Printed Pack Pre-Press System Eases Collaboration

Esko, the producer of printed packaging pre-production systems, has introduced Scope 3, a new release of the company's integrated software suite.

Esko, the producer of printed packaging pre-production systems, has introduced Scope 3, a new release of the company's integrated software suite.

Scope is the core of Esko's system to turn the packaging supply chain - from brand owner to retailer - in to a straight forward collaborative process, said the company.

Scope is claimed to enable its users to deliver consistent quality whilst reducing time-to-market and eliminating costs.

The Scope 3 version comes with user-driven features added to its key applications.

Scope 3 continues on Esko's vision to expand from pre-production to a total process view on packaging delivery, from design to finishing and beyond, integrating and linking with other systems upstream and downstream, added Esko.

Brand owners, tradeshops, printers and packaging converters today confirm that strategy having already successfully implemented Esko technology in to their global operations, said Esko.

Scope 3 software is said to build on to the industry standards that are a prerequisite for packaging systems - it is JDF 1.3 enabled, offers full support for Adobe PDF 1.6 and offers direct links in to the popular Adobe Creative Suite 2.0 (Mac and PC versions).

Scope 3 will be showcased for the first time during Ipex 2006, with live demonstrations and presentations on Esko's stand - stand number C50-C53 in hall 9.

Esko will also feature some technology demonstrations illustrating Scope's future development directions - with a designer's plug-in for Adobe Illustrator CS2 offering what is claimed to be a new level of 3D interactivity in CAD and graphics integration, and examples of integration with Adobe's new Acrobat 3D capabilities.

Both during CAD and graphical design, a 3D representation of a package is an advantage for testing and proofing.

Many partners and handoffs are involved and the more visually a design can be communicated, the more precise and successful the collaboration will be, believes Esko.

Jan De Roeck, Esko's marketing director for packaging software, said: "More than 90 per cent of all packaging designs are prepared in Adobe Illustrator, which makes it the preferred de facto standard platform amongst designers.

With our expanded range of Adobe plug-ins, we give the graphic designers the power to perfect a packaging design right on their desktop." Version 7.0 of ArtiosCAD, Scope's structural design component, comes with more import file formats for CAD solid models, as well as an expanded range of board characteristics now covering all packaging materials (corrugated, folding carton, plastics and foam, for instance).

New 3D export formats for creating assembly drawings and presentations include animations and background images.

At Ipex, Esko will disclose new technology that changes the way packaging design will be thought of in the future, it claimed.

With 3-dX, a new Illustrator plug-in and a part of Esko's Deskpack product, packaging design becomes a three-dimensional interactive process, automatically maintaining a live link between 2D production data and 3D design visualisation, as if the designer were holding the package in his or her hands whilst building up the graphics, claimed the company.

Once the design is finalised, the Scope 3 workflow tools all use Adobe PDF 1.6 as their native language for job editing, sheet layout and RIPping.

For that purpose, Scope uses original Adobe PDF code libraries to exploit the benefits of the industry's preferred file format.

Esko added that its drive to embrace standards is not limited to PDF 1.6 only.

Using Adobe XMP, all supply chain partners share production critical metadata embedded in design files, production files and RIPped output.

Esko's role in the packaging and labels subcommittee of CIP4, expanding and pushing JDF developments for packaging workflows, is a token of its open systems approach, it said.

Webcenter is Scope's on-line platform for collaboration and approval workflows.

Webcenter 6.0 is said to integrate all supply chain partners - brand owners and designers, as well as tradeshops and converters - on a single communication platform.

The Scope 3 release also adds new functions, such as document version tracking, version compare tools and a web viewer.

Scope's colour management and screening technologies enable high quality results regardless of the printing technique used, claimed Esko.

Scope 3 is claimed to mark the arrival of a new screening technology to optimise highlight printing in flexography.

Perfect Highlights provides an answer to challenges posed for example by corrugated postprint, where soft polymer plates with high relief depth are used, added the company.

In such cases, stray highlight dots are not sturdy enough to remain stable over a flexo press run.

Perfect Highlights is claimed to ensure that the dots remain printable and, in doing so, provides flexo tradeshops and corrugated converters a visible way to differentiate their print quality from competitors.

The Scope Configuration Manager is said to establish a permanent communication between the customer's Scope installation and Esko's central configuration servers.

Tools like on-line monitoring and remote analysis facilitate a faster and more effective customer service.

Software updates - service packs, maintenance releases and also upgrades - can be downloaded and installed instantly and under remote supervision.

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