Bytes Document Solutions unveils new wide format printers, digital press

Bytes Document Solutions has launched two new products - a raster image processor and a digital colour press - and announced the local extension of Xerox's international partnership with Epson to broaden the range of wide format printers at its annual two-day Kick Off Conference, held at the Indaba Hotel, in Johannesburg.

Bytes Document Solutions is the authorised distributor of Xerox products and solutions to 24 African countries.

Xerox's Epson partnership broadens Bytes Document Solutions' wide format range for a market that has grown significantly as these machines make inroads into previously untapped avenues such as fine art, photography and proofing.

"Accurate, repeatable colour is important to our CAD and GIS customers," says Alewyn van Staden, product manager, wide format systems at Bytes Document Solutions. "The range creates high-quality 2D and 3D visualisations, renderings and presentations on a wide range of media, including board up to 1,5mm thick."

Topping off the range is the Xerox/Epson Stylus Pro 11880 for the fine art, photography and proofing markets, followed by the 9880 and 7880 24 and 44-inch machines for the same market, and finally the 9450 and 7450 also in 24 and 44-inch formats for the mask-making, POS, CAD and GIS markets.

The new raster image processor (RIP) enhances functionality for the graphics and signage markets using Xerox's wide format range of printers - chiefly ensuring faster job turnaround, better and more efficient use of infrastructure, easier control and more cost-effective operations.

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"Topaz designed its RIP to meet the real needs of the signage and graphics market,” says Van Staden. “Two primary differences are that it has completely different engine structure and file treatment to other RIPs on the market: faster operation and simultaneous ripping and printing.”

Xerox's new 700 Digital Colour Press brings productivity, print quality and flexibility to print providers looking to adopt digital technology or expand their digital printing businesses. It packs robust production features such as coated paper handling, heavyweight media support, and feeding and finishing options at an entry-level price.

“The Xerox 700 Digital Colour Press extends what is already the industry's broadest portfolio of digital colour systems and fits a growing segment of the market,” says Riley McNulty at research firm IDC. “Print providers are demanding products that produce lucrative full-colour applications. The Xerox 700 Digital Colour Press delivers with feature-rich functionality at an affordable price.”

“It prints at 70 pages per minute (ppm) in colour or black-and-white and provides an affordable way to start building or expanding a digital printing business, particularly for in-plant operations, quick printers, commercial printers, creative agencies, photo specialty retailers and departmental environments,” says Paul Haglich, marketing manager production systems group at Bytes Document Solutions. “The system has the image quality and productivity of a high-end production press and is suitable for photo books, brochures, direct-mail pieces, catalogues, calendars and postcards.”

According to the May 2008 IDC Hardcopy Peripheral Tracker, the market of colour devices of 41+ pages per minute priced between $20 000 and $100 000, experienced 2007 year-over-year growth of 50% in the US and 112% in Europe.