$108,000 Software Gift Enables Instruction in New Color-Printing Method at Cal Poly

A gift of computer software from an Australian firm will introduce Cal Poly graphic communication students to a new type of color printing that can produce a wider color spectrum in richer tones than traditional methods.

The software, from Opaltone Graphic Solutions, splits an image into seven colors for reproduction instead of the four "process colors" familiar to anyone in the graphics business.

The 36 donated copies of Opaltone Seven Color Process software will be used for both teaching and student research projects, said Graphic Communication Professor Penny Osmond.

"Opaltone will provide our students with great opportunities for conducting research and testing in high-fidelity color printing," Osmond said. "With Opaltone, the increased color gamut enables higher quality and richer color reproduction of digital images and photographs."

Graphic Communication Department Head Harvey Levenson said the software will also be demonstrated in seminars and workshops conducted for industry.

Cal Poly's graphic communication program is one of the largest of its kind in the nation.
More information about Opaltone is available on the Web at www.opaltone.com.