The Finishing Company get personal with XMPie
The Finishing Company have chosen XMPie technology, supplied by Positive Focus, to drive the Kodak NexPress 2500 recently installed at their Witham, Essex facility. This is only the second NexPress 2500 in the UK and the XMPie products will provide Variable Data as PDF output to the Prinergy DFE and also PostScript output to drive the company’s three Toshiba mono printers. ‘Starting out in colour we wanted a personalisation tool that was easy to learn and use, completely scalable yet one that offered us a full range of capabilities.’ said Stuart King who heads The Digital Bureau, set up by The Finishing Company to market the NexPress service. ‘We have a fast engine with a large sheet size that adapts to a wide variety of jobs, so we didn’t want to be held back by software limitations. With XMPie we have personalisation of the highest quality, in text and images, to match the print quality of the NexPress. We can expand the facility, adding extra processing power, cross-media and web-to-print functionality as the demand grows. Judging by initial reactions from our corporate customers and their agencies, that expansion may be sooner rather than later.’ from left to right Stuart King Digital Printing Development Manager Andy Fox Sales Director Ray Lesnik Managing Director Alan Dixon, Technical Director of Positive Focus, oversaw the installation and training. ‘We worked closely with Stuart and his colleagues to get the solution in place as soon as possible after the NexPress installation, and we used on-the-job training to produce some self promotion pieces informing The Finishing Company’s customers about the new service. This was the first installation of XMPie’s new Version 3 software and the extra features we now have, like automatic handling of semi transparent objects, have created a huge amount of interest. It simply hasn’t been possible to use these effects in personalised mailers before. We also used uImage to personalise some of the imagery, showing how quick and easy it is to prototype a job using this integrated suite of software.’ ‘Using the technology to promote the service is an obvious thing, but from a standing start, in a couple of days we had a selection of highly personalised mailers targeted at different corporate and agency audiences’ he continued, ‘I don’t know of any other software that would allow relative novices to achieve that in the timescale.’ About Positive Focus Positive Focus has over 25 years experience in production for print. We are independent distributors and integrators of best of breed software solutions from innovative manufacturers, including Kodak Graphic Communications, XMPie, LithoTechnics, Global Graphics Software, Gradual Software, Apago Inc., Callas Software, Hamillroad, Serendipity and IceniTechnology. Our areas of expertise include Imposition, JDF integration, Workflow automation, PDF technologies, Proofing and Personalisation. PDF version : Word Version Press Contacts: Ivor Dixon Positive Focus 12c Shepperton Business Park Govett Avenue Shepperton Middlesex TW17 8BA Tel +44 (0) 8456 120 246 Fax +44 (0) 8456 120 248 Distributors and integrators of workflow solutions for graphics, print and communication. Imposition Tools : JDF Integration : Proofing : PDF : Personalisation   PUBLISHED 12-08-06