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The leaders of the digital graphic arts industry converged in Boston recently to display their latest wares.

Seybold returned to Boston this year after a two-year stint in New York—and what a homecoming it was. All the leaders of the digital graphic arts industry were on hand to show off their new technologies.

Adobe, naturally, took a lead position at the show, as the father of PDF. Adobe President John Warnock and CEO Charles Geschke laid out their collective version of publishing for both print and the Internet during the exposition's opening keynote.

Both Adobe executives stressed that publishers in the near future are going to have to be conscious of the need to publish for both media simultaneously. And, to no one's surprise, both Warnock and Geschke reported that Adobe would deliver to publishers that convergence with an integrated, new set of publishing packages.

The show floor was packed with new digital devices and software. Here's a sample.

Agfa announced the AgfaScan XY-15 CCD scanner, which comprises ColorExact application software and ColorTune color management software. Its XY-Zoom architecture enables single-pass scanning of any image in any bed position at any resolution. It is capable of scanning more than 40 scans per hour, as well as batch scanning.

Showcased at the DK&A booth was its INposition 2.1 upgrade. Using INposition, printers can now accept PDF documents and impose them just like any other graphics file. It features the ability to access native QuarkXPress, PageMaker, EPS, TIFF, PostScript and PDF files from over 30 applications in both Macintosh and Windows.

New from Epson was the ColorPage 8000 color laser printer, designed to accommodate fast, high-output printing needs. The ColorPage 8000 delivers letter-size pages up to four pages per minute (ppm) in color and 16 ppm in black. It prints tabloid-size pages up to two ppm in color and eight ppm in black. ColorPage 8000 uses Epson's Aculaser Color Halftoning technology to provide 600x600 dpi print resolution with full 24-bit continuous tone color in all print modes.

Debuting at the show was the Fujifilm SUMO Luxel F9000 imagesetter. SUMO will produce up to 58 eight-up single page flats per hour, and it supports film widths from 22˝ up to 441⁄2˝. It is capable of producing plate-ready film for all popular press sizes with minimum film waste. Using Fujifilm's patented multi-laser technology, SUMO comes with one, two or three lasers.

Harlequin brought its ScriptWorks 5.1 RIP management system to Seybold. It focuses on high-quality color processing for today's four-color and N-color proofing devices. ScriptWorks 5.1 recombines pre-separated jobs, including named spot colors and process colors. It provides enhanced color management of spot or process color overprints and calibrates photo ink output using a CMYK target.

The newest offering from Heidelberg Color Publishing Solutions, the SAPHIR HiRes desktop scanner, was unveiled at the show. The SAPHIR HiRes is a single pass, 42-bit color scanner employing a 10,500 pixel color CCD and offering dynamic range of up to 3.6D. It features a vibration-free moving plate design and a DoubleLens system that lets users select the resolution that best suits the original's size.

Imation announced the addition of two new custom colors, red and orange, to the CMYK color set for the Matchprint Laser Proof system. Customers can now proof colors beyond the standard CMYK color set in a digital halftone proof. Using IR thermal imaging, the imagers deliver a proof with dot-for-dot fidelity between the digital halftone proof and the plate.

Launched at the Kodak Polychrome Graphics booth was DryView recording film: a hard-dot, negative-acting, infrared-sensitive, heat-developed film. DryView is compatible with a number of enabled imagesetters. It uses a heat stable polyester base for dimensional stability. Offering a Dmax of over 5.0, DryView has a dynamic range comparable to wet processing systems.

Lanier gave visitors a taste of what will be available next month with the Lanier 5706 color copier/printer. Part of Lanier's suite of DOCutivity solutions, the 5706 produces 21, 81⁄2x11˝ cpm in black-and-white mode. In print mode, the system offers four ppm, with continuous-tone, 600-dpi resolution in full eight-bit color. In copy mode, the system produces six cpm, and the resolution stays as high as 400 dpi.

The PolaProof 2230 Imager Gold system, new from Polaroid, delivers a high-resolution, contract proof that matches the actual press sheet. This digital halftone proofing system can produce up to 14 full-color pages an hour. The system uses advanced Laser Ablation Transfer technology to image pigmented printing inks directly to actual printing stocks with real halftone dot structure.

New from QMS is the QMS 4032 print system. The 40-ppm printer has a 200,000-page-per-month duty cycle. The 4032 is available in three models, each featuring QMS's Crown controller architecture and CrownNet for Ethernet interface. 4032 models are available with up to 32MB RAM, and can print up to 1200x600 dpi.

Ricoh exhibited its Aficio Color 3006 copier/printer/scanner system at the show, with an embedded Fiery E-300 print controller. The Aficio Color 3006 produces 21 ppm as a black-and-white copier, and six ppm as a color laser copier. It provides 400 dpi and eight-bit copy resolution, with 600 dpi print resolution.

