Flexible packaging, design and prepress solutions - Esko

FLEXIBLE
PACKAGING
Design and prepress solutions

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Contents
3 Introduction
6 Brand Management
8 Structural Design
10 Prepress
18 Digital Flexo
20 Digital Print
22 Services
23 Financing

Design and prepress solutions
for flexible packaging production
“Stretched by today’s challenging deadlines?”
“Pressured to produce more environmental
friendly packaging?”
“Searching higher added value and margins?”
“Operating under cost pressure?”
We know such questions keep you busy. You should know we
also have the answers. Whether you produce stand up
pouches, shrink foil for multipacks or food bags; whether print
digital or flexo; whether you are a prepress service bureau or a
flexible packaging converter: don’t worry. EskoArtwork solutions
help optimize cost, streamline workflow and communication,
and improve quality and consistency.
We master flexible packaging pre-production from design over
prepress and workflow automation, proofing and plate making,
color management up to the printing press.
Talk to us and you will find out how we can help to design,
produce and manage outstanding packaging.
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Flexible packaging
” Operating under cost pressure
” Searching for higher added value
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and challenging deadlines?
Run lengths in flexible packaging have shown a constant decrease
over the past years. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
manufacturers introduce more and more product variants and
packaging buyers are pushing the cost of inventory upstream the
supply chain.
The quality and service requirements are high. The finished pack
must meet several performance criteria: run smoothly on the filling
lines, effectively and consistently communicate the brand equity
message, seduce the consumer to buy and protect the product
during transportation from factory to fridge.
With EskoArtwork solutions for flexible packaging, you master the
entire production workflow. We offer a wide range of solutions and
professional services all the way from design to print. Learn how
EskoArtwork provides a competitive advantage you can’t do
without.
and margins?
Are you considering going into digital printing? It’s good to know
that the EskoArtwork workflow integrates seamlessly as a digital
front end to most of the digital press manufacturers out on the
market today.
A single prepress workflow provides the assurance of a smooth
and easy-going process with immediate results.
And, this is supported by an integrated
color management that serves both
conventional and digital presses.

” Pressured to produce more
environmental friendly packaging?
Environmental sustainability has become a worldwide priority for
business, governments and consumers. Flexible Packaging
converters are not an exception. Today, stakeholders in the
packaging and print supply chain are trying to minimize
environmental and social impacts of their processes and
products.
EskoArtwork offers integrated solutions – software, hardware
and services – that enable environment-friendlier design and
production of packaging and print:
• Design for efficient use of materials, layout, logistics and end
of life considerations such as light weighting, right sizing and
cube utilization.
• Produce for minimum impact on the environment, such as
prepress and print process automation, virtual on-screen
proofing, optimization of the flexo platemaking process in
function of reducing substrate and energy waste.
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Brand management
” Remember the last time you had to
” Challenged to reproduce brand
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stop a press because of a typo?
EskoArtwork tools establish dynamic links between the
brand owner’s content management system and your
prepress workflow. And, if your customer has no text
management system, why wouldn’t you offer this as a
new service?
With Dynamic Content you significantly boost the
efficiency of content management. Text is no longer
entered by the operator, but generated automatically
using data captured directly from a secure content
database. This process excludes text errors and establishes crystal
clear responsibilities in the supply chain, ultimately reducing cost in
the package production process.
colors accurately on your inkjet
proofer?
Color consistency, predictability and repeatability demand a well
integrated color management solution.
The Color Engine embeds color management functionality in the
entire workflow. It combines CMYK profiles with profiles for
individually profiled spot colors .
Don’t spend production capacity and resources to fingerprint spot
inks yourself. The SunChemical SmartColour database of over
225.000 spot inks, organized per printing process and per
substrate, is directly accessible from within the Color Engine.

” Want to speed up the design
” Are your production deadlines
approval process?
challenged by your global
packaging buyers?
Use the internet to shorten the lead time of packaging.
WebCenter is our answer to online collaboration.
WebCenter is your face on the internet for your global
customers. WebCenter provides a 24/7 global communication
and approval platform. Information is stored centrally and shared
globally. It lets users evaluate, review and approve documents,
reduce and eliminate
development cycles and
organize their packaging
projects and assets.
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Structural design
” Want to test design ideas and
” Do you want faster 3D previews
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design variations much quicker?
Studio Designer brings 3D packaging
design to Adobe ® Illustrator ® . Studio is the
3D toolset for packaging designers. Your
packaging is not flat, why would you
continue working in 2D only? With
Studio’s ability to output a 3D PDF of the
design, communication between designer
and customer greatly improves. 3D PDF
files can be viewed with Adobe ® Acrobat ®
Reader.
of your work?
Studio Designer works directly with structural data from the
Studio Toolkit for Flexibles or from Shapes, an online
repository of primary packaging shapes.
Shapes. You need to design a
shrink label but you don’t have
access to the CAD data of the
bottle or can it has to fit on. Why
don’t you search it at Shapes?
Shapes is EskoArtwork’s online
repository of 3D packaging shapes:
metal can, plastic bottles, other liquid food containers, bags,
stand up pouches… Import a shape in the Collada file
format and directly create a shrink sleeve or label on the
imported data.

