Product Almanac: 9 February 2010
Keep up to date with the latest product releases. This week sees the release of EFI's XF 4.1 designed to enhance Epson Stylus Pro WT900's proofing, while Fujifilm's Acuity Advance HS makes a splash in the UV inkjet market.
EFI XF 4.1 drives Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 to provide high-quality proofing for packaging applications
EFI has released the EFI XF 4.1 (EFI XF Colorproof and EFI Fiery XF) for Epson Stylus Pro WT7900, offering an advanced solution for packaging proofing.
New features include easy and flexible white ink handling on difficult substrates such as transparent and metallic media, contone and dot proofing, accurate spot colour reproduction, easy printer linearisation and profiling, and multiple printer support. EFI Colorproof XF 4.1 also supports ISO 12647-7 compliant proof validation on any opaque proofing media including automatic proof verification with the onboard SpectroProofer measurement device. EFI Colorproof XF 4.1. supports all the high-quality features of Epson Stylus Pro WT7900, allowing a greater return on investment.
“EFI Colorproof XF 4.1 capabilities takes printers, such as the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900, to a new level of accuracy and ease for packaging proofing,” said Stefan Spiegel, general manager of EFI Graphic Arts Solutions. “A number of top level customers have already put the combination of EFI XF 4.1 and the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 to the test. They tell us the results they achieve give them an edge over the competition in terms of both customer satisfaction and profitability.”
White Ink Handling
Advanced white ink handling includes adjustable white ink density; white tinting, definable in CMYK to match the appearance of white on the press; definable printing order (colour on white, white on colour or surface print and reverse print); selectable white ink printing modes (bounding box, image areas only or white spot colour channel only); opacity simulation for transparent media; support of multiple white channels and support for up to two control strips printable with and without white.
EFI XF 4.1 for the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 comes pre-installed with output profiles for all Epson proofing media including ClearProof and CrystalClear Film. It supports the latest Windows 7 and Mac OS 10.6 operating systems.
“The media flexibility of the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 with EFI XF Solutions is remarkable. The output quality in terms of spot colour accuracy and dot quality on both transparent and metallic media as well as white-ink handling is the best I’ve seen,” said Mario Levers, head of production for Toppack Summen and Bergs GmbH, a leading provider of brand solutions based in Ahaus, Germany.
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Acuity Advance HS makes a splash in UV inkjet market
The Advance HS is the next generation printer in the Acuity series, first launched in April 2007. The Advance HS will sit alongside the Acuity Advance and Advance X2 printers in Fujifilm’s printer line-up.
The Acuity Advance HS is the latest breakthrough in wide format UV digital imaging technology from Fujifilm. The printer offers near photographic quality printing, improved speeds and all at a truly affordable price. While the Acuity Advance HS maintains many of the leading design features of the Acuity HD2504 and Acuity Advance models, it incorporates a modified print-head array to achieve up to twice the printing speeds of the Acuity Advance. With typical production speeds of 40m2 per hour and a high quality mode with speeds of 28m2 per hour, the Acuity Advance HS will deliver more daily output than any other printer in its class. In addition, a new “express” mode will offer billboard quality prints at up to 65m2 per hour.
The Acuity Advance HS also has a newly redesigned UV curing system which reduces heat output by 40 per cent, compared to the Acuity Advance, while maintaining UV curing output for excellent finishing results. The Acuity Advance HS flatbed design employs a zoned vacuum table to hold all types of media, including irregularly shaped or uneven surfaced materials. This ensures accurate registration even on multiple passes. It also prints edge-to-edge, saving time and labour in finishing. In addition, the Acuity Advance HS expands the number of possible print applications with a versatile white ink option, to complement the standard four colour CMYK offering, and a roll media option for printing onto any number of flexible materials. The Acuity Advance HS is so versatile an operator can prepare rigid material on the flatbed while the roll media option is printing.
The Acuity Advance HS print performance is optimized by Fujifilm Sericol’s Uvijet inks. Uvijet’s patented Micro-V dispersion technology delivers wide adhesion, vibrancy and durability in every print. With two unique ink sets available for the Advance HS, customers can choose the right ink to suit their specific application requirements.
Commercial shipments of the Acuity Advance HS will commence in March 2010. The Acuity Advance HS will be demonstrated at the International Sign Association tradeshow in Orlando, April 7-10, and at Ipex in Birmingham, May 18th, on the Fujifilm stand.