Summer 2004                    return to newsletter contents page

TWGA Report Indicates Demand for Color Management Reaches Five-Year High

Imagine going to a department store to buy a white shirt and getting home to find out it's actually light blue. This is the problem graphic designers have faced for years. The color they saw on their monitors did not match the color on the printed page, or more important still, the product. Thus the need for color management was born. Though development began in the late 80's, acceptance and use of color management offerings has been slow and cumbersome for the creative community.

According to a new study just released by TrendWatch Graphic Arts, demand for color management offering is now at five-year high. Reportedly, 17% of design and production firms plan to invest in color management software in the next

12 months. This is the highest rate of demand since the Winter of 1998. Significant is the fact that this demand can somewhat be attributed to Commercial Photographers, of which 38% have stated plans to invest in color managements solutions. In addition, 27% of all creative firms recently stated that demand for "color critical" jobs has been increasing, driving new demand for color management tools. The report, titled "Color Management: After All These Years...Still A Gray Area" is available for online purchase at the TWGA eStore in PDF format. For more information, please go to the TWGA website.

Vince Naselli, Director, TrendWatch Graphic Arts, noted, "Though these numbers are encouraging, it's also somewhat misleading. The demand and implementation of color management goes far beyond the specific software and hardware solutions sold. Color management has become increasingly integrated into so many offerings today that many users hardly appreciate its impact in their day-to-day lives. Today, many scanners, image editing, page layout and proofing solutions offer integrated and thus more user-friendly-and invisible-color management tools that are seamless to standard workflows. Accordingly, color management is indeed playing a major and increasing role in today's production facilities, though many solution providers may still not be realizing the bottom-line profits once hoped for."

According to the Report

Demand Up for Printers: 12% of all print and prepress firms planned to invest in color management capabilities-the highest response for this question in the history of our surveys;

Color Management on the Web: 7% of Internet design and development firms planned to invest in Website color management capabilities, the highest that category has ever tracked;

Internet Proofing Growing: 43% of graphic design firms say their use of online proofing has increased in the past 12 months;

Color Proofing Challenge: "color proofing" was a business challenge for 41% of design and production firms-the highest this challenge has ever charted;

Shrinking Film Proofs: 25% of printing and prepress firms use single-sheet proofs made from printing films for final sign-off proofs with clients (down from 46% in Spring 2002).

The TrendWatch Graphic Arts "Color Management: After All These Years…Still A Gray Area" report is available for purchase by visiting the secure TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore online at www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com or by phone at 866-873-6310. The price for the 166-page report is $1295. TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.

Editor's Note: Additional information pertaining to each report is available for editorial purposes. Please make inquiries directly to Judie Ryer (646-746-7234 or jryer@reedbusiness.com). Vince Naselli is also available for phone interviews upon request.  Mr. Naselli can be reached at 646-746-7304.

About TrendWatch Graphic Arts: TrendWatch Graphic Arts specializes in the assessment of trends and changes in graphic communications markets by providing timely and strategic information, hard-hitting market analysis and concise expert opinion. The reports have earned the reputation for containing the most reliable and timely industry intelligence in the graphic arts and graphic design marketplaces. TrendWatch Graphic Arts can be reached on the webat  www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com,  via email at info@trendwatchgraphicarts.com or toll-free by phone at 866-873-6310.