News | July 27, 2010

Datacolor Presents TOOLS 2.0 - Next Generation Color Quality Control Software

Lawrenceville, NJ - Datacolor, the global leader in digital color management technology, recently announced the release of TOOLS 2.0, the next generation of its highly-regarded color quality control and management software.

For industries that evaluate and decide on colored products by numbers and/or visual representation, including textile, paint, plastic, ink, paper, cosmetics, automotive, and many others, TOOLS 2.0 provides superior, comprehensive quality control that is consistent at every step of the supply chain. With a new .NET-based environment, Windows 7 compatibility, a familiar Microsoft Office 2007 style interface, and updated and easily accessible features and functionality, TOOLS 2.0 grants companies the flexibility to accommodate the oft-changing requirements of customers, suppliers and internal color laboratories.

Keeping in mind the inevitability of rapid change in a given customer's color trends and requests, TOOLS 2.0 is designed to quickly and easily create color measurement files and establish pass/fail criteria. The software navigation has been significantly streamlined; enabling users at any experience level to create customized reports and screens for viewing data, as well as configure forms for printing data. This flexibility and ease of use is critical to satisfying the needs of customers while also integrating internal color workflow and maximizing productivity.

"Across the dozens of industries that regularly rely on color precision, companies have routinely deployed Datacolor software to carefully control and manage their color production process, not just at one stage, but across the entire supply chain," said Brian Levey, Vice President, Industrial Business Unit, Datacolor. "TOOLS 2.0 adds to this legacy of invaluable and comprehensive color management software. And, we also implemented spectral visualization of color on different substrates in TOOLS 2.0 – an industry first.. Controlling color quality can be very complicated, but TOOLS 2.0 insures that efficiency doesn't need to be sacrificed for quality."

Features of the new TOOLS 2.0 include:

Configurable user interface, layout and workflow:

Complete backward compatibility: for minimum learning curve and continuous productivity, users that are familiar with established procedures and data presentation layouts can continue to use existing, default and customized forms or take advantage of modern templates/pane layouts
Integrated Datacolor ENVISION component: offers accurate on-screen color and appearance; delivers unmatched color accuracy and spectral visualization of textured samples
Desktop Explorer for streamlined data-management: enables users to concentrate on primary tasks while being assured of secured and access- controlled data mining and retrieval
Interactive Smart Graphs: intuitive and advanced 2- and 3-D plots, along with interactive controls, enable detailed sample analysis and rapid oversight of actual and past deliveries
Simplified Tolerance Management: state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and proprietary Datacolor tolerance generating functions enable users to create individual tolerances based on visual decisions. Created tolerances can be color specific for a variety of materials, or even color independent if used on similar materials
Design Link to Adobe Software: bridges the gap between production and design, users can convert color reflectance data from out of the QC application into commonly used Adobe file formats
Secure and flexible data sharing for color lifecycle management: multiple data deployment methods include stand alone, LAN based with shared database access or Terminal-Server/CITRIX based installation; enables individual companies to choose their preferred deployment method
Seamless integration to Datacolor formulation software: instant access to any Datacolor application that produces a color sample

SOURCE: Datacolor