PixelBlaster, originally launched at Fespa Digital 2012, is a “print-to-finish” print production software developed for wide-format printers by SAi, the US-based software developer for signmaking, screen and digital printing.
It was designed to ensure that printers using a range of devices and substrates can maintain consistent quality and colour output irrespective of the hardware and inks being used, thereby streamlining workflows and eliminating the need for more than one software programme.
The new PixelBlaster Dip-Tech Edition (DXP XL) has been developed with Israeli-headquartered manufacturer Dip-Tech Digital Printing Technologies for use with its flagship Dip-Tech AR series of digital in-glass printers.
The two companies, which have worked in partnership since 2006, decided to develop the Dip-Tech edition of PixelBlaster, including a PixelBlaster RIP, colour management and workflow support, to meet the requirements of Dip-Tech technology.
Dip-Tech’s director of application Aliza Edry said that although the firm’s printers looked and operated like conventional wide-format inkjet printers, there were a number of major differences.
“Consequently, we needed a solution that could combine a RIP, color management and flexible workflow that could accommodate those differences,” he added.
Edry explained that Dip-Tech printers did not use a standard CMYK colour set but rather orange, red, blue, green, black and white, as well as any required special spot color.
He added: “Dip-Tech AR in-glass printers use opaque ceramic inks. “Printing on transparent glass and applying colors with varying levels of opacity required a special level of control. Having worked for seven years with SAi, we were confident that they would be able to develop a solution for us.”
SAi PixelBlaster Dip-Tech edition is commercially available immediately and will be supplied with all future orders of AR-series Dip-Tech printers.