Organizations from around the globe have been quick to jump on the data bandwagon to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase sales. Over the past several years, companies specializing in big data and connectivity have focused on investment activity representing over $800Bn USD in 2020 alone.

Interestingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased this activity making data more important than ever for businesses wishing to make informed decisions. But what does that mean exactly? While investment interest places value on data or the creation of business data tools, how does data help a business? More specifically, how does data relate to the wide-format print industry? And how can Print Service Providers (PSPs) benefit from it today to make better business decisions? While one challenge of modern print businesses is gaining access to data, another is having it but not knowing what to do with it.

This article discusses recent industry trends that have given rise to the necessity for modern print businesses to be data led. In addition, we articulate the reasons why data should be gathered and measured, as well as what data to track. With the steady influx of new and useable KPIs and metrics afforded to PSPs, this article outlines some of the ways data is needed to make better business decisions.

Recent Industry Trends

Thinking about recent wide-format print industry trends it is impossible to ignore the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the graphic arts industry. Print Businesses were already under pressure to be competitive and profitable in an already competitive market and COVID-19 put further pressure on already strained margins. COVID-19 has done more than just strain margins. It has sped up existing trends such as automation and given rise to pivots in service offerings and provided an opportunity for Print Service Providers (PSPs) to look internally at business operations and efficiencies.

With many print business owners, there is a necessity to stretch further to do more with less. This has spurred the need for fast, reliable, automated, easy-to-use solutions that don’t require expert training. In fact, in a recent industry study conducted with PSPs between March 2020 and June 2021, 69% of respondents said they could improve internal efficiencies with increased automation and usable data.

Taking automation first, the term automation can seem overwhelming for some as different levels of automation are required based on PSP focus and customer base. As a software vendor for wide format, the term “automation” for many of our customers is all about saving time, reducing manual error, and increasing capacity to do more with less, ultimately affecting profitability. For them, automation is paramount because it helps accomplish these goals. Some examples of this include:

• Setting up automated print workflows to reduce manual touchpoints
• Automating submission of jobs from a front-end ordering system such as e-commerce or web2print
• Setting up print jobs with options such as page size, rotation, step and repeat, adding tiles, or finishing marks like grommets all automatically
• Applying automated color management controls to synchronize and proof color management settings across devices
• Adding cut paths that are automatically recognized from the design software and then barcodes to print jobs for a seamless print and cut workflow

While the type and scale of automation a PSP implements will differ based on business size, location, and service offerings, a good first step is understanding current production problems such as bottlenecks, material wastage, manual production steps, and where to manage costs. Automation software on the market today can reduce these manual touchpoints in prepress, provide data on consumable usage, and automate some finishing activities. This yields higher quality output, faster turnaround, and lower operating costs.

In terms of pivoting in this new normal, a big trend is how PSPs have been able to meet the needs of their communities. PSPs have found new ways to print, including producing safety items to assist healthcare workers, signage to help direct patients in hospitals, social distancing, floor graphics for several business types, and providing curbside signage for restaurants.

In addition, these new offerings have been well assimilated into a new normal rather than going away, which adds to ongoing revenue opportunities for print businesses. Lastly, speaking to internal efficiencies, a trend we have seen in the print industry these past 18 months is that PSPs have been able to capitalize on the opportunity to review, update and improve upon their current systems and processes.

For many, as they look to a post-COVID-19 year, this has included the need to upgrade their software
solutions to provide new tools and capabilities to meet their business and customer needs. So how do these trends relate to data? The idea of automation, costs savings, and looking internally to evaluable business efficiencies brings up another question: How do PSPs find out where they can improve and what to invest in? What information is available to help them identify automation tools or other solutions to enhance print and business operations? The first step in this process is to know why data is important.

Why Measure Data?

Perhaps less pervasive until recently in the wide format print industry, data plays an important role in modern print businesses because it can provide measurable insight into operational performance.PSPs often ask: “Did I make money on that print job?” or “How much media did I waste?” Similarly, PSPs might ask: “Is the printer being run at capacity?” or “Am I running at capacity?” before making a new printer purchase decision. The idea that data can provide insight is not new.

