EskoArtwork shows digital flexo technologies at Labelexpo

EskoArtwork showed its design, pre-press and workflow technologies at Labelexpo. The focus was on the newest advances in digital flexo technologies including HD Flexo and the Digital Flexo Suite.

‘We see a major trend towards both industrialization and digitalization in the label industry, and it's one that continues to advance rapidly every day. Through our technological advances, we are proud to be one of the leading parties in this evolution,’ said Carsten Knudsen, CEO of EskoArtwork.

EskoArtwork demonstrated its digital flexo technologies live at the show, including the latest HD Flexo version – a flexo imaging technology. The first release enabled label printers to obtain sharper images, smoother tints and a greater color gamut; HD Flexo 2.0 improves the screening even further, delivering exceptional printing quality throughout the entire tonal range including highlights with gradients down to zero, stable mid-tones, and higher ink density solids. In addition, the development of creating flat top dots generates sharper definition for outstanding image results. This means end users can have a more striking and visually impressive product with the all-important shelf impact. A wide variety of real-life HD Flexo samples from a wide variety of high level brands both for labels and flexible packaging were presented on the stand.

EskoArtwork's Cyrel Digital Imagers (CDI) were also exhibited with an equipped CDI 2530 digital flexo plate imager.

The Digital Flexo Suite highlighted how to streamline and shorten the production of print-ready digital flexo plates. This set of platemaking tools offers quality improvements and cost savings through the automation of the flexo plate production. Digital Flexo Suite for labels works through the combination of using smart software and the EskoArtwork Kongsberg cutting tables. This setup was also demonstrated with a Kongsberg table and related software at EskoArtwork's stand.

Visitors to the show also saw new features in the latest release of EskoArtwork's software suite (version 10.1) such as Studio Toolkit for Labels – a set of design tools enabling artwork professionals to work in a 3D environment, offering them a valuable quality assurance tool which can be used to identify errors and potential issues during the early stages of the design; and Studio Visualizer – a virtual prototyping tool allowing users to share realistic ideas and designs with clients early in the process to gain fast and effective feedback. Store Visualizer allows users to envision realistic store shelves simulations, based on the same designs produced in Studio and Visualizer. This new tool adds an extension to the design and preproduction capabilities of EskoArtwork's design software.

A range of new features in EskoArtwork's pre-press editors were also presented. ArtPro 10.1 has faster and higher quality trapping for easy preparation of print-ready packaging artwork production files. DeskPack 10.1 detects errors as early as possible, reducing the cost to a minimum and enabling pre-press operators to produce higher quality jobs in a shorter time. PackEdge 10.1 uses quality control tools like Preflight, Viewer and Studio to identify problems in an early stage and reduce the risk of wasted proofs, plates and press stops.

EskoArtwork has been an enthusiastic driver of the Digital Print Workshops since its first edition during Labelexpo Americas in Chicago last year. The challenge continued at this year's edition in Brussels with three competing digital printing technologies – Xeikon dry toner, HP liquid toner and EFI Jetrion inkjet – lined up alongside each other to run the same label job. The pre-press workflow and color management on all three presses was managed again by the EskoArtwork Automation Engine, integrating all MIS and job information. Visitors assessed the advantages of each technology with regard to substrates, consumables, preparation times and running costs.

‘We really enjoy being part of these Technology Workshops. It's a great opportunity for potential buyers to evaluate the pros and cons of the respective technologies,’ commented Jan De Roeck, director solutions management at EskoArtwork. ‘From an EskoArtwork perspective, our solutions automate the prepress workflow of all three presses. Because of our strong partnership with all the leading vendors, our software is already fully integrated into their presses and has been in full use around the globe for many years. This certainly helps to ensure the smooth running of the workshops.’

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