” Working your way around the
Studio Visualizer creates
and shares ultra-realistic
on-screen mock-ups and soft
proofs of designs. Studio
Visualizer renders high-value
finishing effects. Visualizing is
believing!
limitations of multipack shrink
sleeves?
Get shrink sleeves right the first time with Studio Toolkit for
Shrink Sleeves.
This Studio Toolkit highly improves the design and prepress of
multipack shrink sleeves.
The software calculates a shrinkage grid based on material
characteristics of the shrink film, shape, size and structure of
the packages to be combined. Users can preview the artwork
on the screen as it is shrunk on the packaging and share this
with their clients. Now anticipate and pre-distort the artwork for
stunning results.
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Prepress
” Are your prepress mistakes in fact
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communication errors?
Industry initiatives like CIP4 (www.cip4.org), JDF and the Ghent
PDF Workgroup (www.gwg.org) are aimed at integrating
systems into an end-to-end production workflow.
The reason is simple: integrating various processes in a
packaging production environment has a great savings potential
through error reduction. When you are using an MIS system for
order tracking, integrating it with your prepress system will do
exactly that.

” Is your company too small for
workflow automation?
No matter the size of your company, there is always a workflow
automation solution that suits your needs.
Your print production staff loses a lot of time doing mundane
tasks that can easily be automated. Let your staff focus on the
tasks where it makes the difference, leaving the repetitive tasks
to the Automation Engine.
Automation Engine is a powerful and scaleable yet easy to use
workflow automation server integrating all design and
production components in one workflow. Its client-server
architecture provides data management, offloads operator
workstations, centralizes operator expertise and automates the
entire production process.
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” Challenged to deliver consistent
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high quality prepress results?
Flexo Tools and Ink Tools for Adobe ® Photoshop ® .
Add our flexo expertise to Adobe ® Photoshop ® . Flexo Tools
resolve flexo specific printing issues and allow Photoshop users
to visualize changes. Novice flexo operators will develop images
ready for flexo, while experienced retouchers will appreciate how
the flexo tools improve the quality and productivity of work.
With Display Inks you can show your special ink separations in
full color overprint. The colors will match the printed result a lot
closer as they would when using the standard Photoshop spot
channels. And unlike spot channels, with Display Inks you don’t
have to give up any Photoshop feature like layering.
The InkSwitch filter automatically calculates special ink
separations to match the appearance of a CMYK target.
Patented EskoArtwork technology is used to create totally new
separations for any combination of two, three or four spotcolors.

DeskPack, a packaging prepress solution for Adobe ®
Illustrator ® , Adobe ® Photoshop ® and Acrobat ® , turns the worlds
most favorite desktop applications into a full-fledged packaging
production workstation.
Share the same tools for trapping, barcode generation, ink
management and 3D quality assurance between Adobe ®
Illustrator ® and ArtPro and PackEdge.
ArtPro is the most successful editor for packaging preproduction.
With dedicated and efficient tools for flexible
packaging production, ArtPro turns your design into print-ready
files instantly. ArtPro and PackEdge launch workflow
automation tasks directly from the editing environment using
Shuttle, the link with the Automation Engine.
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” Has the barcode disappeared
” How do I convince my customer to
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in the back seal?
When operators struggle with 2D to 3D
translation and back, Studio Designer is
the solution. With Studio Designer, you get
immediate feedback in a 3D preview
window of any changes you make to the
graphic design.
It’s a great way to notice and correct
design errors immediately. Design
elements placed too close to a seal, text that becomes invisible
because it’s too close to an edge… Studio Designer is your
ultimate 3D Quality Assurance. It is available for Adobe ®
Illustrator ® , ArtPro and PackEdge.
add luxury to the packaging?
Producing hardcopy proofs for your concepts is very expensive.
A better idea is to create ultra-realistic virtual 3D mock-ups with
Studio Visualizer.
Studio Visualizer creates and shares on-screen mock-ups and
soft proofs of high value finishing effects. Visualize what your
flexible package will look like when handled and moved in a
realistic in-store lighting environment against a 360°
background.
Save money by making fewer comps. And because 3D comps
can be shared instantly by e-mail or web, you can move through
the design and production cycle significantly faster.

” Do you want to get your press up
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to color faster?
FlexProof maximizes prepress productivity, quality and
consistency regardless of the type of print technology. A color
managed proofing solution integrated in the prepress workflow
is the unique approach EskoArtwork delivers.
FlexProof and Color Engine together guarantee consistency in
color and geometry between proof and flexo plate or digital
print. Get to color on press up to 20% faster than the industry
benchmark today.