The issue is while PSPs weigh on these questions regularly, many may not be implementing data into their business, using guesswork by eyeballing media waste in the trash or guessing their ink consumption. In fact, in the 2019 Wide Format Application and Utilization study by Keypoint Intelligence and Big Picture Magazine, 28% of print shops can’t quantify media savings on nested jobs because they don’t have the right tools(iii). By tracking data, however, PSPs can work out what trends are in their own business.

This could include finding out how fast one printer consumes ink compared to another, or whether the ink consumption is based on utility or printer type. It may provide insight into the level of media waste or production capacity or even help identify what products are most often purchased by customer type. Deciding on how much-perforated vinyl to keep in inventory, for example, based on actual customer needs, would be helpful information to have when making media orders each month. When it comes to measuring data, there are several benefits including:

• The ability to view production performance
• Track consumption of ink and media
• Identify areas of waste
• See what products produce the highest margins
• Identify what is working and what isn’t
• Understand areas that can be improved

Tracking data saves time and resources over time but also increases productivity. This is because PSPs gain knowledge about their current organization as well as areas to improve. However, to really improve from data collection, it is important to understand what information to look for. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, one issue is not having data to use to make better business decisions, but another is not knowing what to look for or how to use it. In a study conducted by Erik Brynjolfsson, professor of information technology at Harvard University, businesses that inject data tracking and usage become 5-6% more productive overall(iv), but it all starts with knowing what to track.

Speaking as a software vendor for wide-format print, our experience teaches us that print production data is just one facet of the kind of data that a print business can learn from to make better business decisions. Like most businesses, different data metrics and KPIs come from various sources and mean different things. Print Businesses that have launched a Web2Print shop with a new eCommerce front end, for example, are looking for different measures of performance than the efficiency of a print workflow or how fast an order can be generated from their MIS system.

In terms of web data, research shows that businesses are making greater attempts to understand their customers through analytics data since COVID-19 than ever before. In a study conducted by Sisense, an analytics provider, 49% of small businesses are using analytics to understand their customer online interactions.

Web Data:

Taking the first in our example of online data, several metrics come to mind. This includes:

• Sessions
• Page visits
• New vs Returning Users
• Engagement
• User flow

And this is just the beginning. These don’t include other metrics such as the highest product page hits or the really important one: customer conversions. However, looking at each, a PSP with a new web store as part of their website can quickly gather insight and knowledge about how visible their latest offerings are.  Sessions are the number of times people have visited the website or web store pages, with page visits telling a business owner how many people have visited that online page.

This leads to the next metric of new versus returning users where a PSP can see how many people are hitting the website for the first time and the percentage of visitors coming back a second or third time. If a new product is launched, this metric may help understand if they have new customer interest or not. Engagement is a related metric and gives an understanding of how long visitors are staying on the site. This may influence future online content if users are leaving too soon. Lastly, user flow shows the entry and exit points of users which can indicate what kind of conversion statements or pieces of information are the most useful toward a customer conversion – a sale.

Production Data:

If looking at strict production, the data most useful to a PSP is between dropping the file into the RIP-Queue, and what comes off the printer. For this stage, metrics may include:

• Number of ripped or queued files
• Files on hold
• Failed prints
• Trends
• Job histories
• Ink consumption
• Media usage
• Media waste

Looking at each of these, they all provide important information that can help a PSP make inferences on production efficiency, performance, and production capacity. The number of ripped files could be those currently ripping, those in the queue, or how many are ripping simultaneously. If RIP software can RIP many files simultaneously, it implies it is sending more data to the printer in a quicker time frame, and therefore production speed is high.

If many files are on hold, why are they on hold? Is production waiting for artwork approval from a customer? Is the media being changed on a printer before these can be released? It could be that prints on hold are due to downtime and downtime is costly. If production halts for any reason, the cause of the shutdown needs to be determined as soon as possible as this can quickly impact capacity and profitability. This kind of metric helps identify if there is a possible printer problem and whether they are being used to capacity. Failed prints are an interesting metric because it implies issues with production but knowing what that issue actually is can be trickier. Let’s say a customer orders two prints of a fine art drawing 36 inches wide and 40 inches tall, and out of seven prints that made it to the printer, only two of them were usable.

