FOSTER CITY, Calif. - Jan. 17, 2008 - EFI, the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, today announced the release of the production printing solution Fiery XF, providing leading-edge technology for the wide and superwide format printing market for both production and proofing requirements.  Designed for print service providers, especially manufacturers of signs, displays and décor for indoor and outdoor use, Fiery XF delivers high-speed processing, exceptional color quality and increased productivity, as well as seamless connectivity to the broad EFI product portfolio. Fiery XF customers profit from current and future integration with other EFI products to streamline production workflows and increase productivity.

"In the wide and superwide format markets today, many service providers drive their large format printers with Windows-based PCs," said Stefan Spiegel, general manager, Graphic Arts Solutions, EFI. "This limits their ability to take full advantage of the capabilities of their large format output devices. By switching to Fiery XF, users print to win accessing EFI's industry-leading server technology, and a proven solution that delivers the best possible output from printing devices from a wide variety of manufacturers, including Epson, HP, Mimaki, Mutoh, Roland, and EFI's VUTEk solutions."

Based on EFI's industry-leading and award-winning proofing solution Colorproof XF, and Bestcolor Technology, Fiery XF leverages EFI's proofing competence for perfect colors. EFI Fiery XF offers intelligent Clean Color and Full Gamut Technology for brilliant print results for both production and proofing purposes in a complete cross-platform application. Clean Color directly addresses the specific color needs of the display graphics market for vivid, saturated color with pleasant modulation and clean appearance. Clean Color Technology provides an exciting and eye-catching appearance in all image areas as well as highly precise and correct colors where they are needed, such as skin tones, grays and spot colors.

Additionally, Fiery XF's color management offers a Full Gamut profile, exploiting the maximum color gamut of a wide range of printing equipment from leading manufacturers. Primary colors are reproduced perfectly and color rendering is not limited by profiles. Fiery XF delivers the perfect combination of correct color reproduction and color optimization.

To maximize productivity, Fiery XF also includes:

Multitasking capabilities that allow RIP-while-print, print-while-profile and profile-while RIP;

The Proofing Option to proof to international standards. In addition, this feature offers full Mac OS X Support for Client and Server;

Monitor Profile Selection tool, turning every client workstation with a calibrated and profiled monitor into a soft proofing device;

A full set of production tools unique to the wide and superwide format market, including step & repeat, tiling and nesting for printing various files, file formats and color spaces simultaneously on one device;

Superior color management for the most vibrant colors in the market and maximum color consistency, speeding the production process and minimizing waste;

A modular structure to allow users to grow the solution as their businesses grow, including integration with other leading-edge solutions from the broad EFI product portfolio, such as Print MIS and Web-to-Print products.

"Also important in this market is the ability for designers and prepress staff to operate the RIP from their preferred operating system environment," added Spiegel. "To address this important requirement, Fiery XF offers both Mac and Windows clients.  In addition, wizards enable easy creation and optimization of media profiles, saving operators time and reducing training requirements."

Fiery XF is available in three versions - Essential, Advanced and Premium - allowing users to select the level of functionality that best meets their needs today and to seamlessly add functionality as their requirements and their businesses grow and change.