Esko expands software platform

‘In a fast-moving market, we need to ensure our solutions are ahead of the game,’ said Geert De Proost, director solutions marketing of Esko. ‘With that in mind, we are constantly looking to make improvements to all aspects of our software solutions. They may be large or small, but the aim is the same: we want to make sure that our customers receive the utmost in value for their investment in the Esko software platform and software maintenance. We carefully consider market trends and customer feedback, and these shape many of our improvements. This release is no different. Our overall aim is to ensure customers have the right tools and capabilities to strengthen their efficiency and profitability.’

Among the key highlights is the availability of a macOS-supported 64-bit version of ArtPro. What’s more, customers with a maintenance contract are also entitled to a complimentary copy of ArtPro+, the hyper-modern packaging editor. ArtPro+ features a task-driven user interface, enhanced performance, and support for ArtPro-files.

The new release also features ArtPro+ action lists in automation engine. Time-consuming prepress tasks become automated and operators can focus on value-added processes, making the overall prepress operation more efficient.

The newest version of Esko software platform is fully compatible with all plug-ins with Adobe Creative Cloud 2019, including Studio, DeskPack, and Dynamic Content.

In another release highlight, Imaging Engine now includes In-RIP Prepare for viewing. This allows users to control the quality of ripped files on the fly, during the ripping process. This eliminates waiting times and frees up capacity.

‘This is particularly important in high-volume converter and premedia operations that increasingly need to manage a higher volume of label and flexo short-run, fast-turn around jobs,’ De Proost added. ‘It eliminates the need for the process to be completed as a separate task in Automation Engine, and helps premedia operations handle increased throughput.’

With this release, ArtiosCAD users can create new variants of displays or other multi-part designs in seconds. Users can start from a single resizable canvas design template. This is perfect for sign and display customers and corrugated operations that face lots of design requests and need to offer faster times to market.

‘These latest improvements are just the tip of the iceberg,’ De Proost said. ‘We have many more in this release. What’s more, we are developing a number of important additional improvements we cannot wait to bring to market to help our customers with their efficiency and cost effectiveness.’