Inkjet & Digital Printing
EFI Leadership in Digital Printing Innovation Takes Centre Stage at drupa 2008
Wednesday 16. April 2008 - Broadest Digital Printing, Workflow and Business Management Portfolio in the Industry a Must-See for drupa 2008 Visitors
EFI (Nasdaq: EFII), the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, will be showcasing its most extensive range of productivity and revenue generating print solutions ever in Europe at drupa 2008, from 29th May to 11th June in Dusseldorf, Germany. Visitors to its stand C01, Hall 5, will experience the industrys broadest array of leading digital solutions, from the latest Fiery, VUTEk and Jetrion digital printing innovation to the Print MIS and web-to-print solutions that are critical to increasing operational efficiency and profitability as printing businesses worldwide continue the analogue-to-digital transition. Visitors will also be able to view EFIs products in operation on the stands of EFI partners, including Canon, Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Xerox.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to demonstrate to customers and partners the latest results of our extensive investments in research and development that are delivering next-generation digital printing innovation. Our best-in-class Jetrion and VUTEk inkjet printers, the ongoing innovation that has allowed us to place more than 1.5 million Fiery servers, and the complete range of compatible workflow solutions that are designed to maximise productivity and profitability and provide a more streamlined and cost-efficient print operation, comprise one of the most comprehensive suites of integrated products available in the market today,” said Guy Gecht, EFI CEO. “This exhibition clearly demonstrates EFIs dedication to leading the industry transition from analogue to digital and from black & white to colour printing. Visitors to our booth will find many ways to improve productivity and reduce cost, while at the same time generating new revenue streams with new customers and new applications as they Print to Win.”
EFI will also hold a press conference at drupa on May 29th at 1300 hours in Room 14, CCD South, Messe Düsseldorf. Company executives will discuss business strategy and results, overview the companys portfolio of integrated solutions, and make additional announcements. Visitors to the EFI stand will have the opportunity for hands-on demonstrations and discussions with EFI professionals to learn how the wide range of solutions listed below can have an unmatched positive impact on their businesses.
Fiery
EFI will showcase next-generation Fiery technology, already the industrys leading colour digital print server with more than 15 million users worldwide. The Fiery open platform readily integrates into any technology environment and delivers new revenue opportunities, such as high-value variable data printing (VDP), with more options than any other digital print server in the industry. It also serves as a gateway to third-party technologies and EFI products, such as Colorproof XF for proofing and Digital StoreFront for web-to-print, as well as to EFI business management software and prepress solutions.
At drupa, EFI will feature first time demonstrations of the newest Fiery innovation to maximize customer efficiency, including Fiery integration with the Adobe PDF Print Engine (APPE) and Microsoft XPS support newly developed by EFI. The Fierys APPE integration augments existing Fiery PDF support, adding choices for customers to natively support PDF transparency across their workflows and to precisely print PDF files that match what they see on the screen during the content creation process. The technology EFI has developed in-house to process Microsoft XPS ensures that Fiery users have the ability to print Microsoft Vista Office documents with improved transparency and colour rendering, as well as smaller file sizes that speed processing and minimize network congestion. EFIs colour management system delivers consistent output across both the APPE and Microsoft XPS environments.
EFI will also announce new Fiery innovations in make-ready as well as enhancements to its intuitive user interface, and demonstrate new highly efficient, productive Fiery-driven workflows that solve customers most difficult print production challenges. This next-generation print production server will be demonstrated in powerful combinations with Fiery Central, EFIs production workflow, management and sophisticated make-ready solution; Splash Mac OS X-based workflow solution; EFI Color Profiler Suite, a profiling solution for graphic arts professionals; and MicroPress, EFIs raster-based colour and black & white workflow solution. These distinctive workflows include:
Professional Colour Workflow, to optimize colour from input to print. This demonstration features Fiery, Fiery Graphic Arts Package Premium Edition, and Color Profiler Suite;
Automated Make-Ready & Production Colour, featuring EFI MicroPress, demonstrating the efficient production of complex jobs;
Variable Data Solutions that unify variable data workflow, featuring Fiery and third-party VDP software from DirectSmile and XMPie;
Productive Document Workflows, featuring Fierys Impose and Compose options for efficient editing and assembly of static and variable documents prior to RIPping for final output without the need to modify native files, including adding or deleting pages, preflighting to check for errors and late-stage PDF editing;
Unique Mac-Based Colour Workflow, featuring Splash, Fiery, and the Impose and Compose options for a Mac workflow from Creation to Production;
Integrated Workflow Solution, featuring Fiery Central, Digital StoreFront, PrintSmith, Colorproof XF, and JDF integration, for efficient integration of job submission, management and printing.
VUTEk
EFIs VUTEk product line delivers best-in-class superwide-format printing with a broad range of superwide format digital inkjet printers, all driven by the powerful Fiery XF RIP, will be a central element of EFIs stand at drupa 2008. For many drupa visitors, this will be the first opportunity to view the QS3200r, VUTEks newest addition to the award winning QS-series of UV printers for unmatched performance and productivity in roll-to-roll printing.
