amounting to laying down variable data (VD) on top of preprinted shells—and VD was just text. “Image quality is approaching our graphic communications level versus traditional transactional quality levels,” explained Viniski. As quality expectations rise, along with color coverage, VD and personalization, there are more challenges and more focus on the digital front end. “The number one concern and the number one question from customers, is ‘if my controller slows down when running 100 ppm, what gives me the confidence that it can drive a 1,000 ppm machine?’” he noted. “Priority one, two and three is all about speed. The applications that these devices are now running, such as four-color plus direct mail, puts a tremendous burden on the digital front end.” To deliver near-flawless production, the number one task any DFE has to do is properly and quickly convert the native data stream to the bitmap images that the printer understands, added Fiore. “To do this correctly, the DFE also has to take into consideration as part of the process, any changes the printer may want to make to the document i.e. color management, rotations, page order, face up vs. face down, etc. ... and ensure those changes can also be converted.” Important features to look for in a DFE include which datastreams are supported—such as, at a minimum, AFP, PDF, and PDF/VT. Industry standard color management capabilities, strong imposition, ease of use, support for JDF, and the web interface are also important, said Fiore. Ricoh’s Pro VC60000 uses a new Ricoh DFE that provides native support for PDF, PDF/VT, and AFP with JDF and advanced color management support. The DFE is optimized for complex, data-driven graphic communications and works hand-in-hand with a suite of software that helps ramp up the efficiency and productivity even further. Historically, inkjet devices were IPDS driven. “But IPDS doesn’t have the complexities to get to the graphically rich feature set that is demanded from our direct mail market and even current transactional jobs, which contain high graphic content,” noted Viniski. “The adoption of a PDF workflow gets you to a more visually rich document,” he added. Because of this, the industry is moving to the point where PDF is becoming the standard. Depending on your requirements, there are two different controllers available for the Xerox Impika Rialto continuous color inkjet press. PSPs primarily involved with direct mail and commercial work can use the Xerox Impika PDF Controller, based on APPE (Adobe PDF Print Engine) 3.3. It supports PDF 1.7, PDF/X 1a, 3, and 4, as well as PDF V/T. Xerox also offers the Xerox Impika IPDS controller, which is built for classic transactional jobs. It is compliant to the AFP Consortium (IS/3) format adheres to the latest industry standards. For those requiring both advanced graphics and the performance of a IPDS-based workflow, there is Xerox’s FreeFlow print server. FreeFlow supports an Adobe PDF Print Engine workflow, for an end-to-end, native PDF workflow. It also features subsets for variable data printing (VDP), including operator-defined and data-driven subsets, to allow production decisions like layout and finishing to be independent of data stream construction. Scalability is also a key consideration for a digital front. A scalable RIP, said Viniski, allows the PSP to match data complexity and printer speed. To ensure your RIP can grow with your company, “match the controller to the printer to be able to produce the most difficult jobs,” he said. Another concern is the long-term life of controllers, which may become obsolete before the printer they are driving. In this market, where print service providers spend $1 million to $3 million on their inkjet devices—not $150,000—they expect the system to last 10 to 20 years. When engineering its RIP, Global Graphics focuses on delivering speed, cost, and quality, and a maximum return on investment, Bailey said. The latest version of the Harlequin RIP is significantly faster than earlier iterations. The RIP has to be able to perform its functions really fast; otherwise the press is sitting idle, and not getting the MyPRINTResource.com Inkjet’s Age | June 2015 21
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