TypeMaker has signed a joint development agreement with ITEC, the firm behind the ColorBlind colour management software.

The Birmingham-based colour management specialist took on the European manufacturing of the software at the beginning of the year, and has now extended the deal to cover software development. Some of the development has already been carried out in the UK and will result in new products and upgrades being shown at Drupa. A completely new range of software will be launched by the end of the year.

"As part of the deal earlier this year we wanted to make sure development continued," said managing director Geoffrey Clements.

The first new product is a colour profile checking utility called OnTarget, which checks profile data against a reference data file for the IT8 target to check the accuracy of profiles. OnTarget will be bundled with other ColorBlind products and will also be available on line as a standalone utility. "Its like an Xtension for QuarkXPress," said Clements. "As colour management develops the industry will need utilities to add productivity."

The firm will be showing on the Dalims stand, which OEMs ColorBlind technology for use in its workflow products. The agreement was set-up by UK Dalim distributor Turning Point Technology, which is also south east reseller for ColorBlind.

TypeMaker has also taken on the UK distribution of a new low-cost spectrophotometer. The Spectrocam from SpectroStar. The device, which costs about 600 handles transmissive and reflective readings and includes a novel jig for reading large targets with many swatches.