Electronics For Imaging, Inc., and Xerox Corporation today announced the availability of the Xerox EX-P 6 Print Server Powered by Fiery for the new Xerox Iridesse Production Press, as demonstrated at EFI Connect earlier this year.
This unique digital colour press features the ability to use two specialty dry inks simultaneously - gold, silver or clear - supported by Fiery features including Fiery Metallics and Fiery ImageViewer.
This is the first Xerox digital press to ship exclusively with a Fiery digital front end (DFE) since EFI's acquisition of the FreeFlow Print Server. Customers using an existing FreeFlow workflow can take advantage of integration with the FreeFlow Digital Workflow Collection to continue using the familiar FreeFlow workflow, including FreeFlow Core and Makeready, as well as VIPP for variable data printing. In addition, the EX-P 6 Print Server comes standard with many Fiery Workflow Suite modules including Fiery Impose and Fiery Compose for visual, intuitive make-ready.
The EX-P 6 Print Server processes over 7 terabytes of data per hour to drive the Xerox Iridesse engine at its rated speed of 120 pages per minute, utilising 1200 x 1200 dpi and 10-bit resolution and six colour output.
"There is no other digital press on the market that can do what Iridesse can do and we worked hard with our partners at EFI to find a DFE with the power and flexibility to drive the new press," said Ragni Mehta, vice president & general manager, Cut Sheet Business at Xerox. "The Xerox Iridesse Production Press, in combination with the Xerox EX-P 6 Print Server, will bring a broad range of new capabilities and business opportunities to our customers, helping to ensure profitability far into the future."
A unique value of the Xerox Iridesse Production Press is the ability to manage two specialty dry inks simultaneously. For example, gold and silver dry inks can be used together or alone and laid down either over or under CMYK. Clear dry ink can be laid over CMYK, gold, or silver as a protective layer on the full page or in selected areas to enhance images. Using a multi-pass printing process, up to seven layers of clear dry ink can be applied for a dimensional, tactile appearance.
The new Fiery Metallics feature allows users to create metallic shades of custom spot colours right at the DFE, with no additional prepress work required. And, with Fiery ImageViewer (part of the standard Fiery Graphic Arts Package, Premium Edition), operators can easily view a raster image of all inks used in a job, including specialty dry inks, to ensure that these high-value jobs print right the first time, every time.
For operations new to the Fiery workflow, or for those who wish to enhance their Fiery skills, EFI's free on-demand learning platform, Learning@EFI, makes available step-by-step instructions on how to use many of the common Fiery features and workflows with sample files that enable practicing right at the printer. Learning@EFI features online courses, how to guides, videos, simulation learning models and more to get new users up to speed quickly and refresh or increase knowledge for existing users.
"We're very proud to be the single DFE driving the Xerox Iridesse," said John Henze, vice president of Fiery marketing at EFI. "The Xerox and EFI relationship continues to be strong and we believe this is the way forward to provide the strongest solutions that we can for our customers. Customers truly get the best of both worlds - the ability to utilise their legacy workflows, plus best-in-class Fiery performance, colour, and usability."
