Available now, the subs model is open to customers already using Fujifilm plates, platesetters or presses or as a standalone subscription. Pricing is to dependent on the amount of additional Fujifilm business in a company’s account, as well as the extent of the XMF services a client subscribes to.

It is built to run alongside Fujifilm’s Platesense programme, which was launched last year and has an XMF subscription built into its model, by allowing customers to subscribe only to XMF without the plate component.

John Davies, workflow product group manager for Fujifilm Graphic Systems Europe, said: “The main driver for making this available to the market was to overcome the high upfront cost normally associated with print production workflow systems.

“It is easier for businesses to buy into subscription services with low annual ongoing costs than to justify higher capital expenditures. This would be of most interest to small- and medium-size print companies, but larger companies are also showing interest.

“This has only recently been released to the market, but our market research in planning for this release has indicated that where there was a reluctance a few years ago to buy in to subscription services, this is now much more accepted as a business model.”

All products in the XMF suite are available on the model – such as XMF ColorPath, Workflow and Remote – and Davies said that any further additions to the XMF product offering would be added to the subscription service.

XMF is built to maximise efficiency of print operations by smoothing out workflow and increasing automation within the printing process. Based on Adobe’s PDF print engine, it is designed to meet the demands of sheetfed, web and digital print setups.