Pottery Barn  is an upscale home décor retailer known for its popular Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Bed&Bath, Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen brands. The company was looking for a way to improve the workflows with its printer, while reducing the time it takes between signing off on color proofs and actually printing and shipping catalogs out to its millions of mail-order customers.

It considered moving to a computer monitor-based soft proofing system, specifically that offered by New York-based Integrated Color Solutions (ICS), but it was hesitant. When you print 240 million mail-order catalogs per year – and every item in those catalogs depends on reliable, optimal color reproduction – you don’t take changes to your color proofing workflow lightly.

"As our primary merchandising vehicle and a design and style resource for our customers, our catalogs represent the Pottery Barn brand in every way -- and color is their most important attribute," said Clay Ide, Pottery Barn’s vice president of creative services.

The company decided to put the ICS proofing solution, called ICS Remote Director, through its paces over a period of several months.

ICS Remote Director is a SWOP-certified, monitor-based contract proofing system that applies advanced color management to verify the accuracy of monitors and proofs.  Users simply install it on a properly equipped Apple G4 or higher, and it allows multiple reviewers to view, collaborate and comment on color -- as well as content -- and build a digital record of the proofing process from start to finish. ICS said that with the system, which works with both RGB and CMYK workflows, reviewers can collaborate in real-time or perform proofing offline, streamlining overall workflows.

Pottery Barn found that ICS Remote Director soon proved it could not only produce accurate color proofs, but that it also saved time and streamlined the entire catalog proofing process.

“We knew immediately when we started testing that the color was accurate, and at this point, we are convinced that this is the only monitor-based proofing system that offers true predictability,” said Lacey Tuttle, color manager for Pottery Barn. “Remote Director lets us control our entire process -- from digital photography and page composition to contract proofs and press checks -- while saving valuable time. Now, we have no need to wait for an overnight package to arrive, and as soon as we work up a proof, our prepress provider can get to work on the changes."

Pottery Barn’s prepress firm, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based International Color Services, also finds Remote Director saves time and money in the prepress workflow. It installed the ICS Remote Director software on 45 Apple G5 workstations, configured with 17-in. and 20-in. LCD monitors, in order to support its business with Pottery Barn.

"Proofing always has been the bottleneck in the production process, and the Remote Director system removes that blockage,” said Rich Schueneman, vice president of technology for International Color Services. “With it, we can see accurate color on-screen, collaborate with Pottery Barn staff in San Francisco and complete each job without interruption. We can see the day when we put pages together without any hardcopy proofs."

Pottery Barn’s Ide agreed. “We see Remote Director as the next stepping stone in realizing the promise of digital color -- of going from camera to press with as few steps as possible, and with the best reproduction possible," he said.