DDF

Printer Manufacturers Now Have a Choice

Traditionally printer manufacturers have needed to license fonts for inclusion on their devices. Software Imaging’s solution takes advantage of resident system and application fonts to provide an alternative solution for printer manufacturers who wish to reduce licensing costs.

Fonts are provided as an integral component of all operating systems and many applications and end-users already have a license to print with all of these fonts. Software Imaging’s solution communicates between the printer driver and the printer, downloading these end-user system and application fonts to the printer when needed. It is transparent to the end-user and communicates directly with printer drivers to update the list of available device fonts. The self optimization feature makes the most frequently used fonts available on the device. Software Imaging's solution is especially flexible: it can run on the host or be incorporated into the device's firmware.

“Our solution does not commit end-users to the finite set of static fonts that are included on the device. Our Dynamic Device Font Manager will support the user to download fonts from the cloud as required. This means that using Software Imaging’s solution, any fonts downloaded in the future may be supported by the device” said Peter Lismer, Chief Executive of Software Imaging.

Reduced Cost

By using Dynamic Device Font Manager, printer manufacturers can avoid the traditional route of licensing embedded fonts separately in order to provide them on their devices. Our research indicated that most embedded device fonts that are licensed are never actually used, but the added cost of licensing them is seen as an unavoidable overhead. Now there is a choice and in an increasingly mature printer market where consumers and businesses are facing increasing pressure on budgets, the ability to reduce licensing costs per device will be an attractive option for manufacturers.

“The cost of device fonts has been an issue that we’ve seen from almost every OEM that we have done business with. Our Dynamic Device Font Manager now gives OEM’s a choice to license a tool that intelligently runs in the background and makes use of the fonts that are already licensed and available to the end-user. The Dynamic Device Font Manager can significantly lower costs for printer manufacturers throughout the world”, said Peter Lismer.

Improved Output Quality and Performance

By taking advantage of application and system fonts, Software Imaging’s solution enables the end-user to be assured that the font they are viewing on screen will be the font they will see when they print. With embedded device fonts this is not always possible, creating end user dissatisfaction and costly support issues for the printer manufacturer. By contrast, Software Imaging’s solution opens up the possibility for printers to support any font the end-user has on their system without the need for the end-user or printer manufacturer to worry about font licensing or memory management. Moreover, by reducing the size of the print jobs, Software Imaging’s solution decreases printing times while reducing network traffic, one of today’s network administrator’s biggest concerns.

An Opportunity for Manufacturers

Software Imaging’s solution provides printer manufacturers with a real opportunity to create value. It will significantly reduce their costs, while enabling them to provide their end users with improved output quality and performance. An attractive proposition in a maturing market.

For more information and to start discussing how Software Imaging can implement this new technology to meet your specific requirements, please contact us using the Contact Us form on our Home Page.