FOSTER CITY, Calif.--Sept. 7, 2005-- EFI, the world leader in digital imaging and print management solutions for commercial and enterprise printing, today launched its next-generation Fiery System 7(TM) Software. System 7 optimizes Fiery Q- and S-Series servers to deliver higher levels of digital printing performance and image quality for mission-critical production environments: commercial print, print for pay, franchise, service bureau, data center, in-plant/CRD, and graphics-intensive (graphic arts, creative services, prepress/proof) operations. Demonstrated at Print 05 in Chicago Sept. 9-15 in EFI Booth #8315, Fiery System 7 sets a higher industry standard in color print functionality and efficiency, with the ultimate in performance, workflow control, precision color management and variable data printing (VDP) support. "EFI delivers the industry's most advanced capabilities and performance to address the printing service providers' perennial challenge of increasingly shorter lead times for producing ever more complex documents," said Mehran Farimani, vice president and general manager, Fiery Products, EFI. "With the advancements included in System 7, such as the Production Printing Package, Fiery users are equipped with a high-octane solution to capitalize on profit opportunities in the high-growth digital color printing business." Besides driving today's most powerful printers at maximum capability, System 7 Software offers significant new features specifically designed for high-volume production and graphic arts professional environments. Fiery System 7 Key Features/Highlights include: -- Fiery Command WorkStation, with a growing list of award wins including a recent 2005 BERTL's Best, sets the standard in centralized print job management with an intuitive interface and a variety of sophisticated, productivity-enhancing tools. Also available for the Macintosh operating system, Command WorkStation has the flexibility to be run on multiple client stations as well as locally. -- The Fiery Production Printing Package delivers unprecedented production management capability, functionality that is exclusively provided by EFI. This Fiery Package is a set of job management and submission tools that enables the most powerful printers to produce the most elaborate print jobs at maximum speed. -- EFI Compose is integral to the Package as its advanced preview and editing capability readily handles complex composition. -- Paper Catalog is a system-based paper warehouse database, automating media control and easing operator intervention, Paper Catalog stores attributes of the entire media stock available at the warehouse of a production site. -- Automated native MS Office document job submission eliminates bottlenecks and minimizes downtime. -- The Fiery Production Printing Package also greatly abates the need for operator intervention and maximizes the full functionality of the printer's finishing options. -- Fiery specific pre-flight with sensitivity controls to report, pass or fail jobs to ensure error-free printing Remote VDP resources can be validated in advance of long production print runs. -- Quick Doc Merge creates "virtual files" at print time for convenient assignment of production or finishing characteristics. -- Improved Security - Advanced security features in System 7 include: -- Secure Erase to remove all traces of job data from the Fiery hard disk drive; -- IP Filtering to control access to the printing device; -- Port Blocking to control access to the Fiery through remote management; -- Simple Network Management Protocol Version 3 (SNMPv3) provides the level of security required for government and large corporations and allows the Fiery administrator to prevents unauthorized users from accessing the Fiery; -- The Removable Hard Disk Drive option enables customers to lock the server drive(s) into the system for normal operation and to remove the drives to a secure location after powering down the server. -- The Industry's Most Advanced Workflow -- Fiery System 7 improves upon the highly flexible workflow for which the Fiery server is renowned with a workflow that is WYSIWYG and consistent, whether the job is VDP or non-VDP. -- Spot-On(R) Precision Color Matching with Substitute Color accurately reproduces named and custom colors, and modifies spot color values to achieve color matching with pinpoint precision. -- EFI Hot Folders improves productivity by automating the job submission process and batch processing PostScript and PDF files or use the virtual printer's workflow where repetitive job profiles can be assigned to a printer queue for easy "print to" submission. -- Driver-based Imposition -- for comprehensive booklet imposition. -- Variable Data Printing -- Enabling customers to efficiently create customized marketing campaigns, the EFI VDP solution is open, flexible, scaleable, and includes the most comprehensive, proven range of VDP languages -- Fiery FreeForm, industry standard PPML, and a host of legacy proprietary languages. The EFI VDP solution provides seamless integration into existing variable data workflows and ensures consistency regardless of whether the job is VDP or non-VDP. -- Graphic Arts Package, Premium Edition -- This suite of applications enables superior color quality. Easily integrating into existing graphic arts workflows, the Graphic Arts Package, Premium Edition, utilizes the most advanced tools for color proofing and control. Premium power tools include Image Viewer, which offers a fast, accurate soft-proofing interface that zooms to the dot cell level -- users can choose to view the job or export a PDF for easy collaboration; file converters for Hot Folders to streamline job submission from other graphic arts workflows; advanced trapping settings; and control bars and post-flight reports for more sophisticated trouble-shooting and controlling output. -- EFI Impose, Fiery Edition is a WYSIWYG client/server-based imposition application that enables entire documents to be imposed, edited and assembled quickly, before RIPping the files. Providing the unique ability to create an unlimited number of new custom imposition templates, this feature is independent of platform, application and file format, and supports a wide variety of source documents, including all VDP languages. -- The Fiery Advanced Controller Interface kit enables Command WorkStation to be run locally at the Fiery, making it ideal for operator-centric environments. With more than 12 million users worldwide, Fiery is the market-leading digital printing server. And the Fiery Q-series offers seamless integration with EFI's powerful MIS solutions, in a two-way exchange between a customer's printing and management systems. This connection is accomplished through JDF technology. JDF connectivity facilitates the movement of job details, including job numbers, descriptions, parts information, colors, production counts, and start and stop time, between the printer/copier and MIS solution in real time. In addition to the MIS-Fiery JDF connectivity, EFI's web-to-print solution, Digital StoreFront(TM), which won the 2005 BERTL's Best Innovation award, provides powerful integration with EFI servers and MIS solutions. Digital StoreFront creates an end-to-end content and commerce workflow from the desktop of the printer's customer directly to Fiery System 7 servers, EFI Balance(TM) and EFI MicroPress solutions for digital printing and to EFI's Hagen(TM), Logic(TM) and PSI(TM) print management systems. Availability Fiery S- and Q-series servers loaded with Fiery System 7 Software are currently available through EFI's OEM partners and will be showcased at Print 05, Chicago's McCormick Place, Sept. 9-15, EFI Booth #8315.