Epson is building on the success of its large-format printer range for signage and POS applications with the launch of the SureColor™ SC-S30600, a 64-inch, four-colour (CMYK), eco-solvent roll-fed printer with new Epson UltraChrome® GS2 Ink.

Shiraz RIP software gives Epson SureColor a higher level of flexibility and control over a variety of functions such as colour management and profiling, calibration, proofing, multiple image handling, job queuing and custom paper formats.

Shiraz RIP V8 features include the ability to accurately interpret and output PostScript/PDF files, sophisticated nesting, live printer status polling where Information fed back from the printer is used by the system to check and direct the print production as well as informing the user about various printer conditions such as ink levels, loaded media and the job.

Visit the Shiraz RIP Epson SureColor Edition page for more details.

A full-scale rebuild of the underlying architecture sees the entire Shiraz range updated with faster and smarter RIP functionality, as well as an enhanced customer service module with sophisticated remote access and extended support for machines from several manufacturers. With native support for the latest Windows 7 and Mac OS X Lion operating systems, Shiraz V8 includes a Live Update facility which checks automatically for software upgrades, new media profiles and performance-enhancing tweaks, installing them with minimal interferences to the software’s operation.

Shiraz Server V8, Shiraz’s complete solution for RIP workflow management for environments with multiple users and devices, sets new standards in speed, stability and ease-of-use, reducing management and processing times and improving throughput and accuracy. Server V8 now includes a HPGL/2 engine to support rendering and printing of vector and raster files. Developed especially for use in design, graphic arts, engineering, architecture and GIS mapping environments, the new HPGL/2 engine allows for large-format printing without the need for costly specialist solutions for individual applications.

Learn more about Shiraz RIP Server V8 here

For smaller wide-format facilities which nevertheless require a top-flight RIP solution, Shiraz Signature V8 promises a number of significant improvements, whilst retaining the powerful RIP capabilities that have made it Shiraz’s leading production option. Alongside the redesigned user interface, it incorporates new developments in image management for smarter printing. Signature V8 is now available in single-user Solo or multi-user Server editions.

Learn more about Shiraz RIP Signature V8 here

The faster, more instinctive user interface of Shiraz Focus V4 (also available in Solo or Server editions), for fine art and photographic output, offers a host of innovative features for printing even complex gallery wraps with ease. Users now have the ability to split and visualise an image over any number of rows and columns for complex, triptych-style presentation ideas, and can also use the unique Ruby Gallery Wrap feature to arrange images for canvas wraps in an eye-catching diamond formation.

Learn more about Shiraz RIP Focus V4 here

The next generation of Shiraz’s RIP solution suite will be commercially available in January 2012.

Our new address is:

Unit 13 Coda Centre 189 Munster Road London SW6 6AW United Kingdom.

Following the endowment of grant and equipment provided to the Royal Academy Schools by Epson in 2008, an expansive and versatile RIP system was required to take full advantage of the suite’s five high-quality wide-format printers. Shiraz Software stepped up to the mark by offering the prestigious establishment its RIP Server package, thereby giving students the benefit of continuous software development undertaken with fine art applications in mind, plus central server control for the Epson suite’s versatile printing machinery.

Barton Hargreaves is the Epson Print Research Fellow at the Royal Academy Schools, forming part of a team of art professionals who guide postgraduate students through their interdisciplinary education. The Epson suite is a vital part of their journey in print, and Hargreaves combines his own technical background in traditional and digital print methodologies with his experience as an artist to help students achieve the ambitious projects they present for their interim and graduation exhibitions. Only 17 postgraduates are accepted from some 800 applications every year and, for both them and Hargreaves, RIP Server is a vital portal to experimental and creative final pieces – as is the relationship with Shiraz Software itself.

“Students from the Royal Academy Schools run trials on non-typical media on a weekly basis, outputting to anything from fabrics to animal skins,” says Hargreaves. “My role is to help the postgraduates fulfil their endeavours, whether that’s using a standard photographic or display material that will be applied in an unusual way, or printing to a Financial Timessupplement. Shiraz RIP Server allows us to prototype, to explore, and to produce excellent photographic output for final pieces – all of which are possible on an exploratory course such as the Royal Academy Schools’.”

Recognising the value of the artistic and experimental angle in the research and development of digital print, Shiraz Software also helps Hargreaves and the Royal Academy Schools postgraduates by co-developing media profiles. “I’m in regular contact with the Shiraz Software team, producing profiles for non-standard or unpopular media, which gives our students a wider range for their research,” Hargreaves adds. “The remote management capability of the programme is also vital, meaning that a Shiraz expert can take over my machine if we are resolving a tricky situation together.”

Shiraz RIP Server demonstrates the company’s understanding of both industrial processes and artistic reproduction, incorporating as it does key aspects of each to offer a powerful yet versatile solution. “Whereas before we weren’t able to apply certain effects because either the computer or the printer couldn’t handle the file size, we now can within Shiraz RIP Server,” explains Hargreaves. “We can engineer complex processes, such as overprinting, without limitation, so our students can explore the whole capacity of the digital print process. For us, the software’s key benefit is its versatility.”

While Hargreaves is the only operator of RIP Server at present, students will in the future be able to investigate more of the software side of digital printing technology, helped in no small way by Shiraz’s accessibility. In the meantime, Hargreaves can exercise the control he requires to ensure that media costs are kept to a minimum with advanced tiling and nesting features, despite the experimental nature of his department. Because of his own understanding of print, he can also use the Focus module of the software – which can also be supplied to photographers and fine art users as a standalone application – to design his own templates, allowing even more advanced trials to find new and unusual print formats.

“We’re also learning a lot from our relationship with the Royal Academy Schools, and it’s also important for us to have innovative users who want to push the limits of what digital print can do,” comments Ramin Shahbazi, business development director of Shiraz Software. “Digital print as a discipline advances because of experimentation and invention, and we have always believed that our customer-first relationships with our users help us remain at the front of that trend. We’re delighted to be integral to such an investigative department and look forward to continuing our work with the Royal Academy Schools.”

For the first time ever, and building on the multiple product launches this year, Designjet will host the HP APJ Designjet Masterclass 2011, where participant will be directly involved in the HP strategy and innovation discussions with Senior HP Executives from the Asia Pacific Region and Worldwide.

Come and visit us on stand number 8 at the main exhibition hall where Shiraz software will be showcasing its state of the art solutions for the HP range.