Konica Minolta Forge ahead with digital embellishment
Konica Minolta Business Solutions has launched Embellishment Forge, a new platform designed to simplify the creation of digital embellishment applications and expand access to specialty effects.
Frank Mallozzi, President, Industrial and Production Print, Konica Minolta, says: “Digital embellishment is very profitable for print providers because it consistently delivers stronger visual impact. But too many potential applications never reach production because the process can be intimidating for non-specialists. Embellishment Forge makes those capabilities more accessible, as well as helping print providers bring embellishment into the creative conversation rather than introducing it at the production stage.”
Developed by Konica Minolta and powered by Adobe Print Services, Embellishment Forge begins with a standard PDF. From there, designers can explore embellishment concepts, evaluate their impact and generate files aligned to a participating PSP’s production environment. By handling much of the underlying production complexity behind the scenes, the platform allows users to focus on creative decisions rather than file preparation.
Naveen Goel, General Manager and Vice President, Adobe Print Technologies, adds: “Decorative effects are too technical for most designers to spec into a job, and because there’s no standard way to define them in a PDF, Print Service Providers have no easy way to show customers what’s possible before a job is placed, so that revenue often gets left on the table. But Print Embellishment Ready SDK, part of Adobe Print Services, automatically defines those effects so Print Service Providers can now show customers exactly how a job can be decorated before it’s even ordered. Embellishment Forge, built with Konica Minolta, brings that same intelligence directly into designers’ hands, extending the production print experience from Adobe.”
What’s more, the opportunity presented by Embellishment Forge extends beyond workflow efficiency. The embellishment capabilities can be shared beyond a PSP or designers own production teams, expanding the number of people capable of creating embellishment applications while still maintaining alignment with their production environment. Embellishment Forge essentially opens up ready access to embellishment options to a broader creative audience, so that PSPs are better equipped to introduce embellishment earlier in the decision-making process.
