We are innovators - and not followers
The Lucknow-based D’rox is a quintessential example of how the EFI Fiery EX 2100 helps digital printers produce jobs as per customers’ demands — whether it is quantity in short delivery time or quality print production like coffee table books for renowned artists
13 Aug 2018 | 4958 Views | By PrintWeek India
Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh is a city of the nawabs. Its gastronomy is internationally renowned for three reasons: savoury, aroma and food-passion, Mohammad Saif of D’rox Print knows this. That is why, he feels, the print he creates should be as memorable as the delectable dishes that have been served for centuries.
Saif is a man of few words. For 22 years, his company has mastered the art of graphics designing, offset and flex printing. He seems to suggest the EFI Fiery EX 2100 bundled with the Xerox Versant 2100 is the secret ace up his sleeve. The idea is to provide service to each and every customer no matter how small the need, in a short time span, without compromising on international standards and quality finishing.
Saif says, “Whoever walks into our office with a printing requirement is our client. Be it a printout for a children school project to the requirement of a company profile. Sometimes it is a graphic designer or an artist. At other times it is the neighbourhood printer and publisher, or the CEO of a start-up company who requires stationery. Their requirement is small and the quantities are negligible but all jobs are important for us.”
If you cast a glance at around D’rox Print, you see the typical hustle-bustle of a digital print shopfloor. The operator identifies imaging problems related to particular object types. But the operator knows, the Fiery EX 2100 will diagnose and troubleshoot colour problems without going back to the source files, saving hours in turnaround time to get jobs out.
From day one, Mohammad Saif was very clear about why he selected the Fiery EX 2100 server. He says, “Since we are in this field for a long time, we are aware of the Fiery EX 2100 server capabilities. It is versatile and it helps us to create thousands of profiles the way we want it.”
Future ready with EFI
Presently, D’Rox is printing 30,000 to 40,000 spreadsheets in a month. This translates into 1000-1500 sheets per day. And each sheet has to be a work of art.
The type of jobs include: invitation cards, business cards, office portfolios and notepads as well as samples and demo sets. The requirement may be tiny. But the pricing is competitive. Saif’s philosophy is, “We wholeheartedly welcome clients and serve them with optimum satisfaction.”
The Fiery EX 2100 has been beneficial in this quest. The nine member team at D’Rox has mastered the benefits, and tried to reap all the benefits.
Which is why, Mohammad Saif feels, D’rox is future ready. The two location digital company has one mantra. Saif says, “We are innovators not followers. We keep our eyes and ears open for every single creative print job entering the field.”
He feels there are hundreds of benefits of the Fiery server which has been installed on Xerox Versant 2100. When queried what are these benefits, he enumerates some of them. “Firstly it has the ability to auto enhance the photos. Due to its inbuilt software, we can enhance the quality of the photos to a new level. Secondly, if there is any correction or any type of edit in any job, we can open it in Acrobat editor and directly edit it from the server using Enfocus PitStop Edit. We don’t need to make a new file or work on a workstation. The file which we are already using, we can edit it using the Fiery server and print it.”
He adds, “Thirdly, if we have to work full night, we don’t need a workman who would be working on the Fiery server the entire night. We queue the work and switch on the auto sequence and we leave it. The Fiery server’s automation is so supportive, that it prints in the same sequence.”
Saif shares his modus operandi with us. He says, “We chose the Xerox Versant 2100 because we had to cater to a specific market. This market consists of offset printers and publishers. This segment is very keen about the colour accuracy of their work. Therefore we create a dummy. It’s a 100% proof material before the actual printing. The colours we produce for the proof material, should be the same colours that would be used for offset. So the Versant powered by the Fiery has to act like a bridge between the offset and the designer. It is very important for our colour-management to be accurate. If our colour-management is not accurate, we won’t be able to bridge that gap. The shadows and highlight areas have to be 100% accurate that’s why, the integration of colour management is must for us.”
Happy customers
Today, D’Rox is eyeing sectors like education, real estate, telecom, MNCs and blue chip companies. This means, faster work and faster deliverance. Publishers and graphic designers have production deadlines that have to be met. Plus there are the challenges of offset printers who are very keen about an exact colour reproduction. Saif says, “We are trying a special colour profile to target them.”
With the Xerox Versant 2100, Mohammad Saif is banking on its ability to deliver ultra HD printing resolution with very fine details on a wide variety of media and weights. He says, “In Lucknow there is a rise in complex digital printing. All this is required within a short time. This does not give us enough time to make the job. It is a challenging situation for us.”
Thanks to the D’Rox business module, there is no barrier on what is the minimum quantity. Saif says, “You pay for what you get done. Our working style and prompt service is a boon for those who have small quantity and limited time.”
In all this, the Fiery EX 2100 is a solid ally.
Creating works of art
Mohammad Saif and his team are truly proud about the works of art that they have created. This is because of how the Fiery features have boosted their print in the areas of colour, performance, usability and integration.
He shows us a book created by a well-known artist. Saif says, “The artist was very keen regarding her work so that all the colours she deployed should be reproduced properly and should be natural; just like the way she created it. To prepare her book we had to use a special type of paper so that the reproduction of the colours could be true.”
The challenges were the special size of the book to match the size of the paintings. Plus the colours had to be handled with tact and technical dexterity. Saif explains, “In her paintings, she has used deep colours and to reproduce these colours, we recalibrated the machine. And so, we used a special type of calibration so that the output is according to the need of the artist and the colour profile should appear natural.”
Later the D’Rox team laminated each page using thermal matte lamination which was printed on 300 gsm paper. It is a beautiful blend of dark colours and lighter hues. D’Rox was able to deliver the job thanks to the faster processing speed, higher-resolution printing and an integration which ensures you can print PDFs perfectly.
The Fiery EX 2100 and Versant 2100 print in resolutions of 1,200dpi, while spot-colour emulation and automated image enhancement boost colour management capability of the book. Needless to state celebrities doffed their hat to the work. This meant more orders and many-more pats on the back.
The key to success was: “10-12 minutes to produce the first copy, ease of use with special papers and special profiling.”
Even as we step out to partake a Lucknowi feast for dinner, the D’Rox team are confabulating about how can they deliver superior image quality and further enhance the performance of the Versant. EFI Fiery EX 2100 is central to the discussion about high definition in colour imaging and streamlining the print process with automation and other tools to boost productivity.
Bon appetit. Bon print.