Software - RIP Software

ArtSystems has joined with ONYX Graphics to help launch ONYX Thrive to the UK reseller channel.  The launch will kick off with a series of product briefings to invited partners, followed by end-user events and offers to explain the new approach that Thrive brings to RIP technology.

The new ONYX Thrive™ workflow software gives print service providers a scalable print production solution based on Adobe technologies.  Customers can now have full confidence about investing in workflow software that fits into their business today and tomorrow with the ability to scale up their ONYX Thrive as their business grows.

ONYX Thrive enables a true end-to-end PDF workflow from digital file submission through to colour management, printing and cutting. The Thrive Production Manager browser-based user interface enables workflow control from anywhere, optimising both operator and output device productivity.

"This is the biggest change to ONYX software in ten years and represents the move to distributed print management with a scalable software package that removes many of the old barriers to upgrades and user accessibility. It means that in many ways people need to rethink what ONYX is as a RIP and start to look at it as truly comprehensive print production management tool with outstanding colour control.  Simply put, it has the ability to make significant cost savings across their business through its scalability," comments Andrew Edwards, sign & display divisional manager at ArtSystems.

GMG ProductionSuite, announced at Fespa last month, makes its UK debut at Sign & Digital UK on stand M60. According to GMG, it is the most complete solution in the market for indoor and outdoor advertising, sign and super-wide format printing, adding new capabilities in colour consistency, flexibility and economy.

GMG ProductionSuite is a modular system, comprising Editor, RIP, SmartProfiler, PrintStation and optional EcoSave:

• The GMG ProductionSuite Editor central processing unit: gives users access to precision visuals that profile output quality allowing a user to monitor every detail of the end result prior to printing and, if necessary, edit work directly within the application. The integrated Tiling Tool simplifies the precise preparation of tiled images for later assembly. The GMG ProductionSuite Editor displays all the settings required for processing in one main window. It takes just a few mouse clicks to define and position pockets, hems, grommets and pole pockets. The Editor calculates the required number of grommets and, using a simple checkbox, the user can choose to omit corners. By accessing native data formats, such as PDF, PSD and AI, the GMG ProductionSuite Editor enables the variable editing of closed file formats. It is just as easy to implement a long production run with a number of different motifs, as it is to change individual images, texts, graphics or other elements. Additional functions include: Integrated data preflight and process automation options.
• The GMG ProductionSuite RIP: runs in the background, entirely independently of the work steps in the Editor. Print jobs requiring full computing power can thus be prepared while others have already been sent to the RIP. To check the final RIPped data prior to printing, the image in the Output Inspector corresponds exactly to the colour separations and colour quantities in the actual print data.
• The GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler: aligns the colour results from several printers of similar type based on colour profiles and printer calibrations and, importantly, automatically converts spot colours to the target printer’s colour gamut.
• The GMG ProductionSuite PrintStation: Thanks to a user interface that visualises device- and media-dependent imposition, data can easily be grouped and prepared for production. Individual print jobs can be variably combined and optimized so as to ensure optimum material use and cutting sequences. The goal is to greatly accelerate order processing and significantly reduce material use.
• The GMG EcoSave option: is capable of reducing ink consumption by up to 20% ink while maintaining the same high output quality and productivity. Colour quality is maintained under optimum conditions whilst delivering substantial ink savings.
• Additional options: include Industrial Cutting, True Shape Nesting, Screen- and Variable Data Printing.

GMG ProductionSuite currently supports over 800 output devices. A flexible licensing model permits custom installation: from a simple configuration on one computer with only one RIP, one Editor and functions for driving one or two output devices, all the way to an extensive decentralised configuration with several editors that can send jobs to over ten printers and cutters.

GMG ProductionSuite runs under Mac OS® 10.5 - 10.7, Windows® XP, Vista and Windows 7.

Wasatch has announced that its SoftRIP solution is now fully certified for the HP Designjet L26500 and L28500 printers under the HP RIP Certification Programme. Only third-party companies that have demonstrated conformance with HP's set of compatibility criteria are awarded HP Designjet L26500 and L28500 certified status.

Certification tests for the HP Designjet L26500 and L28500 printers include printing performance, calibration using embedded spectrophotometer, media flexibility, printer management, job management, dual-sided printing support, and more. Wasatch Computer Technology has produced a number of imaging configurations for the HP Designjet L26500 and offers imaging configurations produced by HP for the HP Designjet L26500 and L28500.

GMG is positioning its ProductionSuite application as the most comprehensive production solution on the market for indoor/outdoor advertising businesses. The GMG ProductionSuite is available with immediate effect from GMG distributors and will also be demonstrated at FESPA 2012 on GMG’s stand H22 in Hall 3 and at the stands of its partners, JetSet (C38), Roland DG (H30) and Zünd Systemtechnik (P10).

