• Extensis is founded. They are most known for SuitCase, a font manager for both Macintosh and Windows.

• The ScanView ScanMate is a nice example of a new generation of small desktop drum scanners that hit the market. These devices are sometimes called baby drum scanners. Some of them use a photomultiplier while cheaper ones are based on a CCD optical element.

• Screen launches the TaigaSPACE prepress workflow system.

• The PowerPC processor is a joint development of Motorola, IBM and Apple. It is first used by Apple in its Quadra 700 and 800 systems.

• The Indigo E-Print 100 (shown below) is a digital press that uses ElectroInk, a kind of fluid ink which in its first incarnation can actually be rubbed off the paper. Competing systems such as the Xeikon DCP-1, introduced the same year, rely on toner. In 2002 Indigo is acquired by HP while Punch Graphix buys Xeikon.

• Microsoft ships Windows NT, a dedicated server operating system. Initially NT runs on multiple hardware platforms, including the Dec Alpha which is used by several vendors to run their RIP software.

• Agfa introduces CristalRaster, the first stochastic screening algorithm. The company doesn’t patent the technology and soon alternative solutions such as Linotype-Hell’s Diamond Screening or Barco’s Monet Screening appear.

• At a Fogra conference the Intercolor Consortium (ICC) is founded. Its objectives are to share knowledge about color and develop standards for color management. A year later ICC adopts Apple’s ColorSync and launches version 2 of its ICC color profile format.

• IT8 test charts, such as the IT8.7/2 shown below, serve as targets to calibrate input devices such as scanners or printing processes.

• ADSL is developed at Bellcore. It will be one of the technologies to replace ISDN which a lot of prepress companies use to transfer files.

• There are 50 web servers active on the internet.

<1992 - 1994>