Cambridge software specialist ixPressia has introduced an easy-to-use stand-alone program designed to simplify the production of customised and variable data printing for display producers, designers and sign-makers. Designated ixPressionist, this innovative solution is a powerful, professional VDP package which enables individual and versioned elements, such as text, images and barcodes, to be incorporated automatically into wide-format applications as well as for a host of smaller jobs, such as labels, stickers and decals.

ixPressionist is designed to work off-line and is not reliant on a specific RIP or printer to generate data. This means that designers, print service providers and end customers can now produce variable output for signs, wide-format displays and posters, plus other applications where repeat graphics need to mix with individual elements.

As well as being ideal for today's wide-format display producers, ixPressionist is also of great value to designers and pre-press operatives who don't own a printing machine, but who want to send finished jobs, ready to RIP and output, to a third-party production house. Its easy-to-use handling of CSV test elements, combined with graphics, means that it is compliant with any printer or RIP that supports PDF input.

ixPressionist is a stand-alone Windows-based product, not a plug-in, and supports embedded RGB and CMYK colour profiles, plus industry-standard JPG, TIFF, PNG and GIF file formats. Users can design and edit high resolution graphics to contain variable data such as text, barcodes and graphics. Links can be made to external data sources, or the variable data can be generated internally, with the output being an optimised, multi-page PDF file, ready for RIPping or printing using standard drivers.

Early assessment from potential users has shown that this is the product that the industry has been waiting for in their drive to offer greater automated versatility with their digital printers. The sheer simplicity and effectiveness of ixPressionist software makes it an essential option for anyone who wants to handle VDP and customisation quickly and easily.

With extensive experience in specialist software development for print, Jim Taylor, Managing Director of ixPressia, explains: "This is a break away from our traditional industrial market. We have applied our proven high-speed variable data technology to create an easy-to-use VDP creation tool for the graphics printing market."

ixPressionist is making its international debut on stand 161 in Hall B1 at FESPA, Munich, where ixPressia will also be exhibiting its established industrial software range on the Xennia stand. The software will be available via selected distributors and resellers.