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Introduction
The Changing Market for Digital Front Ends
In a 2011 U.S. survey, Digital Front Ends: Understanding Market Dynamics and Customer Requirements, InfoTrends identified the key
features that respondents look for in a digital front end for print engines:
• Raster image processing (RIP)
- Converting content specified in a page description language into raster images that a printer can read and process
• Job management / file handling
- Receive, manage and prepare jobs for print production
- Select media and finishing options
- Release files into print production
• Prepress and make-ready capabilities
- Color management
- Imposition, preflighting and trapping
• Automation support (job ticketing)
The report further found that the reputation of the vendor is an important consideration for end customers, as are the following:
• Ease of use
• Consistent and reliable output
• High performance based on RIP speed
• Familiarity of interface and operational consistency
Finally, the survey showed that most print service providers use digital front ends (DFEs) to perform a wide variety of prepress, make-
ready and job management tasks as well as to release jobs into print. InfoTrends also projects from the survey information that digital front
ends will quickly become a key part of end-to-end, automated workflows and will integrate into cloud workflows. The survey report also
notes, “As DFEs are becoming more tightly integrated, there is a need for wider job ticketing support, better integration with workflow or
accounting solutions, and higher compatibility with traditional/offset workflows.”
Fiery Servers Meet Current and Future Needs
Fiery
®
servers cover the entire digital printing spectrum. From light volume through high-production market segments, there’s a Fiery DFE
designed to meet every need. Fiery servers scale from proofing to production and are equipped with a consistent user interface that
minimizes learning curves, regardless of the complexity of the solution.
Market-leading Fiery servers excel in the following four categories:
Productivity
Fiery Systems Maximize Productivity and Automate Workflows
Architectural improvements and the latest hardware configurations continue to ensure that Fiery servers are the fastest and most
productive digital front ends (DFEs) in the market. Powerful features such as Fiery HyperRIP enable customers not only to take advantage
of the already improved performance of the FS150 Pro servers but also to obtain an additional performance improvement in speed of up
to 55% — adding to the already robust world-class tools in Fiery FS150 Pro.
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