EFI has announced the Fiery FS500 Pro digital front-end (DFE) platform which it says will support a range of new digital printers for office, commercial, inplant, packaging and textile applications and support shorter runs with faster turnaround operation by less experienced staff, while improving security and reducing costs.
Key areas of enhancement include up to 40% faster application launch and job processing for graphics-intensive jobs such as photobooks, and speeded administration and production for short runs, helped by a print time estimation feature that should aid production planning and press time allocation.
Fiery JobExpert, now available for all Fiery servers, saves time by automatically selecting colour management and imaging settings, while preflighting tools have been expanded, with a base version detecting common file errors and a Pro version addressing conformity to various PDF production standards, supported by a visual report that helps identify errors.
A new version of Fiery SpotPro accelerates optimisation of spot colours to produce the best brand colour matching on a specific device, settings and media combination, while corporate users gain tools to improve spot colour printing from Microsoft Office applications. Installation into high-security environments is eased by support for various standards and Integration with security information and event management (SIEM) solutions. The FS500 Pro also links into the EFI IQ suite of Cloud applications for business intelligence analysis.
‘As the industry begins a recovery from the recent downturn, print businesses across all segments are looking to invest in solutions that enhance their productivity, reduce waste and shorten cycle times,’ said John Henze, vice president of sales and marketing for EFI Fiery.
‘That’s exactly what this brand-new Fiery platform brings, with advancements that take print businesses to new levels of production efficiency, colour accuracy and profit potential. We are excited to begin seeing our OEM partners roll out this new platform with the next generation of their digital printers and presses.’
The FS500 Pro will appear with forthcoming office and production printers / presses and is also the basis of the next generation of blade server systems for very high speed single-pass inkjet printers that will most likely address digital packaging, industrial and textile printing, from EFI and others.
Meanwhile, EFI has also updated its Fiery XF software for wide format printers to version 7.3, adding support for over 180 new printers and multiple third-party cutting devices and workflows. The latter are also addressed with Fiery Prep It software, to be available in November, which offers true-shape nesting for better media usage . The combination can support over 1300 cutters. Fiery XF is now offered in two versions focused respectively on proofing and production applications.
