EFI upgrades Fiery for KM Bizhubs

EFI has released three upgrades for its digital front-ends (DFEs) for Konica Minolta Bizhub Presses.

The upgrades, revealed by EFI’s US headquarters in California this week, are for the C1060, C1070, C71hc, C1085 and C1100 digital presses.

EFI said that the new, version 2.0, EFI Fiery IC-415, IC-308 and IC-310 DFEs give inplant and commercial print providers “exceptional colour management capabilities and an expanded range of automated workflow advantages based on EFI's most advanced digital print technology, the Fiery FS150 Pro platform”.

EFI said the Fiery IC-310 “delivers unique Fiery HyperRIP technology that speeds processing of graphic-intensive and variable-data jobs to minimise data spikes and avoid lost production time.

“HyperRIP processes individual multi-page jobs faster by splitting pages for parallel ripping, improving performance by up to 55%,” it added.

The three new DFE versions are designed to meet the needs of low-, mid- and high-volume users. EFI said that C1060, C1070, C1070P, C71hc and Bizhub Pro C1060L users can achieve better, streamlined performance in light-production environments using the new software.

The external EFI Fiery IC-308 DFE drives the C1060, C1070, C1070P, C71hc, C1085 and C1100 engines for light- and mid-volume print operations. It also includes support for AdobePDF Print Engine 3.0, Adobe's latest PDF-native rendering platform, and integrates with EFI MIS and web-to-print systems, as well as with third-party prepress programmes such as Agfa Apogee, Kodak Prinergy and Heidelberg Prinect, the company said.

C1085 and C1100 users requiring higher-volume production demands can use the Fiery IC-310 DFE, which also supports the Adobe PDF Print Engine 3.0 and integrates with third-party pre-press workflows.

John Henze, vice-president, Fiery marketing, EFI. "We are helping Bizhub customers move ahead in efficiency, capabilities and quality."

Bizhub press customers can also integrate with EFI's MIS and web-to-print products, using the Fiery IC-308 and IC-310 DFEs.