If there is an available metric that counts the number of prints ordered versus the number of prints printed, a production manager can quite quickly see that the media waste in the trash is from misprinting a job that directly impacts profitability. At this point, it raises questions such as “What caused the failed print?” it might be that the media ran out before the print could finish, or there was a drift in one of the color channels, making an issue with the output color before recalibrating the printer. It might mean manual error, in which case training may be the right remedy.  Without such a metric, however, PSPs are blind to ways to improve. Trends are another important and interesting metric because it provides insight into which print products are most popular. For this kind of metric, industry-specific business solutions can provide insight into order and sales histories that can impact purchasing behaviors for different media and other consumables.

Similarly, if specific products are not selling, the business may either reduce these offerings or invest more heavily into marketing such products to fit with the organization’s goal of establishing itself as a leading provider of such products. Moving on, job histories provide a quick visual reference to past production for reprints, and knowledge about ink consumption and media usage is invaluable in terms of providing insight into the costs of operation. The last metric in our production example is media waste.  Media waste represents one of the single largest challenges facing PSPs today. In an ONYX study conducted over a three-year period from PSPs across the globe, 72% said a software solution that could provide data on saving media usage and reducing waste would be an easy purchase decision.

What trends to expect:

This article has aimed to showcase that data is an important part of the assessment of print business performance with examples of just some metrics or KPIs that are part of this process. Having data, however, is not enough. It needs to be usable. Certain production metrics, for example, may infer an issue in production but may also help a PSP plan strategically toward business improvement or growth goals. It is these kinds of inferences that help PSPs evaluate potential future software investment.

With this in mind, what kind of industry trends do we expect to see in the near future? From our experience, PSPs are already seeking out and consuming data from different sources such as RIP solutions, nesting software, business intelligence tools that provide a snapshot of shop performance, and new and interesting MIS solutions. Monitoring data of all kinds helps PSPs understand what is happening in their print business and make informed decisions from meaningful metrics. The tools PSPs use today and the tools they may use in the future are likely to change but, in our opinion, COVID-19 has increased interest in data to make better business decisions. It is an interest that won’t be going away any time soon.

Key takeaways:

• Data provides another set of eyes on business performance.
• Current industry trends include automation, and through COVID-19, internal business efficiency
• Data provides useful insight into areas needing improvement as well as aligning future goals
• Real-time, historical, and trend data require timely and appropriate actions to impact profitability
• Data metrics, usage, and application are gaining rapid interest in the print industry

SAi recently released an update to its design and RIP software, Flexi. It has numerous new features as well as fixes and improvements. While, at first glance, the interface “seems” to look as if there are very few changes, there are in fact many improvements. Here are my top five favorite features:

SAi Connect

This new app for SAi Flexi software will sit in your taskbar tray taking up little room or memory but giving you huge amounts of data feedback and access to apps and more.  You’ll see all the SAi apps you have installed or have access to and even see when they need updating.  Statistics will show you your activity, ink usage, jobs, and more in whatever time frame you want to monitor them. Now you can see how productive you are.

SAi Connect is like having access to the Cloud part of Flexi all in one place but organized and more easily accessible and meaningful.

Dynamic Marquee For Make Transparent

Now, when you select an area to make it transparent and change the Tolerance in DesignCentral you will see the change in real-time on the image. This will save time. In the previous Flexi version, you had to set the tolerance, select and then set the tolerance lower or higher, and select again to see the results. Now just select, change the tolerance and see the results instantly.

Order Reprints

The Order Reprint feature allows you to create and store print orders with the original job files and settings in Production Manager, and then retrieve them to be printed again. Once you have a job in Production Manager, just choose Order Reprint from the File menu. Or better, go to Edit and then Preferences in Production Manager and set Order Reprints to start whenever you send a job for printing (you can always just cancel the order reprint menu if you don’t want to save for later reprinting).

After you set the info in the Create Order, if you want to print the image again EXACTLY as before, you can choose order reprint, choose the job and it will set up the job to print using all the same settings you had for the original print! There are some great job search options as well. Search by customer name, date, and more.

