On Demand - Philadelphia - May 17, 2006 - EFI, the world leader in digital controllers, superwide format printers and inks, and print management solutions for commercial and enterprise printing, and DirectSmile, market leader in image personalization software, today announce a collaboration that brings improved flexibility and productivity to customers deploying the Fiery variable data printing (VDP) solution. EFI's VDP solution is open, flexible, scaleable, and includes the most comprehensive, proven range of VDP languages (Fiery FreeForm, industry standard PPML, Xerox VIPP, and a host of legacy proprietary languages), giving users a choice of web-to-print applications, authoring tools, databases, Fiery-driven output devices, and Print MIS systems. Combining EFI solutions with DirectSmile's unique image personalization software, VDP users are empowered with a strong tool for all one-to-one marketing tasks that integrates seamlessly with Adobe PDF software. "We strive to offer our customers ideal possibilities to produce their image personalized printing jobs with ultimate speed, highest quality and seamless workflows. Thanks to this collaboration, all of our customers using the EFI Fiery solutions can now enjoy the efficiency that directly impacts their bottom line and enables them to grow their digital print business," said Christoph Schacht, president, DirectSmile." EFI's collaboration with DirectSmile ensures a smooth path for customers executing personalized print campaigns that include compelling images. Utilizing the Fiery Optimized PDF feature, Fiery and DirectSmile integrate to offer significant productivity and efficiency benefits to end-users. With the Adobe PDF, static repeatable elements are embedded as XObjects, which can be cached to reduce file size and further speed processing. EFI's advanced Fiery server technology leverages the capabilities of the XObjects -known as the Fiery Optimized PDF feature - RIP them once and reuse them repeatedly throughout the document. As a result, such Adobe PDF files are made more VDP-like in format. For end users, this reduces the amount of RIPping time required and increases uptime on the printer. "EFI is as an industry leader in VDP innovation and strong proponent of standards adoption, so partnering with DirectSmile is a terrific fit," said Kathy Wilson, director of product marketing and strategy, EFI. "Our VDP solution is open, specifically designed to work with whatever software solutions our end users choose - to ensure the best-fit VDP tools for their needs. DirectSmile utilizes the VDP languages supported by Fiery, and our work together delivers a value-add for customers who execute variable data printing."