Software - RIP Software

Saving money and managing inventory has become easier, thanks to the new Wasatch Cost Estimator. This powerful feature helps you control media, ink, and other production costs by accurately estimating the cost of every print you produce before you start production. Cost Estimator is included free of charge in Version 6.5 of Wasatch SoftRIP.

Wasatch SoftRIP is available in the UK and Europe from Tech8

Wasatch SoftRIP has been a key factor in helping Academy Awards, a custom car flag, banner, and sublimation print shop, make their workflow more efficient and productive. Since 2001, Academy Awards has been using Wasatch SoftRIP's Variable Data Printing (VDP) to print customized high school lockers, car flags, banners, novelty items, and more.

Academy Awards receives nearly 10,000 orders to customize lockers for high school athletes before the beginning of each school year. They also receive 20-100 orders per week throughout the year. Before they started using the Variable Data Printing option in SoftRIP, Academy Awards spent hours manually entering data for each individual order. But, with the ability to import their saved information directly into variable data fields, those days are in the past.

Wasatch SoftRIP is available in the UK and Europe from Tech8

Wasatch SoftRIP was instrumental in helping BS2i, an extra large-format printer in Honfleur, France, wrap France's tallest skyscraper, Tour Maine-Montparnasse. No stranger to the large-format printing industry, BS2i prints 30,000 to 40,000 square meters of graphics every month. They were awarded the job to provide large-format printing for The Vendée Globe, the grueling, round-the-world yacht race held every four years, by Athem, a Paris-based company that is well-known for staging brands universally through spectacular creations and ultra large formats.

 

Epson America, Inc. and EFI™ have joined forces to create what both companies expect will be the most advanced and complete proofing solution on the market to date. The new Epson Stylus® Pro 900 Series Proofing Editions combine the unique proofing advantages that come with the Epson Stylus Pro 7900 or 9900 wide format ink jet printers, along with EFI's most robust proofing RIP workflow to date, EFI Colorproof™ XF v4.0 for Epson. The end result is a unique and complete solution designed to redefine what's possible for virtually all contract-proofing applications.

"Epson is committed to being the world's leading manufacturer and provider of proofing solutions," said Mark Radogna, group product manager, Epson America, Inc. "This commitment means striving to deliver the best hardware, ink, software, and media on the market, finding new ways to keep advancing those technologies, and taking the kind of confident steps as a company that will keep the industry moving forward. Working with EFI on this ground-breaking proofing solution is a great example of that philosophy in action and we're very confident this collaborative effort will pay off for our customers in many new and exciting ways."

Epson worked closely with EFI to develop the workflow software (RIP) for the Epson Proofing Edition Series. EFI Colorproof XF v4.0 RIP for Epson takes advantage of the latest Adobe® PostScript® 3 and Adobe Print Engine 2.0 technologies and processes files to ensure consistent and accurate proofs for all types of color print work - commercial or flexographic. And with complete support of Epson's optional SpectroProofer™, virtually any color management process is completely automated, reducing complex labor costs significantly.

"This collaboration between us and Epson combines the best of both companies to provide a powerful proofing workflow solution for both commercial and flexographic proofing applications," said Marc Olin, senior vice president and general manager, EFI Advanced Professional Print Software. "Never before has such an innovative proofing solution been brought to market at such a great price point."

The Epson Proofing Edition Series comes with virtually everything needed to begin making contract-quality proofs right out of the box. The solution includes an Epson Stylus Pro 7900 (24-inch) or 9900 (44-inch) wide format ink jet printer, a complete set of Epson UltraChrome® HDR ink cartridges, and a full 24-inch roll of Epson Standard Proofing Paper 240. Furthermore, it comes with EFI Colorproof XF 4.0 for Epson (software-based RIP) with pre-installed profiles for Epson's entire line of Professional Proofing Papers.

Availability, Service and Support

The Epson Proofing Edition Stylus Pro 7900 and 9900 are now available through authorised resellers. They are supported by a standard Epson PreferredSM Limited Warranty, a one-year program that includes toll-free advanced telephone access Monday through Friday and usually next-business-day on-site service in the unlikely event of any hardware failure. Optional Epson Preferred Plus Service Plans are also available, offering one or two additional years of protection.