Screen (USA) introduced a new scanning and image processing application, the ColorGenius 1.0 system. It handles scanner calibration, color and sharpness adjustments, and conversion from RGB to CMYK. With the Intelligent Setup function, operators can select from a list of keywords the subject of the image to be scanned, and the Cézanne flatbed scanner does the rest automatically.

T/R Systems debuted version 4.52 of the MicroPress Cluster Printing System. It boasts significant workflow and functionality enhancements and offers connectivity to Minolta's Di620 and CF910 and Hewlett-Packard's LaserJet 8000 and 8100. MicroPress now supports five HP printers and 11 different printers total. The HP 8000 is a 24-ppm black-and-white laser printer and the HP 8100 is a 32-ppm black-and-white laser printer. The Minolta Di620 is a digital black-and-white printer/copier and the CF910 is a digital color device.

At the Ultre booth, the Ultre 5400 and Ultre 5400dri imagesetters were displayed. The 5400 images at twice the speed of its predecessor, at resolutions as high as 3,386 dpi. The 5400dri outputs Imation Dry View film, as well as conventional film and paper, with hard dot quality. The simplified workflow eliminates developer, fixer, wash bath and dryer steps.

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To fill the gap between its nine-ppm and 40-ppm color products for entry level printing environments, Xerox introduced its 30-ppm DocuColor 30 Pro and DocuColor 30 CP models. The digital color copier/printers are for environments that produce 20,000 to 30,000 prints per month. The 30 CP has a Xerox-branded digital controller, while the 30 Pro is offered with a variety of controllers.

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The Xerox DocuColor 30CP produces 30 pages per minute.

File Transfer Advancements

Interest in digital file transfer is growing daily, and providers of this technology are expanding their offerings to keep pace. Several vendors were on hand at Seybold to show off their latest advancements.

Group Logic presented its upgraded high-speed file transfer and remote proofing software, MassTransit 3.0. Key enhancements include:

• FTP client capability, which allows automated FTP-compatible file transfer and remote proofing workflows.

• Enhanced "hot folder" interface that boosts the ability to manage a group of telecom links from a single server.

• Increased file transfer notification capabilities.

• Improved status information on Internet connections.

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New from Hermstedt was a combined digital and analog connectivity package called Hermstedt DSP. It is an ISDN PCI card configured with an analog modem and bundled with Hermstedt Grand Central Pro software. Hermstedt DSP allows users to receive files from customers using analog modems or ISDN, to enable faster file transfer than both FTP or e-mail. It comprises a 4-channel Leonardo XL ISDN connectivity card, Grand Central Pro file transfer software and Pan Pro, the fax/modem circuit card.

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Vio introduced value-added applications including automatic file retrieval, automatic forwarding using "Hot Icons" and color managed remote proofing. With Vio's centrally managed server concept, sent files are stored on the network in the "in-boxes" of intended recipients until they are ready to be retrieved. All new features work with Job Ticket, which concentrates all information required for a job's completion into one form containing instructions and delivery details. Vio also showed RenderView, a soft proofing application developed by RT Image that is integrated into the Vio workflow.

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Featured at the WAM!NET booth was the company's ISDN On!Ramp product. Customers who sign up for ISDN On!Ramp can choose one of three service levels—50, 100 or 200 MPH—and one of two service packages. The "software only" package is geared toward current ISDN users with iSDN Manager and point-to-point digital delivery setups in place. "The solution" package is for new customers with no digital delivery. Both packages include Transmission Manager software.

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Wide-format Gets Wider

A new family of wide-format digital color ink-jet printers with 12 600-dpi print heads was unveiled by ColorSpan at Seybold. DisplayMaker Series XII ink-jet printers are available in 52˝, 62˝ and 72˝ widths, and produce up to 240 square feet per hour with up to 12 colors. The printers were designed to offer high speed without sacrificing quality.

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Encad featured its NovaJet PRO 600e series of wide-format ink-jet printers, available in 42˝ and 60˝ models. NovaJet Pro boasts a 500 ml. continuous ink reservoir, dual ink lines and built-in dryers. A take-up spool makes large prints and batch runs easy, and prime-free cartridges provide a fast and trouble free operation. The 600-dpi resolution captures details and subtle tones.

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Roland announced that Pantone Hexachrome certification is now complete for its 1,440x720-dpi, wide-format Roland Hi-Fi JET printer. The Hi-Fi JET uses 64 nozzle MicroPiezo print heads and six inks, including orange and green, to produce sharp detail and more color gradations. Available in 50˝ and 40˝ widths, the Hi-Fi JET ships with Roland's ColorChoice driver level RIP.

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