Beyond Automation
Not all printing workflows are created equal. Different market segments demand different things from their respective workflows, depending on the needs of the customers they serve. Highly automated prepress workflows are well-established in the world of commercial printing. But if page production is one thing, package production is quite another.
Most workflows account for basic production steps including trapping, screening, imposition, and color management. However, packaging workflows differ from commercial workflows in that they reflect the variety and complexity of the end product: corrugated boxes, folding cartons, bags, labels, shrink sleeve foils, POP displays, and metal cans—and the print disciplines used to produce them. They also reflect the vast array of inks, substrates, shapes, and finishings calculated to boost eye and shelf appeal. Trapping and color management are more complex. Asset management is key. Reliable production, proper file handling, and quality control are essential to trim costs, reduce the potential for error, and eliminate extra steps, especially labor-intensive front-end and RIP-based tasks.
With higher and higher levels of prepress automation practically a given, providers of packaging pre-production solutions are moving to refine the features of their workflow management offerings to make them more responsive to the needs of designers, trade shops, and converters, as well as brand-owning consumer product companies (CPCs) that increasingly are among the users of these solutions.
Certify me
Artwork Systems (AWS) places the emphasis on quality assurance and traceability with its Packaging Certified Technology, or PA:CT, incorporating Certified PDF from Enfocus. Certified Automation refers to efficient process controls that document file modifications throughout the production cycle and transform otherwise view-only PDFs into full-fledged production files with a complete history and lifecycle. Nexus is AWS’ comprehensive high-end workflow for commercial, label, and packaging environments. Nexus is modular and highly configurable around its three core modules: NexusIMPORT, NexusPROCESSOR, and NexusRIP. Nexus supports Enfocus Certified PDF technology and uses JDF as the preferred job ticket format for interconnectivity applications, integrated with Artwork Systems’ ArtPro editor for the pre-production of labels and packaging.
Plug me in
Within its flagship integrated packaging suite, Scope, Esko-Graphics’ Deskpack is a graphic editor that turns Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop into full-featured production workstations for package design and prepress. The latest iteration of the Scope software suite introduces an array of new plug-ins for Deskpak, including: 3-dX, which generates a virtual 3-D view of a package within Adobe Illustrator; ImageX, which translates embedded images into separate, externally linked images, making them available for editing; and SeamlessX, a step-and-repeat tool for gravure cylinder or flexo cylinder workflows.
K.I.S.S. me
Dalim Software is Keep(ing) It Simple and Scalable with packaging-specific products that include HelioFlow for gravure and MistralPack. The HelioFlow interface combines a Hell Gravure System production server and an MIS connection to create an automatic gravure imposition tool. MistralPack is a packaging-specific variant of the company’s Mistral JDF-compliant print-production management system for tracking, administration, assembly, correction, and approval that sits on top of the company’s Twist workflow.
Follow the rules
Kodak has committed itself to the packaging market with offerings in hardware, workflow, consumables, workflow, and digital solutions and a practical, integrated approach to meeting the needs of CPCs, says Vic Stalam, VP, packaging business. The company’s Prinergy 4.0 workflow system features new automation and data management capabilities using enhanced rules-based automation built around the Adobe Creative Suite, including updates for the Prinergy Powerpack workflow system for package printers.
Big plans for smaller shops
RIPit Imaging Systems sees growth on a global scale for its OpenRIP Flexo solution for label and small packaging users. The technology automatically applies step-and-repeat, distortion, bearer bars, and traps. OpenRIP Flexo 5.0 is designed with advanced features and an automated workflow to help increase prepress production and accuracy, and is customizable to meet any workflow needs. n
