Foster City, Calif. – Dec. 19, 2006 – EFI, the world leader in color digital print servers, superwide format printers and inks, and print management solutions, today announced that the EFI Bestcolor-driven Colorproof XF proofing solution now supports the new HP Designjet Z2100 and Z3100 Photo Printer Series. Photographers, graphic arts professionals and print service providers deploying the powerful combination of the EFI and HP solutions benefit from state-of-the-art technology and the advantage of straightforward operation, for increased efficiency and productivity. The award-winning EFI Colorproof XF transforms inkjet and laser printers into powerful proofing and production systems and is renowned for its outstanding performance, color quality, flexibility and intuitive interface. The first photo printers with an embedded spectrophotometer, the new HP Designjet 8-ink Z2100 and 12-ink Z3100 series offers an automated, intuitive experience in large-format image reproduction. "Working with HP supports EFI’s objective of continually introducing innovative solutions that are ideally suited to address customers' needs," said Stefan Spiegel, general manager, Graphic Arts Solutions, EFI. ”We believe that our customers will find that the powerful combination of Colorproof XF and the new HP large format photo printer series delivers increased automation, efficiency and cost savings.” Customer benefits of the combination of Colorproof XF and the new HP Large Format Photo Printer Series include: Simple Linearization and Profile Generation Linearization and profile generation for the HP Designjet Z2100 / Z3100 are greatly facilitated by the spectrophotometer integrated in the printer. The user can simply select the option to use the printer as a measuring device and work fully automatically with Colorproof XF, saving time by eliminating manual steps. There is no need for an additional, external measuring device. Quick and Easy Quality Assurance With the Color Verifier Option, the convenient, easy-to-use solution for measuring and comparing color values, Colorproof XF and the new HP printers offer a very fast and convenient means to ensure quality. The measuring-based verification of control strips is fully integrated in the printing process and the automated process tremendously reduces manual workload. High-Performance Remote Proofing In addition, the combination of Colorproof XF, Color Verifier and the HP printers offers an extremely powerful remote proofing system, producing outstanding proofs of consistent quality at different locations. The automatic process includes quality assurance and saves valuable time, ensuring that all project partners quickly and easily create consistent high-quality proofs. Michael Nothelfer of Germany-based caddon GmbH, longstanding sales partner of EFI, said: "The combination of printers and measuring devices, their support in Colorproof XF, and the Color Verifier Option allow us to offer our customers an impressive quality assurance system that is also effective for remote proofing and saves considerable time." Also available from EFI is an edition of the recently launched Version 5.1 of the Bestcolor-driven Designer Edition™, specially optimized for HP systems. A powerful solution designed for graphic arts professionals and photographers for proofing and producing high-quality inkjet prints, EFI Designer Edition 5.1 includes powerful new features that increase efficiency by enabling out-of-the-box printing of accurate proofs, and vivid, full color images. EFI Designer Edition 5.1 for HP also offers improved integration with customers’ existing HP applications and working environments. Availability EFI Colorproof XF and EFI Designer Edition are sold through certified EFI dealers and distributors. More information is available at http://www.efi.com/bestcolor. EFI Designer Edition optimized for HP systems is available exclusively through HP; more information can be found at http://www.hp.com/go/efidesigneredition