Role of Digital Front End in Color Production Printing Environment
April 7, 2022
We are familiar that Color Digital Production Devices are used by Jobbers, Copy Shops, Commercial Offset Printers to print Short Runs, POD & VDP Jobs. Digital Front End or Color Printer servers are the backbone of successful functioning of any Color Production Printer device. Its mainstay behind the success of Production Color Engine which primarily drives its print quality & render standard Colors within Printing device specifications during continuous print runs. Apart from Accurate Color reproduction, a strong Digital Front end help customer achieve automation in their production workflows, reduce delays in Job management, minimize manual Interventions & extract Job insights in a Print Production Environment. Let’s us look at the various functions which is expected to perform by an ideal Digital Front End for a Color Production Printer Device:
Job Management Functions
- Job Spooling/Processing/Scheduling/Preview of Jobs
- Support for Industry leading File Formats
- Defining various Parameters of a Print Job (Job Ticket)
- Standardised User Interface for Job ticket Interaction from various Operating Systems/ Clients
- Quick submission of Jobs with few clicks
- Presets Tools to Automate job Workflow.
- PDF Composition Tool for Page Sequencing
- PDF Imposition Tools
- Image Enhancing Tools
- Latest Printer Drivers whenever the New Operating System released by MS Windows & Mac OS.
Color Management Functions
- Printing Device Calibration through Spectrophotometer
- Support ICC Color Management as per Industry Standards
- ICC Printer Profile Creation and Editing
- Support for Special Colors (like Pantone, DIC,Toyo) and allow Editing & Optimising it
- Allows you to update to latest Special Color set
Variable Data Processing (VDP) Functions
- Stand-alone Application for VDP File Generation at Client/User Workstation
- Connectivity with Database like Excel and CSV file formats
- Should be able to Structure VDP Jobs for Text, images, and Bar Codes.
- WYSIWYG Preview of the VDP jobs before submission to print.
- Faster Processing of VDP Jobs and support to Various VDP file Formats in the Industry
- Support for Imposition of VDP jobs
Workflow Management and Automation Tool Functions
- Hot Folders/Customised Printer Driver Job Submission
- Printing from Mobile Printing
- Job Submission via Email/Web Browser by End Customers
- Device Dashboard View and Insights into Production data Analysis to enhance Efficiency.
- Digital Front End Production data updates on Mobile Devices
- Seamless Integration to Finishing Devices like Duplo, Horizon etc., for Job Automation
Canon Digital Production Printers are Driven by Proven EFI Fiery Digital Front End & its associated workflow solutions. These Solutions provide industry-leading Productivity performance, Colour accuracy, Ease of Use, and integration to other applications that improve the print quality and efficiency of digital printing systems and allow you to profitably offer a wider range of Printed Products and services to your customers.