Featured VUTEk solutions include:
The EFI VUTEk QS2000, EFIs 2 metre UV-curing digital inkjet printer with a production output of up to 74 square metres per hour on both flexible and rigid substrates at resolutions of up to 1080 dpi. The QS2000 offers both four- and six-colour imaging and a special seventh white ink channel. This printer is an ease-of-entry option for sign printers and graphic display manufacturers, who wish to add digital UV production to their product mix, or for commercial printers looking to add new revenue streams. This printer is also available in a 3.2 metre format in the QS3200.
The EFI VUTEk QS3200r is EFIs 3.2 metre roll-to-roll UV-curing digital inkjet printer with a production output of up to 172 square metres per hour. It caters to sign shops, screen printers and commercial printers looking to complement or replace existing solvent or UV output with the highest image quality and UV roll-to-roll capability.
The EFI VUTEk 3360, EFIs 3 metre roll-to-roll solvent printer, available with Fusion, (an optional second ink delivery system), enables it to print solvent or dye-sublimation output at the flip of a switch in 4-, 6-, or 8-colour modes. Also available on the VUTEk 3360 are BioVu inks, EFIs breakthrough VOC-free, environmentally friendly, corn-based solvent ink solution. The VUTEk 3360 is available with entry level configurations that are fully upgradeable, making it easier than ever for print shops to step up to the legendary print quality, performance and reliability of a VUTEk digital inkjet printer.
APPS (Advanced Professional Print Solutions)
EFIs APPS division, responsible for the companys industry-leading MIS, web-to-print, proofing and production solutions, was created to equip print service providers with the tools they require to create high quality, colour-accurate print in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.
Visitors to the EFI stand will get a first look at EFIs new Proofing to Go RIP software, Colorproof eXpress, a powerful entry level proofing product being launched at drupa. Colorproof eXpress outputs accurate proofs, full colour printouts and brilliant photos with a single RIP/inkjet printer combination.
Targeted at creative professionals, graphic designers, small agencies, pre press houses and print buyers, Colorproof eXpress is easy to use and delivers high-quality output with minimal set-up time. Running on either Mac OS X or Windows, Colorproof eXpress eliminates integration issues while delivering quality proofs from the users platform of choice.
EFI will also be highlighting these additional APPS solutions:
The latest version of Digital StoreFront (DSF), EFIs award winning web-to-print solution for print service providers. DSF combines an intuitive e-commerce interface with powerful back-end automation. EFI gives customers a choice between hosting the application themselves and using EFI to host it for them, and DSF is the only solution on the market that offers a choice of VDP technology providers. Digital StoreFront supports 14 languages.
PrintSmith and Hagen print management systems, which connect business and production processes, automating the workflow from estimating through to invoicing.
The first-time showing of an enhanced version of EFI Prograph, a comprehensive production planning solution for large web offset, sheetfed and gravure commercial printing facilities that includes revolutionary new JDF capabilities as well as contract administration and billing functions. This will also be on display in the JDF Experience Parc in the innovation hall (Hall 7).
The newest version of EFI PrintFlow, a dynamic scheduling tool that closes process gaps, relieves bottlenecks, automatically adjusts to rapidly changing conditions and optimizes the entire business operation.
Auto-Count DMI, a shop-floor data collection solution that seamlessly integrates with EFIs higher-end solutions and provides real-time production intelligence. Auto-Count eliminates overruns and underruns, giving the customer the opportunity to minimise waste, improve capacity and increase profitability. Auto-Count is also available in an entry-level version, Auto-Count Lite, with a clear upgrade path as business needs grow.
EFI Colorproof XF, the cross platform proofing and large-format production solution that supports a variety of inkjet printers (up to 2.64m or 104″) from various manufacturers and provides the highest level of colour quality and control as well as consistent colour across multiple applications and locations.
Fiery XF, which leverages EFI’s proofing competence for perfect colour, offering intelligent Clean Color and Full Gamut Technology for brilliant print results in wide format and superwide format. Fiery XF is a complete cross-platform application for both production and proofing purposes.
Jetrion
The Jetrion 4000 UV Inkjet System, which is now commercially available, is a unique industrial inkjet printer that is launching the digital label printing revolution. The Jetrion 4000 offers label converters an affordable, full-colour narrow web alternative to toner-based digital printers for label runs of up to 50,000 labels.
With speeds of up to 30.5 metres/min at more than 1000 dpi with greyscale technology, the Jetrion 4000 delivers full-colour label printing up to 13.9 cms (5.5 ins) wide. The system also features Jetrions advanced 4- or 6-colour UV ink sets, which, in combination with EFIs Fiery XF RIP, provide outstanding colour reproduction across a wide range of substrates.