Prepress
Xitron Announces Closed Loop Color Control for KeySetter Connect Ink Key Presetting Systems
Wednesday 17. October 2012 - Reduces make-ready time and materials 30-50% for new jobs
Improves productivity with closed loop color monitoring
Integrates with X-Rite IntelliTrax, EasyTrax Scanning Spectrophotometers and select Techkon Scanning Spectrophotometers
Xitron, Xitron, a leading developer of open prepress and pressroom workflow systems, today announced the release of a closed loop color control option its ink key presetting solution, KeySetter Connect. KeySetter Connect with Closed Loop provides automated ink key presetting and closed loop color control to a host of press consoles from leading industry manufacturers such as Adast, Heidelberg, KBA, Komori, Mitsubishi, Sakurai and Shinohara.
Xitron’s KeySetter family of pressroom workflow solutions includes four different options:
· KeySetter Lite – produces a simple chart of the ink key settings which can be printed to a printer or saved as a PDF file.
· KeySetter Pro – produces a specific file format for presses that require proprietary format ink key setting data.
· KeySetter Connect – provides a high degree of automation in the pressroom with a direct connection to the press console
· KeySetter Connect with Closed Loop Color Control – provides the greatest level of automation in the pressroom with a direction connection to the press console and an online scanning spectrophotometer
“Our KeySetter Connect customers asked for closed loop color control to further enhance their pressroom operation,” stated Mark Eisenschenk, Xitron’s President and CEO. “Customers with KeySetter Connect have reduced their make-ready time and materials by 30-50% on new jobs and as much as 70-90% on repeat jobs. One existing user who upgraded to the closed loop color control estimates that they can produce as much as one additional job per shift based on the increased productivity. KeySetter not only increases a printer’s productivity by extending the useful life of existing capital investments, it has one of the shortest financial payback periods of any workflow in the industry.”
KeySetter Connect with Closed Loop Color Control is available either as an add-on to an existing Xitron Navigator workflow or as a standalone system compatible with virtually all prepress workflow solutions in use today. KeySetter is powered by Xitron’s powerful workflow server software. The server provides the basis for many of Xitron workflow solutions including Navigator GPS and Navigator Elite. Extending the server functionality to handle the pressroom workflow was a logical step and makes integration between a prepress department and pressroom quick and easy.
KeySetter operation is very simple. First the job file is sent from the prepress department to the KeySetter software application. Next KeySetter examines the file and generates the initial ink key settings. Then it produces either a proprietary file format to be read by a specific press. In the case of KeySetter Connect, it directly connects to the press console. With three simple steps, using KeySetter can make preparing for print as easy as ready . . . set . . . print.
A direct interface to the X-Rite IntelliTrax or EasyTrax scanning spectrophotometers provide press operators a quick method for scanning entire press sheet color bars throughout the press room. The data from the scanner is sent to the KeySetter Connect software and then the operator need only approve the changes to change the ink keys during the press run. Connectivity with select Techkon scanning spectrophotometers is also offered.
This software runs on a PC system with one Navigator workflow server supporting multiple press consoles with KeySetter Lite, KeySetter Pro or KeySetter Connect. KeySetter Connect is accessed by the press operator through an intuitive touch-screen monitor application at the press console.