GMG ProductionSuite targets both GMG’s typical, quality-oriented users, as well as those who put strong emphasis on maximum productivity. GMG ProductionSuite offers the entire range of functions required today in a modern wide-format production environment. It is a modular system, comprising Editor, RIP, SmartProfiler and PrintStation and currently supports over 800 output devices.

A flexible licensing model permits custom installation: from a simple configuration on one computer with only one RIP, one Editor and functions for driving one or two output devices, all the way to an extensive decentralised configuration with several editors that can send jobs to over ten printers and cutters. GMG ProductionSuite runs under Mac OS 10.5 - 10.7, Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

The GMG ProductionSuite Editor is the application’s central processing unit

Simple, intuitive tools support highly efficient workflows. Users have access at all times to precision visuals that profile output quality. This way, a user can monitor every single detail of the end result prior to actual printing and, if necessary, edit work right in the application. The integrated Tiling Tool makes it easy in just a few steps to prepare tiled images very precisely for later assembly. The tedious process of calculating scaling factors to determine material input is eliminated, because images are edited right in the final format.

The GMG ProductionSuite Editor displays all settings required for processing in one main window. It takes just a few mouse clicks to define and position pockets, hems, grommets and pole pockets. The Editor even calculates the required number of grommets and, using a simple checkbox, the user can choose to omit corners. By accessing native data formats, such as PDF, PSD and AI, the GMG ProductionSuite Editor enables the variable editing of closed file formats. It is just as easy to implement a long production run with a number of different motifs, as it is to change individual images, texts, graphics or other elements. Integrated data preflight and process automation options round out the extensive range of functions.

The GMG ProductionSuite RIP

The GMG ProductionSuite RIP runs in the background, entirely independently of the work steps in the Editor. Print jobs requiring full computing power can thus be prepared while others have already been sent to the RIP.

To be able to check the final RIPped data prior to printing, the image in the Output Inspector corresponds exactly to the colour separations and colour quantities in the actual print data.

The GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler

Based on definitive colour profiles and printer calibrations, the integrated SmartProfiler can identically align several printers of similar type.

One fundamental feature in this connection is the precision processing of spot colours. With this GMG technology, previously reserved for high-end proofing, spot colours can be converted precisely to the printer’s colour gamut.

The GMG ProductionSuite PrintStation

Thanks to a user interface that visualises device- and media-dependent imposition, data can easily be grouped and prepared for production. Individual print jobs can be variably combined and optimised so as to ensure optimum material use and cutting sequences. The goal is to greatly accelerate order processing and significantly reduce material use.

Additional options

With its additional functions, such as Industrial Cutting, True Shape Nesting, Screen- and Variable Data Printing, the GMG ProductionSuite also fulfills some of the more unique requirements. Licensing an additional option not only expands the functionality of one work station, the option also is made available to all other associated main applications.

Rising demands on quality in the wide format segment prompted GMG to enter the market

For Ian Scott, managing director of GMG GmbH & Co. KG, entering the wide format market is a logical step in view of the company’s strategy, which has never compromised on the pursuit of quality. “With recalibratable spot colours, powerful editing options and support of some 800 output devices, we are now making all our know-how also available to the best wide format producers."

For more information, please visit www.gmgcolor.com

Caldera has launched a new edition of its RIP software, Caldera V9, which harnesses the latest version of the Adobe print engine, APPE 2.5, to deliver additional productivity features and refinements. Enhanced colour options, improved transparency handling and faster previewing join with practical additions to provide Caldera's world-wide user base with the broadest functionality available in this market.

Recognising the need for increased control over the print environment, Caldera V9 brings two significant updates to its already advanced Spooler module. Operators can now double-click a job within Spooler to reopen it within the Print window, allowing them to verify parameters or resubmit it with modified settings. LiveSpooler, meanwhile, introduces a new XML exchange protocol which allows for the monitoring of offline devices within the print environment, thereby improving workflow management – especially for owners of Caldera's popular Flow+ package.

Users will also discover significant developments in colour control and correction in Caldera V9, specifically engineered to save time and improve accuracy. Amongst these is the ability to make last-minute adjustments to contrast, luminosity and colour balances within the main Print window, avoiding the need to jump between modules for minor alterations. The operator can also save the current Print window configuration in a named file, allowing for rapid switching between different workflow options. Color Books of swatches are also generated on-demand by V9, providing a multi-page PDF file of reference colours so that operators can more easily match desired brand colours with those available within the given print configuration.

