Today’s business leaders and communications professionals face new challenges and use new tools to automate and accelerate their business processes. They want to improve their profitability and they are demanding new printing technologies and services to help them do it.

One of the keys to increased productivity and profitability is creating a fast and efficient digital workflow that can be automated. Automation ensures more jobs can be processed faster with minimal human intervention, thus enhancing repeatability at a lower error rate for more productivity. This is where the X-800 digital front-end (DFE) comes in. The X-800 meets and exceeds these challenges in more ways than one.

A pioneer in digital printing, Xeikon was among the first to develop DFEs. More than 15 years and many DFEs later we know what works well and what needed improving. As a company that dares to push the outside of the envelope, we are convinced that our new DFE will set the standard for years to come. With a longer road map, open standards, a modular set-up and smooth scalability, it can and will grow with you as your business changes. Add trademark robustness, reliability and ease-of-use and you will understand that the X-800 is ready for your future today.

Cranking up quality and consistency

In a market where improved print quality is crucial, the X-800 outperforms its predecessors and competition by a long stretch. Improved print quality consistency means less waste and, as a consequence, more profit.

Automatic printer calibration

That is why the X-800 offers automatic printer calibration. With the information drawn from the Xeikon 5000plus in-line densitometer, the X-800 can calculate new tone curves on-the fly and apply them instantly. The result is the same either way: a consistently high print quality that reflects in less colour tweaking and time-loss by the operator, yielding dramatically improved uptime.

Unequalled processing power

With 800 Mpixels/sec processing power this DFE sees to it that more complex and sophisticated screens can be implemented to improve print quality even further.

Optimal screen selection

You can now select a different screen per page or even per page element and you can do so after RIPping. This safeguards your flexibility and reaction time to change parameters at the last moment without the need to re-RIP.

Pushing performance and productivity

Flexibility and ease of use as well as automation and integration capabilities play an important role to make the X-800 a sure productivity booster. Thanks to its industry-leading, “all-terrain” features this next generation digital front-end makes a manifest difference in the widest variety of printing markets: short run colour printing, print on demand, direct mail, transactional printing, label printing, packaging, etc.

Workflow automation and integration flexibility

In stark contrast with previous-generation DFEs, the X-800 adapts itself to your workflow instead of dictating it. It allows you to easily load-balance different jobs over the available RIPs and/or printers for a smoother and more efficient workflow.

Operator flexibility and ease of use

The X-800 offers post-RIP imposition, which allows you to be more flexible in executing last minute corrections and changes. What is more, you can also perform on the fly post-RIP colour adjustment and screen selections. RIP-while-Print ensures you can start-up and prepare the next job, while the first is still being printed. And with page picking you can combine already RIPped page information from existing jobs into a new job, saving precious time.

MIS integration capabilities

To quantify is to know. That is why the X-800 offers you smooth Management Information System (MIS) integration. Linking to an MIS you can gather all print-related information you need from an SQL Server database incorporated in the X-800.This allows for elaborate and customised reporting for improved job and cost analysis. Advanced knowledge of your printing environment in all its aspects enables you to fine-tune and better control or steer the different printing processes, resulting in sleek and smooth printing for more profit.

Variable data printing

The X-800 offers object-based, high-end variable data support along with fast and scalable RIPping and sophisticated global object management, making variable data easy to manage, process and print. In addition, it is designed to fluently process PPML and PPML/VDX files allowing you to tackle the most demanding variable data printing jobs at industry-best speeds. It easily processes variable data jobs of up to 1,000,000 records. Native colour IPDS support is feasible via an optional controller.

Open, scalable and modular

Before, DFEs were conceived from the bottom up, resulting in closed, monolithic systems. Today, Xeikon introduces a fundamental shift towards open, scalable and modular workflows that ensure increased productivity. The X-800 is the first DFE on the market that has radically chosen for a combination of openness, modularity and scalability.

Open

In support of the view of opinion leaders in our industry who agree that a workflow strategy without open standards is doomed to fail, we made it so. The X-800 comes with a wide range of interfaces that are all standard-based to provide easier and seamless integration in any custom workflow.

Scalable

The X-800 boasts multi-threaded software allowing you to take advantage of multiple CPUs on the same PC. And because the software is installable on any Windows-based PC, you can finally select and install the exact modules you want on the system of your choice to form a completely personalised workflow. You can choose the storage and backup devices, the archiving strategy, the network set-up and the rest of the hardware that suit your needs to a tee.

Modular

All DFE modules can be separately installed on any standard Windows-based PC, or you can install all modules on a single system, according to your needs. Previewing, proofing, PDFarchiving, RIPping, preflighting, etc. are at your fingertips. And, you can rest assured that these modules will keep pace with any future workflow requirements you might have.

Specifications

X-800 Streamer system

• High-end workstation 
• dual Xeon 3,4 GHz, 6GB RAM, 73GB + 2 x 146GB data disks, 2 x 19" TFT colour monitor
• imaging hardware: 1 x Mila PCI-X board for 4/4, 5/0, 4/0; 2 x Mila PCI-X board for 5/5
• Windows 2000 Server 
• X-800 streamer software module

X-800 Server system

All server modules can be installed by default on the X-800 streamer system, but they can also be installed separately or together on any other Windows 2000 system.

• Preflight module
• Optional Impress™ imposition module (from Ultimate Technographics™)
• RIP module
• PostScript 3, PDF 1.6, EPS, TIFF, JPEG, DCS
• optional Kanji font set
• optional in-RIP trapping module
• server module
• variable data support: PPML V2.1, PPML/VDX, BTF1
• optional IPDS controller
• XML-based job tickets
• OPI support 1.3, 2.0
• ICC-based Color Management (with support for DeviceLink profiles)
• hotfolder support
• configurable network printers
• post-RIP imposition using JDF-based templates
• preview module
• PDF proofing and archiving module
• PPML global object management module
• MetaData module to add text, tracking-data or variable elements after ripping
• Optional barcode module
• Ready-to-print job archival
• Extended job- and print-management
• SQL database logging all DFE events and activity
• Job editor (for Mac and Windows)