drupa – Düsseldorf, Germany – June 10, 2008 – EFI, the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, today announced the successful debut of the latest version of EFI Fiery Central at drupa 2008 (through June 11). Fiery Central, a modular PDF-based production workflow, management and sophisticated make-ready solution, is on display for the first time on the Canon stand (B46, Hall 8A) and the EFI stand (C01, Hall 5). Part of EFI's Advanced Workstream Solutions, a portfolio of products and services created specifically for solution-driven integration, the new Fiery Central has caught the attention of drupa visitors as a powerful way to increase job volume, decrease turnaround times and maximize equipment investment.
 
The new version of Fiery Central, coupled with the industry-leading Fiery color digital print server, offers an open, flexible and scalable VDP solution which enables customers to easily develop customized marketing campaigns regardless of their complexity. It supports multiple VDP formats, including the industry standard PPML (Personalized Print Markup Language) and adds three new modules to better manage automated prepress workflows. Fiery Central is ideal for print service providers in medium to high-volume print-on-demand environments, such as corporate reprographic departments (CRD), print for pay, and commercial printers.
 
"Fiery Central extends the Fiery power familiar to many customers and delivers an extraordinary production workflow solution that optimizes resources and increases production for the faster turns expected in those environments," said John Henze, Vice President of Marketing, Fiery division, EFI. "It's exciting to be at drupa and hear praise from attendees about the newly added features, which provide customers even greater flexibility to tailor solutions just right for them. Visitors to the EFI and Canon booths have been particularly impressed with the addition of new modules which allow users to create even more productive workflows."
 
"EFI Fiery Central was first integrated with Canon's high-end production systems earlier this year, and the relationship has successfully enabled our channels to deliver the value expected in an integrated workflow. Our end user customers are realizing the benefits of a consistent 'look and feel' since they are accustomed to the Fiery interface. Together these solutions enable our customers to manage their end-to-end digital workflow and enhance productivity, delivering faster turn around and improved ROI for their digital business overall," said David Preskett, European Marketing Director, Professional Solutions, Canon Europe. "We're extremely pleased with the customer feedback we're receiving at drupa about the enhancements in the forthcoming version. We've had interested visitors waiting in line at the demo stations to get a first-hand look."
 
To address customers' specific needs and expand as their workflow requirements change, Fiery Central comes in three modular components: Fiery Central Focus, the base module, providing a centralized job management and make-ready solution; Fiery Central Flow, which automates manual tasks and offers advanced digital prepress capabilities; and Fiery Central Balance, which increases productivity by combining multiple devices into a "printer group" for optimized asset utilization.
 
The new Flow modules are Imposition, Colorproof XF and Image Enhance. The Imposition module allows users to select EFI Impose templates and create automated imposition workflows, streamlining operations. The Colorproof XF Task module sends Fiery Central jobs directly to a Colorproof XF driven device for proofing, large-format production and photographic printing. The Image Enhance Task module automatically corrects embedded RGB and CMYK images in PDF files. It is ideal for photo applications or heavy production environments, allowing users to quickly and automatically correct images. The module also allows users to interact with each image individually and apply manual corrections for custom adjustments.
 
In addition to new modules, Fiery Central ensures an open platform by supporting the non-vendor specific PPML industry standard and other legacy proprietary languages. It readily integrates into existing workflows and provides centralized VDP job management to execute efficiently compelling personalized marketing programs.
 
With integrated EFI solutions Fiery and Fiery Central, the Print Department Fifth Municipal of Friesland, Tytsjerksteradiel, The Netherlands, increases B&W and color production through workflow automation and intelligent routing of jobs. "The whole process from a digital document to a finished product is much more efficient while quality has increased. We now have flexible, in-house high-value production," said Rommie van der Laan, Employee Organizational Support.
 
Fiery Central is part of the Canon Workflow program, comprising Canon and third-party solutions that add value in CRD, Print-for-pay and Commercial print customer environments. This Canon program focuses on key workflows in production printing environments to maximize efficiencies and help printers build and grow a profitable digital print business. Fiery Central represents EFI's next generation of digital print production workflow technology, leveraging the company's industry-leading Fiery digital print server technology widely used by Canon customers.
 
Availability 
For more information about European availability of EFI solutions through Canon Europe, please contact your local Canon dealer or speak to Antony White, European Marketing Product Manager, Professional Solutions Strategic Marketing, Canon Europe, Email: [email protected] or phone: +44 (0)20 8588 8274. The new advanced Fiery Central will be available in Q3.