” You need the best step and repeat
” How much prepress time goes into
solution?
Plato and PowerStepper are
tools for the creation of
print-ready layouts for wide
web flexographic printing. For
narrow web flexo and digital
print, DeskPack PowerLayout
provides all the tools you need
in Adobe ® Illustrator ® .
When endless and seamless printing is your core competence,
you need DeskPack Seamless Repeat for Adobe ®
Illustrator ® .
Seamless Repeat for Illustrator ® calculates the correct spacing
and repeat numbers to properly wrap any design around the
particular cylinder. Typical use cases are wallpaper, laminates,
upholstery, vinyl flooring…
legends and control strips?
SmartMarks automatically create print production controls such
as color bars, microdots, cut and trim marks. SmartMarks also
use for example XMP data. They are dynamic and adapt
automatically to changes in your job. SmartMarks can pull data
from 3rd party SQL databases in order to populate certain fields
without operator intervention.
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Digital flexo
” How can we help you run your
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presses more efficiently?
The Cyrel Digital Imager (CDI) is the
worlds´leading solution for imaging
digital flexo plate and sleeves. Simplify
production every step of the way.
EskoArtwork is the undisputed industry leader in
digital flexo plate room solutions. Our solutions
combine all the printing advantages of flexo with the latest
digital technologies.
With Inline UV, main exposure becomes a highly controlled
digital process. With less human intervention, plate waste due to
scratches and dents become issues of the past.
The CDI computer-to-plate imagers and HD Flexo combine
high resolution optics with advanced screening technology. The
result is a digital flexo plate for superior printing quality and
stability.
Flexo has never been this close to offset or gravure printing. HD
Flexo provides an astounding tonal range in images and smooth
vignettes. With HD Flexo, retouching of images to achieve high
quality prints is no longer a necessity. It is a very strong benefit
to use the same images regardless of the printing technique
used, be it flexo, offset or digital.
F L E X O
R E A D Y
F L E X O
R E A D Y

” Want to reduce plate waste
by 5%?
The Digital Flexo Suite boosts the productivity of your plate
mounting process, leading to a tangible reduction of plate
wastage.
With the Staggered Cut feature executed with a Kongsberg
cutting table, drafting a staggered cut line for continues print
becomes child’s play. Draw the staggered cutting line to your
needs in the interactive applications and the software will
automatically repeat the cutting line on all separations, even
driving the Kongsberg table for efficient and error-free plate
cutting and mounting.
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Digital print
” Ready for digital printing?
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Narrow web flexible packaging on film is the next application to
embrace digital printing.
The EskoArtwork Digital Front End (DFE) is used by many of the
industry leading digital presses. This means that both the digital
and conventional workflows are supported by the same
software.
Use the same software tools to serve any printing technique you
choose for the job. The result is guaranteed consistency in
geometry and color, and flexibility to switch from one system to
the other.
The HP SmartStream Labels and Packaging Print Server
provides digital printers with the most advanced tools in the
industry for streamlining prepress. It was designed exclusively
for HP Indigo by EskoArtwork.

” Do you use your press to make
” Looking into variable data printing?
color proofs?
FlexProof is the EskoArtwork color managed digital proofing
solution, driving any inkjet printer with the same data and RIP
architecture as used for final print output.
With FlexProof, color match between an inkjet proof and a
digital press is guaranteed. The benefits are stunning: reduce
color matching waste by up to 33% and improve press uptime
by 8%.
You are constantly looking for new categories of added value for
your customers. Featuring a new level of automation and
accuracy, the Variable Data prepress tool lets creative
professionals produce jobs with simple or complex variable
elements.
This includes barcodes, numbers, text and images in the
Adobe ® Illustrator ® environment. Optimized specifically for
flexible packaging design needs, it quickly produces print-ready
layouts with robust, automated tools, including Step & Repeat
specifications for single or multiple jobs.
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Services
” How will I get started?
” What if something goes wrong?
” Need tailor made expertise?
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EskoArtwork understands that even the best solutions cannot
maximize their impact if they’re not backed by outstanding support.
The EskoArtwork Academy offers on-site training, class room
training and start up services. In the hardware training program,
experienced engineers help your technicians to familiarize
themselves with EskoArtwork equipment.
Your business really depends on reliable customer services. To
maximize uptime, it is essential that you can rely on fast and
continuous support. Our experienced support staff helps you to
resolve technical issues in fastest possible way.
EskoArtwork shares its valuable expertise to help you find ways to
work smarter, quicker, and better. They will help you to implement
and start up color or screening solutions. Also we deliver the
systems integration services to link your EskoArtwork workflow
system.

” In need of a partner all the way?
Financing
Investing in your future is not something you go about lightly.
We stand by your side with all-in financial solutions for your
hardware and software investments.
EskoArtwork Finance offers a wide range of flexible financing
solutions and allows freedom to choose which financing model
fits you best.
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EskoArtwork
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Belgium
Tel. +32 9 216 92 11
info.eur@esko.com
EskoArtwork
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USA
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info.usa@esko.com
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EskoArtwork
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547 Tian Mu Road West
Shanghai 200070
China
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info.china@esko.com
EskoArtwork
Shinjuku i-LAND Tower 7F
5-1 Nishishinjuku 6, Chome,
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo, Japan 163-1307
Tel. +81 3 5909 7631
info.japan@esko.com
www.esko.com
SEP10 – G2558417_US – © 2010 EskoArtwork. All rights reserved. All specifications are subject to alteration.