Thumbnails in the Production Manager Queue

Just hover over a small thumbnail next to any job in Production Manager and up will pop an enlarged thumbnail so you can preview the job before selection.

Instead of just trying to guess what the job is based on the name of the job, Production Manager will now show you a small thumbnail so you can preview the job about to be selected. This is one small improvement that makes the user experience in Flexi RIP software better.

Reorder Devices in Production Manager

In Flexi 22 there is an easy way to move the location of the tabs for the output devices in Production Manager. So, if you want your cutter first and then all your printers or you have multiple printer types and use one more often, you can move the tab location for that device to the front of the line in Production Manager.

What Do I Think About Flexi 22

Overall, SAi has made some very good improvements to this version of Flexi. With the new features and updates, SAi continues to be the leader in design and RIP software for sign and print shops. I would recommend the update/upgrade to anyone.

About SA International (SAi).

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, SA International (SAi) is recognised as the global leader in providing software solutions for the sign making, digital printing, textile, and CNC machining industries - from design to production.  SAi's Flexi family of software products rank as the world's number one software for sign making and digital printing, outselling all competitors combined.  Flexi is found on more wide-format printers than any other software.  In addition, the company is one of the leaders in the CNC machining and router markets with its EnRoute CAD/CAM software.

SAi has a large and loyal network of resellers around the world and has over 250,000 customers in more than 150 countries.  SAi enjoys strong OEM relationships with industry-leading manufacturers.  In addition to its USA headquarters, SAi has offices in Brussels, Belgium, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Shanghai and Hong Kong, China, Pune, India, Tel Aviv, Isreal and Tokyo Japan.

PSW Paper & Print Limited has announced a new partnership agreement with software supplier PrintFactory, with an integrated software solution specifically tailored for large format print production. PrintFactory is a suite of printing and finishing software applications that have been made to help solve the everyday challenges faced by wide format printers. The SaaS-based suite of tools make a lasting impression with its ease of operation and the ability to deliver better colour, consistently, while saving ink, time, media, and ultimately saving money. PrintFactory’s workflow software includes feature-rich tools that make life easier for teams working on the production floor – an editing package that speeds up the production process; nesting and tiling tools that deliver the best possible layouts, with complete manual control; and a world-class device-link colour profiling that can guarantee the right colour, across all media, and devices. In addition, the software has been designed to be ‘one click’ wherever possible, with in-app tools that make life easier for users.

Tom Skinner says: “We are delighted to have partnered with PrintFactory and are excited to introduce the powerful new features and abilities of this software suite, that will bring both production efficiencies and ink savings to our customer base”.

About PrintFactory

PrintFactory has been providing solutions to the print industry for over 25 years.  With over 40 employees, offices around the world and a substantial dealer network.  Determined to free the large format printing sector of the unnecessary complexities that continue to impact on cost, consistency and capacity on the production floor, PrintFactory have completely re-engineered the wide-format workflow to equip the world’s print shops with an intuitive and future-proofed platform that resolves these issues and readies them for the industry 4.0 era.

Onyx Graphics, Inc., today announced the global availability of ONYX 22, the company’s newest software version release of industry leading wide-format RIP and print workflow software that was showcased at FESPA Global in Berlin, Germany. ONYX 22 introduces a new drag-and-drop user experience for file management and Quick Set automation, smart job submission from design to print, artwork placement controls for flatbed and DTG printing, and easy-to-use tools for everyday automation.

“Software has to be fast, reliable, and easy-to-use in today’s printing environment,” said Matt Crawford, Director of Product Marketing at Onyx Graphics. “The tools, technology, and controls for everyday automation in ONYX 22 are designed for the modern user, and continue our vision in providing superior software solutions to print businesses across the globe.”

ONYX 22 also introduces colour tools for increased colour output accuracy and an all-new ONYX Color Reference Library to easily match colour for any printer. This dynamic reference library highlights in-and-out of gamut colours and can be printed or used in ONYX software to know what colours are possible on each device and media combination.

