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EFI to Display Full Suite of 'Connected Workflow' Solutions at Graph Expo

Press release from the issuing company

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--Oct. 7, 2004-- EFI, the world leader in digital imaging and print management solutions for commercial and enterprise printing, will showcase industry-leading, end-to-end workflow solutions at Graph Expo 2004, October 10-13 at Chicago's McCormick Place South. EFI's powerful productivity and profit-enhancing solutions from web submission to MIS, Pre-Press and Production will be showcased in EFI booth 4613 as well as at over 20 partner booths. Emphasizing the benefits of open connectivity and integrated digital workflows, EFI will not only show new products but will demonstrate its open, connected, end-to-end workflow solutions. EFI's booth demonstrations illustrate how customers can achieve greater productivity and cost efficiency by implementing a range of integrated, automated solutions tailored to their individual printing requirements. From initial job submission via the web, to prepress management and proofing, to color and black-and-white production on both digital and offset equipment, as well as comprehensive print management software, EFI offers cost-effective, productivity-enhancing solutions to address every stage of the printing process. "EFI offers customers a complete range of powerful workflow solutions that can be easily integrated into their production processes to enable maximum productivity and profits," said Guy Gecht, EFI CEO. "As we'll demonstrate at Graph Expo, every EFI solution is designed to make our customers more successful and profitable." Following are some "EFI at Graph Expo" highlights: Fiery System Software and Servers: EFI will launch its latest Fiery server and software technology. Fiery, with over 1.2 million installations worldwide, is the industry standard for high performance, quality and reliability. The new Fiery solutions provide customers - from the most demanding production class commercial print to midrange and entry-level production color environments - with the ultimate in performance, workflow control, high-quality color management and variable data printing (VDP) support. EFI will also launch the industry's most comprehensive software suite of color management tools. Extending the high level of color management and workflow control established by EFI's award-winning Fiery Graphics Arts Package, the new software empowers graphic arts professionals with significant, sophisticated enhancements as well as tremendous efficiency gains to deliver superior color on the most advanced digital color presses. JDF Connectivity Delivering increased value and productivity to customers by automating digital workflows, EFI JDF technology facilitates the movement of job details, including job numbers, descriptions, parts information, colors, production counts, and start and stop time - between formerly disparate technologies, in real time. EFI JDF technology will be highlighted throughout Graph Expo: EFI will be featured in the CIP4 JDF Pavilion, which showcases JDF-connected products enabling improved efficiency and productivity. In the EFI booth, EFI will demonstrate the integration between its award-winning Fiery solutions and Adobe's JDF Concept Demonstration. In another demonstration, EFI will show JDF connectivity with Hagen(TM) integrated from the EFI booth to the Heidelberg booth. EFI will also show JDF connectivity between PSI(TM), Hagen, Logic(TM), Oneflow(TM), EFI Proofing solutions and Balance(TM). Additionally, EFI will show JDF connectivity between EFI MIS Solutions and products from Screen USA, Komori, MAN Roland, Ryobi and a number of other companies at their respective booths. EFI is also participating in the CIP4 JDF Show Floor Tour, "JDF-enabled Workflow and MIS Systems." Free for attendees who register at www.cip4.org, JDF Show Floor Tours commence from the JDF Pavilion several times a day. Proofing Solutions: EFI Colorproof(TM) XF, the company's entirely new, highly scalable and modular client/server-based proofing solution platform will also be on display. The result of EFI's development knowledge and resources, combined with the proofing expertise behind Best(TM) technology, Colorproof features expanded proofing functionality and performance with cross Windows and Mac OS X support and compatibility with the current JDF job ticketing standard. It recently earned the top ranking in the international Digitalproof Forum as the leading ICC-based proofing solution. Production Workflow Solutions: A first-time technology demonstration with EFI and Xerox products will be on display in Xerox Booth1431. Xerox has teamed with EFI to bring integrated MIS and digital print to the graphic arts industry. The demo will show how jobs can be submitted directly from the Hagen print management system into the Xerox FreeFlow Process Manager - an automated, JDF- enabled prepress workflow product that is part of the FreeFlow(TM) Digital Workflow Collection - and how the Process Manager can report job status and performance data back to the MIS software and then output to Fiery controllers. EFI will showcase its breakthrough OneFlow solution, which is the only PDF-based prepress software to provide centralized management of multiple digital, offset and inkjet printing devices. OneFlow lets print shops automate prepress functions, integrating powerful tools to automatically convert files to PDF, preflight, trap, impose, correct, RIP, soft proof and more. OneFlow 2.0, now shipping, will be shown connected to a Fiery server and integrated with EFI's Hagen, Logic and PSI management systems. EFI is giving away free copies of the "ABC's of Workflow," a comprehensive guide to streamlined production. The latest of its popular "ABC" guidebooks on important industry technologies, the "ABC's of Workflow" provides printers with 42 pages of content and color diagrams about workflow and related solutions. A downloadable PDF version of the guide can also be requested online at http://www.efi.com/promo/workflow/ Print MIS Solutions: On display for the first time is EFI PrinterSite Exchange, which enables printing companies to easily deploy storefront web sites to let them do business with customers over the Internet. The product provides job submission, job ticketing and job status tracking, along with e-commerce capabilities. The latest versions of EFI's powerful print management solutions will be showcased, including Hagen, Logic, PSI and PrintSmith(TM) and Computer Integrated Manufacturing tools PrintFlow(TM) and Auto-Count. These offerings streamline operations, provide better visibility into costs and finances, and increase profitability for printers of all types. EFI print MIS solutions allow customers to automate and integrate everything from estimating and costing to accounting, production management and more. The EFI booth will highlight Prograph publication planning software integrated with the Hagen OA print management system. EFI Prograph offers powerful, comprehensive planning capabilities for Hagen customers, including versioning, complex imposition and distribution tools. With advanced planning and seamless communication between the Prograph and Hagen systems, printers can make more informed business decisions, streamline production and reduce costs. For more information on these solutions and more, visit EFI in booth 4613 at Graph Expo, online at www.efi.com or call 1-800-875-7117.