 

EFI announced the release of version 4.0 of its market-leading EFI Colorproof XF for software colour proofing and Fiery XF for production printing. Patent-pending Dynamic Wedge™, Intelligent Calibration, and enhanced spot-colour simulation provide a measurable advantage for achieving colour accuracy for every job and device, even in remote locations. EFI's new software increases productivity and saves costs by eliminating redundant production steps.

"Printing today requires full control of the entire colour supply chain with maximum productivity," said Frank Hueske, EFI product marketing manager. "EFI's new Colorproof XF 4.0 and Fiery XF 4.0 allows users to manage colour in a new dimension with efficient and fast production tools to achieve standardised, accurate colour effortlessly."

EFI Colorproof XF and Fiery XF V4 automation features ensure accurate set-up and maintenance of a perfectly defined colour workflow from linearisation and profiling to calibration, allowing hands-free overnight calibration.

Dynamic Wedge

EFI's patent-pending Dynamic Wedge™ is a revolutionary technology that checks and initiates optimisation of key colours - including spot colours - based on a dynamically created wedge. Unlike a static wedge (for instance the Ugra/Fogra media wedge), the software always takes into consideration the job's key colours and all spot colours relevant to colour analysis. Dynamic Wedge uses its advanced algorithms to analyse these colours. It also ensures the highest accuracy of output devices onsite and at remote locations. It is an essential tool for controlling key colours either in proofing or wide format production. Its dynamic analysis and tracking of spot colours makes it perfect for the packaging applications. Dynamic Wedge is a critical tool for matching logo and other special colours in CMYK. Another unique advantage of the Dynamic Wedge, which is essential for colour-critical applications, is its ability to automatically verify colour accuracy against standards such as ISO 12647-7.

Printing systems with embedded spectrophotometers will also benefit from the Dynamic Wedge. It fully automates verification and optimisation-for labour-saving colour-quality assurance.

Intelligent calibration

Version 4 of EFI Colorproof XF and Fiery XF also includes a re-linearisation and re-ink-limiting feature, which checks the calibration of output devices and automatically brings it back to its original state when parameters, such as media or ink, change. After analysing the device XF will either launch the re-linearisation or re- ink-limiting/-linearisation for easy and effective printer calibration. This new feature provides a fast and accurate method of ensuring calibration accuracy.

Enhanced spot-colour simulation

Enhanced spot-colour simulation automatically identifies the ideal output values to provide dead-on spot-colour simulations, with challenging low Delta Es.

Automated Proofing with Epson Stylus Pro x900

EFI Colorproof and Fiery XF v 4 prints a label directly on the proof on Epson Stylus Pro x900 printers with embedded spectrophotometer after inline verification. This allows the user to see if the proofs failed or passed immediately. This fully automated feature eliminates the use of a semi-automated measuring device as a first step before printing the label.

Each step of colour measurement from linearisation, profiling, calibration, optimisation and verification, as well as the immediate label printing directly on the output can be executed automatically. This complete workflow automation maximises productivity while ensuring colour accuracy.

"EFI XF v 4.0 solutions, which includes the revolutionary Dynamic Wedge, will dramatically change the current proofing workflow", said Hueske". V4's combination of features provide XF customers with the highest degree of colour control and automation."

Additional improvements include wizard-based licensing, set-up and configuration, Intuitive one-click spot-colour handling, uniform page scaling, easy conversion to grey scale, enhanced tiling and step-and-repeat functions.

EFI's improved proofing and print production tools extend automation with JDF-based communication to EFI's leading MIS and Web2Print Solutions. Support of latest technologies such as Adobe PDF Print Engine v2.0 streamline and enhance workflow communication.

 

 

 

ColorGATE has successfully developed support for the new HP Designjet L65500 Printer and its universal PRODUCTIONSERVER5 for high quality color management and the seamless integration with existing workflows and numerous application requirements. Following the successful introduction of previous RIP certification programs, HP has again defined an exhaustive set of criteria to verify compatibility and integration with the HP Designjet L65500 and hence ensure optimal printing performance.

ColorGATE provides the first certified Production RIP for the latest HP Latex Large Format printing system and the driver is now available in the ColorGATE printer driver category II. The HP Designjet L65500 Printer is the first of a new category of large format signage printers with HP Latex Inks that reduce the impact of printing on the environment.

More information: www.colorgate.com