Highlights of ONYX 22 include:

• Drag-and-drop user experience for file handling
• Drag-and-drop Quick Set automation
• Smart job submission from design to print automation
• Job placement tools for enhanced nesting
• Auto-trim for flatbed and DTG printing
• Automated image cropping using Quick Sets
• Printer versioning and auto-backup
• D65 10-degree observer ICC profile build options for textile printing
• Snapshot colour calibration for contone printers
• The latest Adobe PDF Print Engine APPE 5.7 for fine line rendering

Availability

ONYX 22, covering the entire product portfolio of ONYX solutions including ONYX Thrive print workflow software, all ONYX RIP products, and ONYX Go subscription RIP products, is globally available. It is automatically provided to ONYX Go subscribers through a soft download product update, available to all ONYX Advantage customers by requesting a key update, and to all other customers through a license purchase. Onyx Graphics is providing a special promotion to upgrade please contact your account manager for further details.

About Onyx Graphics, Inc.

Leading the market since 1989, Onyx Graphics is dedicated to helping customers increase productivity, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge with superior software solutions for the print industry. Innovative, productive, and delighted customers around the globe help motivate the company to develop and enhance its leading-edge technologies. Global channel partnerships and longstanding relationships with printer manufacturers position Onyx Graphics as a market leader in powerful, reliable, large format printing workflow and print business software solutions.

At the upcoming ISA Sign Expo, Onyx Graphics, Inc., will be providing a first glimpse of the next major release of ONYX software that offers print service providers a new drag-and-drop user experience and easy-to-use tools for everyday automation. The next major release will be available for the full range of ONYX solutions including ONYX Thrive print workflow software and all ONYX RIP products. Demonstrations will be held in the Onyx Graphics booth 1943 at the ISA Sign Expo, May 4-6 in Atlanta, Georgia.

This latest release builds upon industry-leading ONYX 21.1 software that introduced Swatch Books 2.0 for faster color matching and PDF tile maps to streamline tile-job installation. “User experience expectations are changing,” said Matt Crawford, Director of Product Marketing at Onyx Graphics. “Software owners and operators need fast, easy-to-use tools that are intuitively designed which is our motivation behind this release.”

The announcement of a new ONYX software version coincides with the International Sign Expo next month in Atlanta, Georgia, the first major US tradeshow since 2019. “This year’s theme is to bring top technology, powerful connections, and smart solutions together under one roof,” said Lori Anderson, President and CEO of the International Sign Association. “This is the perfect venue to see new innovations from exhibitors and manufacturers such as Onyx Graphics who continue to drive our industry forward.”

Availability

The next major release of ONYX software is anticipated to be globally available in May 2022 covering the entire product portfolio of ONYX solutions including ONYX Thrive print workflow software; ONYX Go, the company’s RIP software subscription, ONYX PosterShop, and ONYX RIPCenter RIP software. It will be available to all ONYX Advantage customers by requesting a key update, is included as part of ONYX Go subscriptions, and to all other customers through a license or subscription purchase. As part of the company’s attendance at ISA, Onyx Graphics is promoting a special offer for all booth visitors.

Teaming with industry leaders

Onyx Graphics proudly supports the widest range of industry-leading printers and manufacturers. In addition to the Onyx Graphics booth at ISA, ONYX software will be driving printers in numerous partner booths around the show. Visit Onyx Graphics at booth 1943 for a complete list of partner booths showcasing the power of ONYX software.

About Onyx Graphics, Inc.

Leading the market since 1989, Onyx Graphics is dedicated to helping customers increase productivity, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge with superior software solutions for the print industry. Innovative, productive, and delighted customers around the globe help motivate the company to develop and enhance its leading-edge technologies. Global channel partnerships and longstanding relationships with printer manufacturers position Onyx Graphics as a market leader in powerful, reliable, large format printing workflow and print business software solutions.

SA International (SAi), the leading provider of software solutions for the sign making, digital printing, textile, and CNC machining industries, has today announced the launch of FlexiDESIGN for macOS for sign and printmakers.

SAi FlexiDESIGN is the leading design software for the sign and print industry. Now available in both PC and Mac versions, FlexiDESIGN is the perfect addition to any shop looking to add additional design seats.

