It is launching its first Print On Demand (POD) RIP to drive the Xerox DocuColor range, which will see the company take on established players EFI and Creo.

Japanese customers will get the product first with an announcement of worldwide availability in due course.

Fujis POD RIP can drive two DocuColors at once and supports RGB workflows, spot colour substitutions, pre-flighting, automatic imposition and Fujis grey calibration quality stabilisation technology. Variable data features include support for PPML. It can also control inline-finishing equipment, including a Horizon booklet maker.

The firm also said that the product could develop into a unified workflow to control proofers and platesetters as well.

Lower entry costs to CTP for smaller printers will be part of the firms message at the show. A lower cost B2 violet platesetter, built at FFEI in Peterborough, will be available in manual, semi and fully automatic versions.

To drive it an updated Celebra RIP will be shown. It will be JDF compliant for input, imposition and output; support PDF 1.5 files and have the latest Enfocus pre-flighting technology.

Colour management in an open RGB environment, from capture to as near final output, will be a theme for the creative workflow further up the process. It will show its Digital Positive concept for providing reliable and predictable device independent RGB files.

Two new plates will be shown. LH-PJ is a premium thermal plate with improved graining of the aluminium for better ink/water balance. It also has improved latitude to developer conditions to ensure more consistent micro spot sizes for use with fine FM screens. There are no details on UK availability.

The second plate will be a thermal processless technology demonstration. The plate works by polymerisation, rather than ablation, so can be used in standard thermal platesetters. Sensitivity and run lengths are nearer to standard thermal plates than previous processless offerings.

Fuji said the plate needed 50% more exposure energy than its standard thermal plate, much less than current processless offerings, and it was good for run lengths of up to 150,000 - nearer to standard CTP plates than processless.

But the firm also stated that thermal is not the only imaging technology capable of producing processless.

Story by Barney Cox in Dusseldorf