Inkjet & Digital Printing
Canon Europe previews imagePRESS CR Server A7000 at Graphitec 2009
Wednesday 10. June 2009 - Canon Europe, world leader in digital imaging solutions, today announces the imagePRESS CR Server A7000, its new CREO Color Server technology-based controller for Canons imagePRESS C7000VP, C6000VP and C6000 digital presses.
The product of a collaboration between Canon and Kodak Print On-Demand Solutions Group, the new colour print server offers a unique RIP architecture, exceptional productivity and ease of use, superior colour management and a comprehensive Variable Data Printing (VDP) solution. It also enables printers to seamlessly integrate Canons imagePRESS digital presses into a variety of professional workflows. The imagePRESS CR Server A7000 will make its European debut on the Canon stand (Stand number 4 B 031) at Graphitec in Paris, from 9th to 12th June.
Powered by CREO Color Server Technology, the imagePRESS CR Server A7000 will allow customers to extend their choice of print engines to take full advantage of Canons imagePRESS technology to deliver high quality digital colour prints. The new servers advanced Fusion imaging hardware and software produce high performance VDP output, while at the same time maximising press efficiency, flexibility and job processing.
David Preskett, European Professional Print Director, Canon Europe, comments: “We recognise that, for many customers, their workflow is the backbone of their print environments. Were therefore introducing the imagePRESS CR Server A7000 to give customers a wider choice and allow them access to the significant benefits and revenue opportunities offered by the imagePRESS engines while continuing to use the workflow to which theyre already committed.
“Although weve had a long and fruitful association with Kodak, this collaboration is Canons first with Kodaks Print On-Demand Solutions Group,” continues Preskett. “It has, however, proved to be very successful and the resulting product of our close collaboration, the imagePRESS CR Server A7000, will help to meet our customers demanding print production requirements. The imagePRESS CR Server A7000 offers customers a range of features designed to deliver exceptional productivity and to be intuitively easy to use. For example, it incorporates an extensive set of post-RIP editing features, which save processing time by allowing the operator to make changes to a RIPd job without the need to re-impose and re-RIP the job.”
“Providing the powerful CREO Color Server Technology enables Canon imagePRESS digital press to better serve the demands of professional users,” says Hezy Rotman, General Manager Kodaks Print On-Demand Solutions. “Traditional commercial printers are looking for digital solutions that can integrate with their existing workflows. The new imagePRESS CR Server A7000 enables this type of efficient hybrid environment – helping commercial printers add digital workflow management solutions without jeopardizing their productivity and high quality.”
A comprehensive set of imposition tools, including an Imposition Template Builder that enables the easy creation of new imposition templates and on the fly VDP imposition, which allows the operator to apply imposition without reprocessing, provides additional productivity gains. The server also incorporates a unique VDP (variable data printing) architecture and data flow, which includes a Gallop mode that enables the operator to begin printing a defined number of pages while the job is still processing, together with virtual printers and hot folders for increased automation of print jobs.
Productivity can be further boosted with the addition of the optional Process Power Pack, which includes Parallel rip and Photo touch-up Software features. Parallel rip reduces the total production time by running two jobs in parallel, and Photo touch-up Software offers comparative before and after views, ideal for the growing photobook market.
The imagePRESS CR Servers ease of use is highlighted by its innovative graphic user interface, which offers clear views of queues, the storage area and the paper decks, including the paper stock used, as well as by the easy VDP file creator. With this tool, an operator without any specific knowledge of VDP can easily and automatically create a VDP job from a set design templates – bundled applications for corporate orders, direct mail and promotions that will help customers to develop a knowledge of VDP and move them onto Canons Path to Profit.
Preskett further comments: “CREO Color Servers long heritage in both offset and digital commercial print and its high industry credibility made the company the ideal partner for Canon in the development of the new imagePRESS CR Server A7000. Were therefore quietly confident that the new server will prove to be an attractive proposition for print service providers who are looking for a powerful VDP solution that supports professional third party applications and languages, such as VPS and PPML, to produce personalised direct mail, transactional data statements or marketing collateral.”
The imagePRESS CR Server A7000 will be available across Europe from 1st September 2009.
Canon offers a full range of both monochrome (imagePRESS 1110, 1125 and 1135) and colour (imagePRESS C7000VP, C6000VP and C6000) production digital presses which can be easily integrated into any printing environment.