SAi’s popular FlexiDESIGN program that was previously available for PCs only, is now available for Mac users. Unlike other software, SAi’s FlexiDESIGN software was engineered from the ground up for the sign and print industry, so it includes unique tools that make every aspect of job preparation and production faster.

FlexiDESIGN for macOS is packed with features including:

• Native 64-bit application
• The ability to send to remote Windows production manager
• Variable data
• User data backup
• Vector erase tool
• Crop marks for manual trimming
• Colour palette libraries
• Easy-to-define cut lines
• Free email and phone support
• Free software upgrades
• Standard vectorizing tools *

Availability

FlexiDESIGN for macOS is now available globally as a subscription, to purchase this software please contact your PSW sales representative on 01527 853 136.

About SA International (SAi).

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, SA International (SAi) is recognised as the global leader in providing software solutions for the sign making, digital printing, textile, and CNC machining industries - from design to production.  SAi's Flexi family of software products rank as the world's number one software for sign making and digital printing, outselling all competitors combined.  Flexi is found on more wide-format printers than any other software.  In addition, the company is one of the leaders in the CNC machining and router markets with its EnRoute CAD/CAM software.

SAi has a large and loyal network of resellers around the world and has over 250,000 customers in more than 150 countries.  SAi enjoys strong OEM relationships with industry-leading manufacturers.  In addition to its USA headquarters, SAi has offices in Brussels, Belgium, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Shanghai and Hong Kong, China, Pune, India, Tel Aviv, Isreal and Tokyo Japan.

Onyx Graphics today announced its new subscription RIP software ONYX Go has been named by the PRINTING United Alliance as the Best RIP Software of 2021. Available with soft-key activation providing near-instant access, ONYX Go is a month-to-month, no-contract, full-featured ONYX RIP solution with up to four Adobe PDF Print Engines (APPE); Job Editor to edit files before printing, unlimited roll-to-roll cutter support for complete Print-and-Cut workflows and supports up to two printers.

The PRINTING United Alliance Pinnacle Product Award competition evaluates products that will be available for sale in 2021. A highly qualified panel of judges from across the printing industry evaluated the annual contest’s 160+ entries in more than 58 categories spanning analog, digital, output, and non-output technologies.

“One of the things I like best about our competition is that it is juried, and judges are basing their decisions on objective criteria. And with outstanding entries like ONYX Go, they had their work cut out for them,” said Ray Weiss, Director of Digital Print Programs at PRINTING United Alliance. “The Pinnacle Product Award competition represents the best of the best among commercial hardware, software, consumables, industrial and screen equipment,” Weiss said. “Congratulations to Onyx Graphics for their deserved win.”

“We are delighted to accept this prestigious award from the PRINTING United Alliance,” said Matt Crawford, Director of Product Marketing at Onyx Graphics, Inc. “When our customers, peers and now industry leaders acknowledge the way ONYX Go is helping print businesses succeed, it furthers our commitment to developing best-in-class software solutions for the wide-format print industry.”

ONYX Go is available in two product tiers: ONYX Go Lite and ONYX Go Plus, to suit the needs of the print business. As part of their subscription, users get unlimited product support as well as product updates with in-product notifications to download the latest version. ONYX Go Lite is ideally suited for new print shops, while ONYX Go Plus is for growing print businesses.

Highlights of ONYX Go products include:

• ICC profiling and Media Manager
• Up to four Adobe PDF Print Engines
• Support for up to two printers
• Unlimited roll-to-roll cutter support
• Automated Print-and-Cut workflows
• Automatic media savings for nested jobs
• Job Editor for file editing and job preparation
• Quick Sets 2.0 and Hot Folders for automation
• Swatch Books 2.0 for colour matching
• Specialty ink support for white ink
• Bleed and Grommet finishing tools

Availability

ONYX Go is available now as a monthly subscription through PSW Paper & Print Limited. ONYX Go is open to existing ONYX users and other customers through a license subscription.

About Onyx Graphics, Inc.

