EskoArtwork, Sun Chemical Partner in Packaging Color Strategy

DUSSELDORF, Germany—At drupa, Sun Chemical and EskoArtwork unveiled details of a new strategic partnership in color and workflow to bring further benefits to new and existing customers.

The SmartColour group at Sun Chemical and EskoArtwork have already been working together for several months, integrating their solutions with each other and testing the value proposition with selected mutual customers.

The partnership will involve producing color-accurate proofs by integrating access to the Sun Chemical SmartColour database of ink readings inside the EskoArtwork Kaleidoscope color management software. Sun Chemical has expertise in applied color management for brand packaging, and EskoArtwork has expertise in color managed packaging workflows. The SmartColour database contains more than 300,000 printed packaging colors, which can be achieved with inks from almost any supplier.

SmartColour will extend the EskoArtwork “Color for Everyone” platform by enabling the whole packaging development workflow to use real colors printed with real inks on real substrates. The integrated solution will be rolled out to the market near the end of this year, but actual proofing samples were demonstrated at both companies’ drupa 2008 stands.

The two companies have developed a process which starts when a designer submits a job to prepress for final print color separations. Knowing the specific printing process and substrates, he or she can map colors to real ink SmartColour data and accurately preview inside the EskoArtwork editor. Brand managers, prepress operators, designers and converters can all visualize exact proofs and agree the final results. The prepress operator uses FlexProof to generate a PDF file for remote proofing and the resulting PDF has embedded CMYK profiles. Production jobs stored electronically can be referenced to color data, so a recurring job can be processed quickly.

The partnership will ensure that color management is available for everyone. Benefits include:
• A faster development process for brand owners and solutions that deliver on exact brand colors.
• Improved options for designers in terms of packaging structure and innovations.
• Realistic, reliable and simplified spot color proofing for prepress operators.
• Faster press set-up times for converters and color matching to proofs, which means a reduced requirement for testing on the presses.

Rudi Lenz, Sun Chemical’s CEO and president, said, “Both Sun Chemical and EskoArtwork recognize this is a natural fit and strong partnering opportunity. It will provide our mutual customers with new, innovative solutions that bring added value, and is part of our commitment to quality, service and innovation. EskoArtwork has a worldwide reputation for excellence and innovation within color-managed workflows and we are delighted to be sharing our expertise and working more closely together.”

Carsten Knudsen, president and CEO of EskoArtwork, said, “EskoArtwork is a recognized leader in the integration of color management throughout the packaging and print production workflow, from design to print and manufacture. Our partnership with Sun Chemical is a perfect and real illustration of our ‘Connect More!’ drupa theme. The integration with SmartColour brings an additional dimension to our ‘Color for Everyone’ solutions by including manufacturer-specific ink-data into the process. Collaboration with an industry leader like Sun Chemical allows us to move jointly to the next level of color management.”