Implementations of the Caldera RIP with the EasyMedia profiling module will also be able to take advantage of i1Prism V2, now integrated within Caldera V9 to provide excellent smoothness in colour rendering and more fine-tune settings, such as contrast and saturation control. EasyMedia users will also note a new function allowing them to report on ink density and resynchronise ICC profiles if required, correcting linearisation curves to compensate for current printing conditions, such as head changes and remaining ink volume.

Memory management, font support and Xobjects are significantly better supported by the new APPE 2.5 integration, which also provides smaller fixes, such as more consistent direct colour substitution and the ability to replace spot colours in RGB mode. The primary advantage for Caldera V9 users, who have the APPE option, is the improved RIPping speeds, especially for files with transparent elements, which will see 20% of the RIP time shaved off on average. In tandem, the new Global Rasterisation option allows for the preview of more complex documents, such as those with transparency or overprint information.

A totally new option in V9 is the fruit of Caldera's partnership with colour management specialists Alwan, InkPerformer. This module, which requires a special license key, calculates new levels of black ink to reduce the use of other inks while reproducing faithfully the hues intended from the original file. While vastly increased black laydown produces more graininess, InkPerformer allows print providers to use their professional judgment and take control of their ink costs – especially for situations where exceptional quality is not necessarily required, such as applications with long viewing distances.

"Each release of Caldera brings with it a new generation of upgrades which understand the pressures of modern wide-format production properly and gives print houses the tools to streamline production and improve quality," states Sebastien Hanssens, Vice President Marketing at Caldera.

"This ranges from broader innovations, such as advanced colour control options, to productivity-orientated measures, like the creation of reconfigurable, automatic print gutters to avoid density variations and nozzle clogging and, therefore, the expense of head strikes. Ultimately, we believe that Caldera V9 continues to offer the most comprehensive, feature-heavy option on the print software market today."

Caldera V9 also brings Turkish and Chinese language speakers into the fold, in the latter case by incorporating Pinyin input, with text also rendered anti-aliased for better readability. This increases the number of languages supported by Caldera to 10, including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese and Polish, amongst others.

The new version of Caldera is already commercially available, with trial versions ready to download at www.caldera.com

Caldera has teamed up with Alwan Color Expertise, the colour management and standardisation specialist, to create an innovative ink saving module for the latest edition of the Caldera RIP (v9). Named InkPerformer, the option promises users the power to monitor and optimise their ink comsumption, offering commercial printers a significant environmental and economical advantage over their competitors.

Caldera InkPerformer harnesses Alwan's award-winning profiling technology within the context of the adaptable and powerful Caldera RIP engine to provide an average 20 percent reduction in ink consumption across all types of wide-format production. At a time when raw materials costs, and therefore ink prices, are rising dramatically, this significant saving allows all types of wide-format digital print house to decrease their expenditure significantly, typically achieving ROI within weeks.

InkPerformer sits in the workflow before the file is RIPped and does not require the creation or adjustment of output profiles to implement cost savings. The intuitive user interface allows for the control of two key variables: the BlackStart level, which is the threshold at which black is allowed to replace other ink colours, and the level of ink economy required. The operator can choose the desired setting from Low, which offers a modest ink saving with practically unnoticeable effect on the colour reproduction, Medium, and High, which provides a considerable reduction in lay-down. There is also a Maximum option to prioritise economisation completely over colour, which, while losing some gamut in shadows, is nevertheless suitable for applications to be viewed at distance.

The module, which can be provided with licenses for three, five or more than five devices, calculates a new combination of colours for ink lay-down to retain visual fidelity within the user's chosen threshold. A supplementary feature in InkPerformer allows the user, if desired, to RIP and then compare the original image with the adjusted, ink-saving image, and even send both jobs to print. This working mode allows for the rapid comparison of jobs and calculates the percentage of ink saved, giving businesses the power to decide for themselves how much lay-down is required for each job.

"With the strong development of digital ink-jet printing systems and applications, we decided that it was time to extend our technology in this market, where we see ink consumption and costs becoming a critical matter for print service providers," explains Elie Khoury, President and CEO of Alwan Color Expertise. "Caldera is an undisputed leader and innovator in the wide-format print sector and already incorporates very powerful technology in its software, such as the Adobe Print Engine. This collaboration allows Caldera users to join Alwan customers in saving tons of ink and millions of dollars every year for the benefit of the planet and of their profits."

"InkPerformer joins EasyMedia, EasyColour, CostProof and CostView as one of the many optimising functions offered across the Caldera suite," adds Joseph Mergui, Caldera's CEO. "Alwan's leadership and experience in the field of colour management and ink optimisation is the perfect complement for Caldera users who are seeking to control their overheads and improve their margins."

For more information, please visit www.caldera.com