Leading the market since 1989, Onyx Graphics is dedicated to helping customers increase productivity, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge with superior software solutions for the print industry. Innovative, productive, and delighted customers around the globe help motivate the company to develop and enhance its leading-edge technologies. Global channel partnerships and longstanding relationships with printer manufacturers position Onyx Graphics as a market leader in powerful, reliable, large format printing workflow and print business software solutions. For more information, visit www.onyxgfx.com.

About PRINTING United Alliance

PRINTING United Alliance is the most comprehensive member-based printing and graphic arts association in the United States, comprised of the vast communities which it represents. The Alliance serves industry professionals across market segments with preeminent education, training, workshops, events, research, government and legislative representation, safety, and environmental sustainability guidance, as well as resources from the leading media company in the industry – NAPCO Media. Now a division of PRINTING United Alliance, Idealliance is the global leader in standards training and certification for printing and graphic arts operations across the entire industry supply chain. PRINTING United Alliance also produces the PRINTING United Expo, the most influential days in printing. The expansive display of technology and supplies, education, programming, and services are showcased to the industry at large, and represents all market segments in one easily accessed place.

Onyx Graphics, Inc., today announced the global availability of ONYX 21.1, the company’s newest software version release of industry leading wide-format RIP and print workflow software. ONYX 21.1 launches on the heels of ONYX Go, the company’s new subscription RIP software and builds upon industry leading ONYX 21 with an all new PDF Soft Proof workflow and Print Label Cut Path functionality. RGB soft proofs can be easily generated on the fly or automated using ONYX Quick Sets for a quick visual reference of final output before printing. Print Label Cut Paths automatically adds a cut path around print labels to provide print buyers with important job information for future prints.

“ONYX 21.1 continues the vision of ONYX 21 to provide easy-to-use tools that give Print Service Providers a competitive edge in today’s environment,” said Matt Crawford, Director of Product Marketing at Onyx Graphics. “ONYX users can expect to see more frequent product releases like ONYX 21.1 to ensure they meet the evolving needs of their customers.”

ONYX 21.1 also introduces new options for ambient light measurement using ONYX Media Manager, Custom ICC build options for light source measurement, and a series of new device support options including transmissive profiling using the X-Rite i1 Pro-3, full support for the Fotoba XLA cutter and on-demand colour device installation.

Highlights of ONYX 21.1 include:

• PDF Soft Proofs to reduce customer artwork approval timelines
• Show finishing marks, grommets, sewing marks, cut paths and label data before printing
• Print Label Cut Path functionality help PSPs:
• Include shop logos on print-and-cut jobs
• Provide important job information to print buyers for print-and-cut jobs
• Media Manager ambient light spot measurement
• Custom ICC build options for light source measurement
• Centralised proxy configuration
• On-demand colour device installation
• Transmissive profiling for X-Rite i1 Pro3
• Fotoba XLA device support

Availability

ONYX 21.1, covering the entire product portfolio of ONYX solutions including ONYX Thrive print workflow software; all ONYX RIP products; and ONYX Go subscription RIP products, is globally available. It is automatically provided to ONYX Go subscribers through a soft download product update; available to all ONYX Advantage customers by requesting a key update; and to all other customers through a license purchase. Onyx Graphics is providing a special promotion to upgrade. Customers are encouraged to visit www.onyxgfx.com for more information.

About Onyx Graphics, Inc.

Leading the market since 1989, Onyx Graphics is dedicated to helping customers increase productivity, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge with superior print and colour quality. Its passion for delivering superb colour led to the development of ONYX Color, Onyx Graphics’ own colour engine optimized specifically for large format inkjet printing. Innovative, productive, and satisfied customers around the globe help motivate the company to continually develop and enhance its leading-edge technologies. Global channel partnerships and longstanding relationships with printer manufacturers position Onyx Graphics as a market leader in powerful, reliable, large format printing workflow software. For more information, visit www.onyxgfx.com.

Onyx Graphics, inc., a leading software solutions provider for the digital inkjet wide format print industry, announced today that ONYX software is certified for the new HP Latex 700 and 800 printer series. This certification applies to all ONYX RIP and Print Workflow Solutions, including ONYX Thrive, ONYX PosterShop, and the newly released ONYX GO subscription, all on the company's latest version release, ONYX 21.

