FOSTER CITY, Calif. -- Oct. 3, 2007 -- For five years now, Mark McCall, president and owner of Prestige Graphics., a Reston, Va.-based visual arts consultancy, has relied on the industry-leading EFI Colorproof XF proofing and production solution to create the Nature's Best Photography Awards Exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. With EFI's Bestcolor technology-driven, device-independent color management and intuitive digital workflow solution driving a Canon imagePROGRAF iPF9000 large format color production printer, Prestige Graphics has printed the Sony Electronics-sponsored exhibit, which will run Oct. 30, 2007 through April 29, 2008. A daunting challenge readily accomplished with the EFI solution, Prestige Graphics produced 61 full-brilliant-color photograph prints with wide-format dimensions of four by six feet, two by three feet, two by five feet and five by ten feet.
"Since I first won the project in 2003, Colorproof XF has been critical to providing my best work for Nature's Best Publishing and why this client comes back to me every year  with this exciting and very high-profile assignment," said McCall. "The Nature's Best Photography Awards exhibit at the Smithsonian is a crowning achievement for Prestige Graphics and EFI's Colorproof XF is the only proofing solution I would trust for it -- the color fidelity I'm able to produce is amazing; far surpassing what I could do with anything else."
EFI, the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, also recently announced its second consecutive year of Graph Expo award wins for Colorproof XF. As a winner in the 2006 Must See 'Em category, which recognizes the  most compelling products and services, this year Colorproof XF was strictly eligible for the Must See 'Em Encore Award, which it handily won as continuing recognition as the industry's most compelling products. Additionally, Colorproof XF won the 2007 BERTL's Best Wide Format Award, Best Wide Format Prepress/Proofing Solution. According to BERTL, Colorproof XF is "the best that the wide format industry has to offer in order to help both first time corporate and experienced wide format specialists keep up with this rapidly developing marketplace."
With EFI Colorproof XF, Prestige Graphics produced the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History exhibit featuring winners in 15 categories from the 2007 Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice Awards. Celebrating the beauty, drama, and wonder of the natural world, the awards honor the best images and amateur and professional nature photographers from around the world.
An adept and highly discerning professional, McCall has more than 20 years of direct hands-on experience in pre-press with an emphasis on color correction. He has produced some of the finest images and publications on the market today, utilizing his extensive background in color, combined with only state-of-the-art color management technology, like that from EFI.
Colorproof XF transforms inkjet and laser printers into powerful proofing and production systems and is renowned for providing customers with outstanding performance, color quality, flexibility and a highly intuitive interface. The XF Server on Mac OS X makes the system a complete cross-platform solution. With its client/server architecture and modular concept, Colorproof XF offers an unprecedented level of customization to fit the individual needs of print service providers like Prestige Graphics.
"Prestige Graphics use of Colorproof XF to create the Nature's Best Photography Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History exhibit supports EFI's intent for the solution," said Stefan Spiegel, general manager, Graphic Arts Solutions, EFI. "Our goal is to help our customers 'print to win,' and Mark is doing that, winning the Smithsonian  project business every year for the last five years - Colorproof XF helps him illustrate and celebrate the beauty of nature for his client."
Availability
Colorproof XF is sold through certified EFI dealers and distributors. Prestige Graphics works with Chromaticity, Inc., based in Grand Rapids, Mich., the recognized leader in distribution and deployment of color management and ink jet imaging technologies. More information about Chromaticity is available at www.chromaticity.com or
616-361-7773. More information regarding Colorproof XF is available at www.efi.com and 800-875-7117.