News Article Business Solutions

Langenhagen, August 2007

Konica Minolta announces the availability of the IC-304 Print Controller, powered by CREO, Service Pack 2. This powerful, productive CREO Colour Server features high quality, advanced colour management and complete support for the entire range of finishing configurations for the bizhub PRO C6500 product range.

The IC-304 Print Controller now supports stapling and booklet finishers for the FS-520, FD-501, SD-501, FS-503 (system 3) and the SD-501 and FS-503 (system 10). This latest service pack also features enhanced colour support with improved colour calibration and support for the GretagMacbeth Eye-One Spectrophotometer.

The IC-304 Print Controller also introduces greater productivity with printing SRA3 and SRA4 page sizes that can be output to the main tray. This allows longer and continuous runs when using those sizes, due to the higher capacity of the main tray

Based on CREO Color Server technology, this exclusive print controller developed by the Print On-Demand Solutions (PODS) group, offers Konica Minolta customers advanced features for productivity, high-quality image and colour control, VDP support and ease-of-use. It supports both the smart and production versions of the award-winning Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C6500.

“The IC-304 Print Controller is designed to streamline the print production workflow and enable our customers to significantly increase their productivity. We are proud that with the IC-304 Print Controller, we can provide them with a stable, fast and reliable colour server that prints jobs seamlessly on deadline. Its high performance and user-friendly workflow increases printer productivity and throughput, maximizes printer uptime, and decreases faults and costs”, says Olaf Lorenz, General Manager, Product Marketing Division for Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe.

The IC-304 Print Controller, custom-made for the bizhub PRO C6500 and bizhub PRO C6500e/eP printer, supports the unique Konica Minolta Simitri HD toner, enabling the maximum colour gamut and spectacular results. The IC-304 features superior default colour settings and advanced colour-management tools. Olaf Lorenz says: “With easy colour calibration, the ability to make last-minute colour corrections, spot-colour editing and gradation corrections without re-RIPing, the IC-304 becomes the perfect solution for bizhub PRO C6500 range users who want offset print-like results.”

Using JDF-based connectivity, the IC-304 Controller offers a single workflow for both traditional offset and digital printing. This enables error-free integration for higher productivity, lower costs and increased profitability. The IC-304 integrates easily with leading offset printing workflows including KODAK PRINERGY and KODAK BRISQUE Workflow Systems and other workflows through the PODS Workflow Partnership Programme.

The architecture of the IC-304 Print Controller was designed to leverage comprehensive variable data printing (VDP) solutions for efficient processing of the most complex variable data jobs for one-to-one marketing. The unique Gallop mode accelerates the process by allowing the printing of a long VDP job to start while the job is still RIPing. Each element is RIPed only once but can be reused many times. The server provides full VDP functionality, including imposition.

The IC-304 Print Controller supports all leading VDP formats including PPML, optimised PDF, optimised PostScript and VPS (Variable Print Specification). The PODS VDP Partnership Programme ensures that output from over 25 VDP solution suppliers is compliant with the latest version of the VPS format. Each of these partners’ authoring tools are guaranteed for the immediate creation of full-colour, personalised documents.

About Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH is a leading provider of image information products with subsidiaries and distributors in more than 50 countries in the EMEA region. The company places major emphasis on the document management and solution business in the office and production environment, especially in the field of colour output as well as related supplies. Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe is a subsidiary of Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. With a total workforce of 19,800 employees world wide, Konica Minolta Business Technologies gained a net sales of over 4.42 billion Euros in fiscal 2005/2006. Building on its strong core of optical technologies developed over many years as a printer and camera manufacturer, Konica Minolta Business Technologies aims to be a corporation offering products and services that are essential to all areas of digital imaging.

www.konicaminolta.eu

Terms and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged.

About the Print On-Demand Solutions Group

The Print On-Demand Solutions group is an independent unit within Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group that develops and supports high-performance CREO Digital Color Servers for a range of digital printers and presses. It also develops advanced on-demand applications to enable the creation of personalized direct mail, targeted catalogs, and other powerful one-to-one marketing communications tools. For additional information about the Print On-Demand Solutions group, go to:

www.pod-wf.com

Kodak, Creo, Prinergy and Brisque are trademarks of Kodak. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Product images are available at www.konicaminolta-images.com

Contact:

Carlos Baart
Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe
Phone: +49 (0)511 7404-324
Carlos.Baart(at)KonicaMinolta.eu

 

Claudia Bitzer
Pleon GmbH
Phone: +49 (0)711 210 99-416
Fax: +49 (0)711 210 99-499
KonicaMinoltaTeam(at)pleon.com