The HP certification program differentiates software vendors through a comprehensive set of integration, compatibility, and performance standards testing against HP printing technologies. For this latest certification, Onyx Graphics designed the driver to support the vivid colour and newly added white-ink capabilities of the HP Latex Printer Series, including sandwich mode printing for under-flood, over-flood, and spot. In addition, the ONYX driver allows for ONYX Quick Set options to automate print production, taking advantage of the speed and agility offered in this new printer series. Combined with ONYX Color and iccMAX v5. profiling, users of the HP Latex 700 and 800 Printer Series can expect superior and consistent colour across their entire print production environment.

"This latest certification achieved by Onyx Graphics showcases their commitment to providing outstanding support for HP printing technologies." Said Guayente Sanmartin, General Manager, Large Format Business, HP. "HP Latex 700 and 800 Printer Series users who choose ONYX software can feel confident in delivering outstanding quality prints to their customers."

About the HP Latex 700 and 800 Printer Series

According to HP, the HP Latex Series introduces a range of Latex Large Format print solutions to help Print Service Providers diversity their offerings. The HP Latex 700 and 800 series brings a suite of features that enable PSPs to be more agile, tackle ambitious projects, and take on the highest value work. The new portfolio also delivers fast workflows that help businesses hit deadlines while sharpening their sustainability edge.

About Onyx Graphics, Inc.

Leading the market since 1989, Onyx Graphics is dedicated to helping customers increase productivity, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge with superior print and color quality. Their passion for delivering superb color led to the development of ONYX Color, Onyx Graphics’ color engine optimized specifically for large format inkjet printing. Innovative, productive, and satisfied customers worldwide help motivate the company to develop and enhance its leading-edge technologies. Global channel partnerships and longstanding relationships with printer manufacturers position Onyx Graphics as a market leader in powerful, reliable, large format printing workflow software. For more information, visit www.onyxgfx.com.

SAi today released Flexi 21, the most feature-rich version of its flagship signmaking software. The 64-bit RIP system is engineered to meet the demanding design to production challenges of sign & display and large format print providers for both novice and more advanced users, while continuing to be highly productive with fast processing speeds.

SAi’s Flexi 21 design and RIP print software now supports multi-layer/white and varnish ink layered printing. With this versatile and powerful tool, Flexi can generate white or varnish ink on the fly or from the white layer in the predefined design. Users can control how the ink is printed in both the Flexi Design and Flexi RIP Production Manager functions. This “sandwich” mode printing supports printing multiple layers, for example, a bottom layer of white, colour in the middle, and varnish on top. With the ability to preview the white channel beforehand, users save RIP and print time and avoid wasted materials.

Flexi 21 also includes variable data printing. Users printing a set of documents with mostly shared elements can change certain text or images from document to document. The Flexi 21 variable data printing tool will let you design the print template with a sample file, select the element that will change per document, and then specify the data to be used. This feature supports variable data images (including raster files, transparent pngs, and most eps and PDFs), text, QR codes, data matrix, barcodes, and braille.

Created as an all-in-one solution for design, print, print-and-cut, and direct-to-vinyl production workflow, Flexi 21 also includes a host of advanced features including:

• Jig templates – Allows users to design and save jig templates that will precisely match the jig on the printer bed for printing on multiple parts, such as phone cases.
• Enhanced printing while RIPping – Users no longer have to wait for the print job to finishing ripping to start printing, this allows for faster processing time.
• Custom cut line names and colours – Users can now define their own, custom, cut line spot colours and give the custom names, simplifying the cutting process.
• Adobe Illustrator® layer support – Multi-layer Illustrator or PDF files can be split into multiple jobs which then can be processed as spot colors like white and varnish.
• Custom inkset – Inkset channels and profiles can be customized to different colour modes, if your printer supports custom ink.
• G7 Certification – Recognizes gray balance and generates linearization that is compliant with G7 colour standards.

About SAi

SAi Flexi is the industry leader for creating a variety of applications such as vehicle wraps, banners, signs, soft signage and much more. With a low monthly operating cost, a SAi Flexi subscription includes free software upgrades, e-mail, and phone support and all the design and production features SAi Flexi has always been known for.