Plate Variation Test (PLV)

Plate Variation Test (PLV)

General Information

i
i
Note: Further development of the plate variation tests (= plv) was discontinued as of ver-
sion 2.2. Today, the tests are available in the "universal" variant only.

The Heidelberger plate variation test is based on plate- and device-independent EPS files. It serves to
check and maintain the homogeneity of printing plate imaging. The plate variation test allows errors
in the plate production path (recorder, optics, plate, incidence of light, online processor and chemi-
cals) to be analyzed. It is designed for output at 948 to 1000 l/cm (2400 to 2540 dpi).
You can either directly output the plate variation test on the RIP or use application software (such as
QuarkXPress) to combine it with other tests and then output it.

Plate Variation Test Layout

The plate variation tests are designed for a maximum test sheet of 1000 x 700 mm. Only one plate is
created since the test is a pure, monochrome imaging test.

Complete test sheet

Plate variation test

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 21

Plate Variation Test (PLV)

The background is a full-format fine screen; depending on the plate type (thermal, silver-based or
polymer), different fine screens are used. The screen must be homogeneous across the entire sur-
face. It can be assessed visually or with a densitometer.
The entire test surface is alternately filled with 2 different types of round test patterns. They resemble
each other; the outer annular area is identical. The difference is in the center area.

Test area with line screen Test area with Siemens star

Test areas

The outer annular area looks (apart from the circular layout) similar to the comparison scale in the
plate control strips and serves the same purpose; see also "Plate Control Strip Layout", page 14.
Given optimum conditions, the variation should not be more than plus/minus one field across the
entire test surface either.

i
i
Note: If possible, there should not be any variation across the entire test sheet when FM
screens are to be printed.

The test area centers alternately consist of line screens and Siemens stars. Their purpose is to assess
the imaging geometry. The line screens serve the same purpose as the respective fields of the plate
control strips , see "Plate Control Strip Layout", page 14.
The Siemens star is also used to assess the focus adjustment and must look similar across the entire
test surface.

22 Version 2016
 Index
Index

B Banding 111

C Calibration 118
Calibration curves 118
Comparison scale 114
Control areas 114

D Date 118
Dimensions 112

F Fine screen strip 114

FM screen 115

H Highlights 116

I Imaging linearity 116

Ink coverage 117

L Linearity 116

M Measuring fields 117

N Nonlinearity 116

O Optimum workspace 115

P Plate background 116

Plate control strip 114
Plate variation test 121
Print quality 111

Q Quality Assurance 111

R Resolution 116

S Shadows 116
Solid ink field 116
Spot asymmetry 116
Spot quality 115
Spot symmetry 116

T Time 118
Tolerance range 115
Tonal value change 118
Tonal value match 115
Tonal value offset 115
Tonal value steps 114
Tonal values 117

Prinect CtP-Tools – User’s Guide 1

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Kurfuersten-Anlage 52–60
69115 Heidelberg
Germany
Phone +49 6221 92-00
Fax +49 6221 92-6999
www.heidelberg.com

Trademarks
Heidelberg, the Heidelberg logotype, Prinect, Suprasetter and Speedmaster are registered trademarks
of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG in the United States and other countries.
Adobe and PostScript and Acrobat are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems In-
corporated in the United States and/or other countries.
PANTONE and Hexachrome are registered trademarks of Pantone Inc.
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Subject to technical modifications and other changes.