Dalim Software GmbH, originally Dalim GmbH (previously stylized as DALiM), is a German software company focused on

prepress Prepress is the term used in the printing and publishing industries for the processes and procedures that occur between the creation of a print layout and the final printing. The prepress process includes the preparation of artwork for press, media ...

, digital

imaging Imaging is the representation or reproduction of an object's form; especially a visual representation (i.e., the formation of an image). Imaging technology is the application of materials and methods to create, preserve, or duplicate images. ...

, and digital and print media creation and management. It was founded in 1986 by Francis Lamy in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. The company enjoyed a large market share within high-end color houses before faltering in the late 1990s and entering

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

in 1998. In 1999, the company was split three ways, with the majority of Dalim's assets handed to their American reseller Blanchard Systems, who launched Dalim Software GmbH in Germany in the same year.

History

Dalim Software

GmbH (; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. It is a ...

was founded as Dalim GmbH in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, by Francis M. Lamy in 1986. Before founding Dalim, Lamy earned a trio of degrees in French universities, including a doctorate of physics at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

and a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

and a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in mathematics from the

University of Lyon The University of Lyon ( , or UdL) is a university system ( ''ComUE'') based in Lyon, France. It comprises 12 members and 9 associated institutions. The 3 main constituent universities in this center are: Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, which f ...

. The company's first flagship product was Dalim Litho, an

and

photo retouching Photograph manipulation involves the transformation or alteration of a photograph. Some photograph manipulations are considered to be skillful artwork, while others are considered to be unethical practices, especially when used to deceive. Mot ...

suite aimed at

and repro houses. It was introduced in Europe in around 1987 and in the United States in 1989. It ran exclusively on

Tektronix Tektronix, Inc., historically widely known as Tek, is an American company best known for manufacturing test and measurement devices such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. Originally an independent c ...

Motorola 88000 The 88000 (m88k for short) is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Motorola during the 1980s. The MC88100 arrived on the market in 1988, some two years after the competing SPARC and MIPS. Due to the late start and extensive delays ...

–based

workstation A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or computational science, scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating syste ...

s. Major components of Litho were sourced from Digisolve Ltd., a British developer and integrator of

CAD/CAM CAD/CAM refers to the integration of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). Both of these require powerful computers. ''CAD'' software helps designers and draftsmen; ''CAM'' "reduces manpower costs" in the manufacturi ...

software and workstations. By 1988, Dalim was already a major competitor in the 2D computer graphics market, competing with

Genigraphics Genigraphics is a large-format printing service bureau specializing in providing poster session services to medical and scientific conferences throughout the US and Canada. The company began in 1973 as a division of General Electric. History G ...

and

Crosfield Electronics Crosfield Electronics was a British electronics imaging company founded by John Crosfield (1915 – 2012) and Dennis Bent in 1947 to produce process imaging devices for the print industry. The firm was notable for its innovation in colour drum ...

, among others. Tektronix discontinued their workstation lines in the turn of the 1990s, forcing Dalim to transition to

Silicon Graphics, Inc. Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...

(SGI), workstations for further software development. In 1993, they introduced , a image editing suite focused on photo retouching, for SGI's

IRIX IRIX (, ) is a discontinued operating system developed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) to run on the company's proprietary MIPS architecture, MIPS workstations and servers. It is based on UNIX System V with Berkeley Software Distribution, BSD extensio ...

operating system. Around the same time, Dalim also transitioned Litho over from Tektronix to SGI. Litho on SGI was capable of manipulating trap,

pagination Pagination, also known as paging, is the process of dividing a document into discrete page (paper), pages, either electronic pages or printed pages. In reference to books produced without a computer, pagination can mean the consecutive page num ...

, color correction and high-resolution photo manipulation. In late 1994, the company introduced Dalim Twist, a

file format converter Data conversion is the conversion of computer data from one format to another. Throughout a computer environment, data is encoded in a variety of ways. For example, computer hardware is built on the basis of certain standards, which requires t ...

and batch volume processor for prepress. Twist could convert between

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

Scitex Suny Cellular Communication was known as Scitex Corporation Ltd. until December 2005 and Scailex Corporation Ltd. () until November 2016. History Scitex was an Israel-based multi-national company, founded by Efraim (Efi) Arazi in 1968, and wh ...

, Crosfield, and

Screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing or ''silkscreening'', a printing method * Big screen, a nickname for motion pictures * Split screen (filmmaking), showing two or more images side by side * Stochastic screening and Halftone ...

formats and acted as a batch

raster image processor A raster image processor (RIP) is a component used in a printing system which produces a raster image also known as a bitmap. Such a bitmap is used by a later stage of the printing system to produce the printed output. The input may be a page ...

for

PostScript PostScript (PS) is a page description language and dynamically typed, stack-based programming language. It is most commonly used in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm, but as a Turing complete programming language, it c ...

files and as a server for downconverting high-resolution assets to machines running Dalim software, for the sake of performance in image placement (via the Open Prepress Interface protocol). Both Tango, Litho, and Twist enjoyed a considerable market share within high-end color houses. Dalim's success in the 1990s proved short-lived, however, and in 1998 the company encountered significant financial difficulty. In December 1998, after a major investor pulled out of the company, Dalim became insolvent and entered

in Germany. Their business partner

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (), sometimes referred to as Heidelberg or Heideldruck for short, is a German precision mechanical engineering company with registered offices in Heidelberg (Baden-Württemberg) and headquarters in nearby Wiesloch-W ...

, also based in Germany, was rumored to be prepared to acquire Dalim out of bankruptcy; as was Goss Graphic Systems, an American printing press manufacturer based in

Westmont, Illinois Westmont is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwest suburb of Chicago. History The area known as Westmont earlier had been inhabited by the Potawatami. After several failed attempts by the U.S. government to p ...

, who had made a significant investment in Dalim in 1997. Instead, the company was split three ways in early 1999, with the majority of Dalim's assets handed to their American reseller Blanchard Systems, who launched Dalim Software GmbH in Germany in the same year, while other assets were acquired by OneVision Software AG. Following the split, Lamy left the company, joining GretagMacbeth of

New Windsor, New York New Windsor is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 27,805 at the 2020 census. It is located on the eastern side of the county and is adjacent to the Hudson River and the City of Newburgh. History The region wa ...

. Since the split, Dalim Software relocated to

Kehl Kehl (; ) is a city with around 38,000 inhabitants in the southwestern Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies in the region of Baden on the Rhine River, at the confluence with the smaller Kinzig (Rhine), Kinzig River, directly oppo ...

, Germany. , Dalim's most popular products include Dalim Twist and Dalim ES, the latter a

dashboard A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...

and workflow automation suite for printing presses.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.dalim.com/ 1986 establishments in West Germany 1999 mergers and acquisitions German companies established in 1986 IRIX software Raster graphics editors Software companies established in 1986 Software companies of Germany Technical communication tools