Gent, Belgium - Enfocus exhibits  a full range of new and existing solutions at Ipex 2010, scheduled for May 18 to 25 in Birmingham, UK. Enfocus is located in Hall 12, Stand C150.

"Ipex is an important show for the European graphic arts community," comments Fabian Prudhomme, Vice President of Enfocus, "and a perfect venue for major product announcements. The Enfocus presence will not disappoint show attendees. Visitors to our stand have the opportunity to see the latest updates to our popular PitStop and Switch product lines as well as see first-hand our brand-new product that will debut at the show."

The mission of Enfocus has historically been to find ways to connect islands of automation to streamline production and increase productivity, largely focused on the printer and publisher side of the equation. "At Ipex," says Prudhomme, "you will see us expand our focus into the creative community with solutions that will safeguard quality throughout the entire production chain."

To this end, Enfocus is debuting PitStop Connect at Ipex, a tool that enables printers to create Connectors (small desktop tools that require no application installation) containing specific PDF specifications for preflight, which can be branded and distributed to an unlimited number of designer/creative professional customers.

Prudhomme explains that in 2010, Enfocus has a strong growth strategy in place, remaining committed to helping all stakeholders in the graphic arts community to work smarter; not harder, by bringing to market tools and solutions that reduce costs, eliminate errors and save time. "We're here to stay," he says, "and we will continue to play a leading role in PDF, preflighting, and automation for both printers and creative professionals. The primary focus of our tools is to make our customers more competitive by automating their workflow and freeing more time for them to concentrate on their customers as well as be more creative."

To support these efforts, Enfocus is investing in extended R&D facilities with new developers dedicated to the Enfocus mission in parent company EskoArtwork's facility. "This will enable us to bring our products to market faster," adds Prudhomme, "offering our users even more benefits than they already gain from current Enfocus product families such as PitStop and Switch. These are exciting times, and we see our Ipex exhibition as an opportunity to demonstrate the results of our efforts to attendees interested in removing time and cost from the print production process."

Automate, Control and Protect
Visitors to Ipex can see first-hand Enfocus' continued and innovative commitment to the graphic arts community through live demonstrations of Enfocus products focused on three main themes:

Connecting designers, printers and publishers
NEW! PitStop Connect is a tool that enables printers to create Connectors (small desktop tools) containing specific PDF specifications for preflight, which can be branded to designer/creative professional customers. The Connector can be distributed as many times as needed and is free for the creative professional. PitStop Connect makes it easy for creative professionals to deliver perfect PDFs to their printer or publisher partners by just dropping their PDF file on the connector. The Connector preflights the file and transmits the file to their printer by delivering to an FTP or via Enfocus Switch. The printer or publisher is guaranteed to receive PDFs meeting its requirements.

Ensure Quality Control
PitStop Pro 09: the essential Adobe Acrobat plug-in for checking and fixing PDF files in professional publishing environments. An extensive array of editing tools makes it easy to do last-minute corrections both for individual objects and globally throughout the entire PDF document. The tools in PitStop Pro are production-oriented and allow users to tackle problems actually experienced in specific workflows. The industry-standard preflight engine in PitStop Pro checks all aspects of PDF files and pinpoints exactly where the problems are. Embedded Certified PDF technology digitally signs PDF files to ensure their quality.

PitStop Server 09: preflighting and auto-correction tool for high-volume and unattended PDF workflows. Built on the industry-standard Enfocus preflight engine, it checks all aspects of PDF files and detects missing or corrupt fonts, incorrect colors, objects without bleed and much more. PitStop Server 09 fixes those common problems by taking such actions as adjusting the colors of PDF files for a particular output device, and adding stamps, watermarks or background templates. Even more functionality can be unleashed by using Action List support. A true server application, PitStop Server 09 supports watched folders, but can also be run using its command-line interface for closer integration.

PitStop Extreme 08: stand-alone, high-efficiency PDF editor built from the ground up to allow quick checking and correcting of the even most complex PDF files. Every function in PitStop Extreme's expansive toolkit is targeted for industry professionals working on tight deadlines and needing to change text, edit or swap an image, alter page boxes, add or convert separations, or just move and resize elements on the page. PitStop Extreme handles this within a clear, user-friendly interface. PitStop Extreme also incorporates Enfocus' best-in-class preflighting engine and Certified PDF technology to prevent editing errors and safeguard the file.

Easy Automation
Switch 09: the Enfocus Switch family of automation-enabling software includes entry-level LightSwitch, mainstream FullSwitch and advanced PowerSwitch. With Switch, job processing becomes predictable -- even with complex flows -- and the implementation of real job priorities allows fast-tracking jobs through a flow. The latest version of Switch 09, released in February 2010, makes it even easier to create and edit workflows, introducing more powerful tools for larger environments and featuring a completely renewed SwitchClient.

The initial release of Switch 09 includes the following additional configurators:
- GMG Connect, capable of connecting to Switch, ensures that color management and proofing can be better automated and centrally controlled.
- ICS Remote Director, which provides color accurate monitor proofing solutions.
- WoodWing Enterprise and Dutch Software Elvis, content publishing platform tools that integrate with Switch.
- Microsoft Word which allows you to create PDF files.