Artwork Systems

GENT, Belgium—Esko, a leader in packaging pre-production solutions and digital imaging of flexo plates, announced that Indianapolis-based NPP has purchased and installed a Cyrel Digital Imager (CDI) Advance 5080 flexo platesetter. The purchase of the CDI will augment NPP’s progression to a complete digital workflow system. Before purchasing its CDI Advance, NPP had been involved in analog platemaking, outsourcing if it needed a digital plate. The decision to purchase a digital flexo plate imager was market driven. The company decided that to stay competitive, and to elevate the quality of its plates—and what these capabilities would bring to its customers—they had to purchase a

In the world of packaging, CMYK is an appetizer, whetting but no longer satisfying end-users’ growing appetite for color. It stands to reason: color is arguably the most identifiable and valuable of all the assets associated with a given brand. And not just any color, but intense, vibrant color that differentiates a company from its competition, creates an irresistible emotional connection with the consumer; color that is the key component of high-impact graphics designed to grab a consumer’s attention and hold it long enough to trigger a purchase decision. With its limited gamut and ability to simulate only about 60 percent of standard

GENT, Belgium—Esko, a world leader in packaging pre-production solutions, announced that its Web site has been completely redesigned and will offer new content and an intuitive, stylish format. The new site reflects a graphical style that is consistent with Esko’s corporate branding and puts a focus on the company’s system integration, its software, and solutions. It stands for straight-forward digital communication in an efficient environment. The Web site supports a number of innovative new features. The new navigational path displays Esko’s products, solutions, and markets. Its user-friendly page format allows visitors to easily go from the home page to the information they need. The

GHENT, Belgium—The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG), an international association that helps produce and exchange digital documents for the publishing workflow, announced the availability of new GWG Packaging Specifications, offering best practices for PDF file exchange in packaging applications. The specifications developed by the GWG’s packaging experts were tested in North America by Kraft Foods Inc., and in Europe by France’s Square. The new specifications are downloadable for free at www.gwg.org. GWG Packaging Specifications Reduce Time-to-Market According to GWG Packaging Subcommittee co-chairs, Steve Carter, director of technology, St. Louis Division of Southern Graphics Systems, and Christian Blaise, international sales account manager for Enfocus,

Artwork Systems has created a new technology centre at its UK office in Redditch in order to have the facilities to host a series of major new ‘Best Practice’ workshops, which are designed to provide customers with the skills to ensure they are using their Artwork Systems software to its full potential. The UK workshops will be based on similar events held recently by the company in Germany, which have been so successful that virtually every one has been sold out with extra workshops required for several products. Artwork Systems plans to repeat the concept at key subsidiary sites throughout Europe during 2007. Each

GHENT, Belgium—Accord Valmy, a design and execution agency based in Montreuil, France, has purchased the 10,000th seat of the ArtPro editing application from Artwork Systems for the pre-production of labels and packaging. The landmark sale took place at the recent Salon de l’Emballage event, where ArtPro was first introduced to the worldwide market in 1992, making it the longest-running professional application in the graphic arts market. Accord Valmy also purchased PA:CT, Artwork Systems’ bespoke PDF certification technology for the packaging market. Guido Van der Schueren, chairman of the board of Artwork Systems Group, and Olivier Moeyersoms, managing director Artwork Systems France, presented Accord Valmy’s

FFTA/Clemson Workflow Seminar Series: OPTIMIZING THE DIGITAL PLATE PACKAGE FOR FLEXOGRAPHY January 16-17, 2007 Clemson University, Clemson SC WHY A DIGITAL PLATE SEMINAR? Because in today’s environment, digital workflow processes such as platemaking should be SIMPLER not more complicated. Find out how to uncomplicate the digital plate process from “Prepress to RIP to Final Plate Production” while achieving optimal results from your investment. Working with industry leaders, you will learn to recognize the pitfalls, avoid common mistakes and develop procedures to achieve consistent and repeatable results on every plate, every press run. This seminar is appropriate for all segments of flexography whether currently using

Gent (Belgium) - Esko, a leader in packaging pre-production solutions, has recorded another quarter of profitable growth during the third quarter of 2006. Consolidated net revenues increased by 11 percent compared to the third quarter of last year. Eliminating sales from discontinued products to other markets, packaging revenues increased by 13 percent year-over-year. New system sales (excluding services) grew by 29 percent compared to the same quarter in 2005. The EBITDA margin for the quarter was greater than 11 percent. Net working capital and cash flow continue to develop favorably. For the first nine months of 2006, Esko sees its consolidated packaging business growing

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.

“Design2Print” is an ambitious tagline for a company with a singular focus on customer service. Established in 1948, Southern Gravure Systems (SGS) had been a part of Reynolds Metal Co. since 1958, later becoming its wholly owned subsidiary with Alcoa’s purchase of Reynolds in 2000. The company has pursued an aggressive strategy of growth through acquisition, having rolled up 21 acquisitions, most of them independent trade shops, since 1999. In the early- to mid-1980s, SGS recognized that a majority of the gravure cylinders it manufactured for printers were intended for relatively few consumer product companies (CPCs). Consequently, the company determined that there was a need