Proofing Connectivity - Fuji Pre-Proofer 2000

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Fuji Pre-Proofer 2000

	NOTES: This is not a proofer per se, but an add-on loader to the HP 2000 and HP 2500 that allows for automatic backed-up registration of signatures. This add-on loader has been tested in Prinergy laboratories and has been found to be very robust and well-made. Limitations: Size of sheet-fed media is limited to 31x40, so signatures of 32x44 must be shrink-to-fit. CREO CSE nor apps are responsible for installing on HP Plotters.

What type of proofer is this?
	This is not a proofer per se, but an add-on loader to the HP 2000 and HP 2500 that allows for automatic backed-up registration of signatures. In North America, Fuji has an exclusive contract to sell and distribute these machines. In Europe, it's a bit more complicated, with a few independent distributors. See "Resources" at the bottom of this page for vendor contact- information.
Connectivity:
	The HP 2000 or 2500 plotter should be installed with a Jet Direct Card so that a TCP/IP can be assigned to the plotter. Prinergy should be set up to spool HP-RTL files. If you are a field apps and configuring a Fuji Pre-Proofer for back-ups, you use these files to help you:

Performance:
	The HP will print at the speed that it always has. If you are printing something and it looks like the plotter has stalled for no good reason, give it a few minutes. After printing one side, the plotter will wait 2-4 minutes before starting to print the other side. Then, it will wait 2-4 minutes before dropping the finished sheet into the basket. Those times have been set so that the ink will dry.

Usage:
	The Fuji Pre-Proofer was qualified in the Prinergy laboratory. I found it pretty easy to configure and it only jammed once on me out of about 15 plots. It's way, way easier and faster to configure than the Gerber (Barco) Impresse, as you don't have to feed the sheets of paper on a pinwheel but just dump a pile into the feeding tray. Yes, it's fully automatic. I heard a rumor that some site in the American south had ordered one of the first model of the Fuji production line and was having some serious mechanical difficulties. However, the one in Prinergy lab is working fine & always has been. Of course, it's an evaluation model so I don't know how much longer we get to keep it. Personal biased opinion #1: it's way easier to configure and use than the Gerber. Personal biased opinion #2: the Fuji guys are better at support then the Barco guys, who are getting in the nasty habit of doing a dump-and-run and making the CREO field guys do all the configuration and set-up work.

Limitations:
	Media size can only go up to 750mm x 1040mm (that's 29.5"x40.9"). You have to order paper from special suppliers as the paper must be cut absolutely square for best registration. We received our paper from a European supplier Stora Enso. Paper is called "Inkjet Berga Superior 100g" and is available at http://www.storaenso.com. There is an American supplier that sells Rexham dual coated paper 132g/m (don't know if they have a web address). Opinions vary as to which paper is better, but we had good luck with the European stuff . Remember if you get a bad batch of paper, you get mis-registration on the back-ups no matter what you do. One last thing: calibrate a Harmony curve to lessen the amount of ink that gets dumped on the paper. Ink coverage at 100% is too dense.

Resources:
	Okay, this gets a bit complicated, so read carefully. Fuji-United Kingdom builds the machines and Fuji-US distributes the machines in North America. However, Fuji-UK does not distribute the machines in Europe and Fuji-US doesn't build them. Fuji doesn't own the design or patents on the Fuji Pre-Proofer, a small company in Sweden did the original design. They are called Somitrack AB. There are a very small shop, only two or three people as of January 2000. If you are making a sales inquiry from Europe, then the CEO of Somitrack is your best bet. He's jagdev.rehad@swipnet.se . If you are making a sales call from North American, drop a line to pete.luff@ffei.co.uk. He should be able to steer you in the right direction. Fuji Help Files