EFI Electronics For Imaging, Inc., a world leader in customer-focused printing innovation, today announced that their Fiery digital front ends (DFEs) are the first in the industry to achieve JDF Certification for Digital Printing. EFI Fiery System 9R2 and newer servers have been awarded the JDF1.3 Integrated Digital Printing Interoperability Conformance Specification (ICS) certification. As a result of this certification, Fiery Driven devices from the leading digital print engine manufacturers will be easier than ever to integrate with workflow systems from pre-press all the way to printing.
 
The certification underscores EFI's commitment to an industry-standard, open platform that supports workflow integration. EFI is one of the most experienced JDF developers in the business, with the most certified experts and the most JDF-certified products, including 11 certifications for EFI MIS/ERP products. John Henze, vice president of Fiery marketing at EFI, notes, "EFI's continuing investment to support the latest JDF standards is key to enable all the EFI MIS and Web-to-print solutions, plus third-party products, to seamlessly integrate with Fiery digital front ends, making Fiery the preferred choice for commercial printers."
 
Customers can use JDF certification as a criterion in product evaluation and purchasing decisions. Buying JDF-certified systems and software should save customers time and money when integrating new equipment into their production workflow - without requiring expensive and time-consuming coding of private extensions. Developers also save coding time to cut their time to market.
 
"The Fiery DFE certification is a significant step forward as the industry moves increasingly into digital production," said Dr. Mark Bohan, vice president, technology and research, Printing Industries of America. "Automation is one of the ways in which print providers can differentiate themselves to become more profitable. The certification of DFEs is crucial for digital printing as it provides the ability to achieve excellent integration with already-certified MIS systems. It gives print providers confidence that automation will work efficiently and integrate into their workflow systems."
 
For more information on Fiery DFEs that can be upgraded to support the JDF Digital Printing ICS certification, please refer to the Supported Printers web page.
 
About CIP4 and JDF Certification
 
The International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press, and Postpress Organization, or CIP4, is a not-for-profit standards association, whose mission is to foster the adoption of process automation in the printing industry. Printing Industries of America exclusively carries out certifications on behalf of CIP4.
 
JDF 1.3 Integrated Digital Printing ICS Certification for Interoperability (IDP ICS) is part of the overall JDF specification. Individual ICS documents target specific workflows such as digital printing, and are used as the basis for product certification testing. The IDP ICS defines the ability to read and write job-description format (JDF), specifies minimum support for job-messaging format (JMF) options, details how jobs files are to be exchanged or identified, and requires support for particular JDF processes and resources.