Inkjet & Digital Printing
Xerox Software Speeds Up Production of Photo Books, Greeting Cards and Calendars
Tuesday 22. January 2008 - Automatic image enhancement tool features multiple photo-quality settings
Advanced software from Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) makes it easier and faster for commercial printers, photo labs and photo retailers to produce photo books, greeting cards and calendars – the fastest growing segment of the specialty photo printing market.
The Xerox FreeFlow Printer Server with JPEG Plug-in for the Xerox DocuColor 242/252/260 Digital Color Printer/Copier simplifies the photo production process by allowing print operators to use the image files in the same format they receive them, eliminating steps from all stages of the production process and improving efficiency.
Until now, when customers submitted raw JPEG files for photo specialty products, print providers were required to pre-process each photo through photo editing programs. However, the JPEG Plug-in eliminates this time-consuming step from the process and offers easy printing of the appropriate size, number and layout of photos.
According to InfoTrends, a leading industry research and consulting firm, the photo specialty printing market is expected to reach $2 billion by 2010 with a 26 percent compound annual growth rate. Through innovative software like the JPEG Plug-in and industry-leading technology like the Xerox DocuColor and Xerox iGen3 Digital Production Press family of digital color printers, Xerox is helping print professionals profit from this growth opportunity.
Dan’s Camera City in Allentown, Pa., one of the nation’s largest single-location camera stores, was one of the first customers to test the Xerox FreeFlow Print Server with JPEG Plug-in. Consumers submit their photo files through in-store kiosks and via the Web, and the company’s photo lab uses a Xerox DocuColor 260 to produce photo specialty products. Dan’s Camera City is a Fujifilm U.S.A., Inc. customer and an example of the growing alliance between Fujifilm and Xerox to help customers build their photo business.
“Helping our customers preserve their memories is our number one priority,” said Steve Olock, director, Imaging Services, Dan’s Camera City. “This Xerox software makes sure that each digital print job is produced quickly and flawlessly, no matter how complex the file or the project. With its advanced technology, our lab operators spend less time manipulating files and more time ensuring the finished product is something customers will want to keep forever.”
Pre-set queues, a unique feature of the Xerox FreeFlow Print Server with JPEG Plug-in, allow print operators to produce photo products, no matter how complex, with greater ease. Benefits include the ability to print a zip file of JPEGs as one print job or individual print jobs and account for image and paper size, layout style, sequencing, as well as gutter and crop marks. Operators can easily produce the most common size images by dragging and dropping a file into a folder based on the desired output size.
One touch correction for poor quality photos
The Xerox FreeFlow Print Server also offers Automatic Image Enhancement for “one-click” photo enhancements without the time or expense associated with traditional photo manipulation. Print providers producing photo books, greeting cards, posters, calendars and memory books on the Xerox DocuColor 242/252/260 can easily adjust eight quality settings including exposure, sharpening, saturation and red-eye reduction – without having to go back into the photo editing software.
Pricing and availability
The JPEG Plug-in option for the FreeFlow Print Server will be available worldwide through Fujifilm, a reseller of Xerox products and solutions, beginning in February and will be available worldwide through other Xerox sales channels in the second quarter of 2008. Automatic Image Enhancement is available worldwide today as a standard feature of the FreeFlow Print Server and FreeFlow Process Manager.
The JPEG Plug-in will be demonstrated at the 2008 Photo Marketing Association International Convention and Trade Show, the world’s largest annual photo imaging trade show, Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 in Las Vegas.