Short-run colour printing is now faster, less expensive, and more flexible, thanks to RIP (raster image processing) servers, which allow printing on colour photocopiers direct from the computer. The Swedish company Visutech will present its new short-run print solutions for both professional and untrained users at the CeBIT 97 exhibition at Hanover, Germany. They claim to have the best price and performance in the market, plus the possibility of printing and distributing colour material through global networks like the Internet.

‘This second-generation RIP server sets new standards in price and performance’, claimed Visutech Managing Director Jan-Olof Jungersten. ‘It is based around DiamondPress compression technology, and provides faster printing than other equipment, with full resolution and maintained colour reproduction. And at 25% lower price!’
The basic machines, for smaller companies or divisions, are the DiamondPress E-500 and E-700. At the moment, these RIP servers support copiers from Canon and Xerox, with Ricoh coming in during the second quarter of this year.
The machines are claimed to be the only ones in their class to offer what is known as non-distortion compression, which means that they give full resolution in A4, A3, and tabloid formats. They also incorporate functions such as electronic sorting and simple print-out control from either Mac or Windows workstations.
Advanced colour control provides full resolution and 32-bit colour reproduction, while raster image processing and printout can be done at the same time, which increases capacity with several simultaneous jobs.

Printing via the Internet ("Print-where-you-want")
For demanding professional users in, for example, the advertising and printing industries, the more powerful DiamondPress E-4000 and E-5000 servers are also being introduced. They are based on Windows-NT servers, and have extensive support for network applications. Among other things, the machines have functions for electronic sorting, direct printout of files scanned by RIP equipment, job queueing control, and continuous printing with various originals at full copier speed.
Both models can be used as Web-servers for communication via the Internet, using coding in HTML (HyperText Markup Language). This opens up new ‘Print-where-you-want’ possibilities — originals can be produced on one place and transmitted electronically throughout the world with full, calibrated colour reproduction. Printing can be done in the required quantity and at any chosen time on colour copiers or digital offset presses.
‘We are going to demonstrate the possibilities of distributed printing at CeBIT 97’, said Jungersten. ‘Originals and prints are going to be transmitted via a network and produced simultaneously on our stand (Hall 1, Stand 3i1), on the Indigo stand (Hall 1, Stand 317), and at a printing works at Gothenburg in Sweden’./ins

Note: DiamondPress is a registered trade mark of ColorAge Inc.

Captions:
(1) The E-500 and E-700 RIP servers from Visutech allow printing on colour copiers direct from computer. Canon and Xerox are already supported, with Ricoh coming soon.

(2) The professional standard E-4000 and E-5000 provide printing on any colour copier, digital offset press, or TIFF/IT (Transport Independent File Format for Image Technology; ‘Print-where-you-want). The furniture company Ikea is making use of this technology for test prints of its worldwide catalogue.

For further information please contact:
Göran Gustafsson, Market Communications
Visutech AB
S:t Eriksgatan 3
S-411 05 Gothenburg, Sweden
Tel: +46 31 13 00 60
Fax: +46 31 13 00 26
e-mail: gorang@visutech.se
Internet: www.visutech.se

For information on local representatives in other countries, please contact Frederick Schaeffer, Tel +46 31 13 00 60.

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