EskoArtwork showcases "Design to Print to Cut" solutions at Fespa Digital 2011

Hands-on demonstrations of i-cut Suite, ArtiosCAD, Studio and Kongsberg digital cutting tables show how to eliminate bottlenecks from digital sign and display production

Gent (Belgium), April 2011 – EskoArtwork (www.esko.com) will showcase its complete portfolio of integrated workflow and digital finishing hardware and software solutions at Fespa Digital. The highlight of the show will be EskoArtwork’s i-cut Suite. This integrated workflow solution – dedicated to the digital sign and display market – optimizes and improves the entire production process from design to print to cut. ArtiosCAD and Studio, ideal for structural design applications, will also be on show. Visitors to the EskoArtwork stand will also have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience of the Kongsberg i-XL24 and i-XP44, two of the company’s market-leading digital finishing solutions, specifically designed to deliver unsurpassed productivity and perfect registration. Fespa Digital takes place at the Messe Hamburg from 24 to 27 May, 2011. EskoArtwork will demonstrate its hardware and software solutions in Hall A4, stand A30

“We are really looking forward to coming to Hamburg for the show,” says Nicolai Gradman, Senior Vice President CAM & Supply Chain at EskoArtwork. “More than ever before, printers are realizing the importance of having a highly optimized, streamlined operation to keep ahead of their competition. Digital is perfect for meeting the growing demand for short-run, print-on-demand sign and displays. But to remain truly competitive, printing operations also need to be super tight. Across the entire design-to-print-to-cut production process, our integrated workflow solution – one of the first on the market dedicated to the digital sign and display market – saves valuable time, reduces waste and delivers significant productivity gains.”

Dedicated workflow solution tackles bottlenecks
EskoArtwork's i-cut Suite streamlines the entire workflow – from design and prepress to the digital press up to the finished product. Print houses can receive files that have not been properly prepared and often contain errors or miss vital information required for efficient sheet layout, printing and digital finishing. Without the proper workflow tools, such deficiencies lead to waste of time and materials. The i-cut Suite gives users the essential tools for identifying and resolving these issues at the beginning of the workflow, enabling them to save valuable time and reduce waste. The result is a smooth and cost-effective manufacturing process.

The i-cut Suite is part of the EskoArtwork Suite 10 and comprises three core modules. i-cut Preflight takes care of the preflighting of incoming PDF data, ensuring problems are solved at the beginning of the workflow. i-cut Layout handles the layout and nesting of sheet layouts, optimizing substrate utilization and saving printing time. Meanwhile i-cut Vision Pro makes sure that die-less cutting contours perfectly match the printed images.

Also on show at Fespa will be ArtiosCAD 7.6 which is the preferred structural design software of industry leading professionals worldwide. It allows designers to easily build structural designs and 3D POP displays. A key benefit is its complete 3D integration, enabling quick prototyping of designs and presentations while eliminating communication errors and reducing design review cycles. Visitors to the EskoArtwork stand can also see Studio in action. This plug-in for Adobe® Illustrator® allows designers to work easily with 3D files. The solution offers a 3D viewing environment where designers can see their artwork applied instantly to the file.

Kongsberg digital finishing tables – delivering the finished product
Also presented at the show will be two of EskoArtwork’s hugely popular Kongsberg digital cutting tables. The Kongsberg i-XL24 is the workhorse of the product line and EskoArtwork's best-selling finishing system among sign and display companies. It offers a comprehensive finishing solution for the widest range of materials, providing automation, high productivity and outstanding precision. The Kongsberg i-XP44 combines speedy throughput with high precision, and is designed to operate continuously in the most demanding 24/7 production environments. With a top speed of 100m/minute, the Kongsberg i-XP is the fastest table in its class, meeting demand for a speedy and highly reliable solution for short-run production. Both tables come equipped with the i-cut Vision Pro control system that individually adjusts cut files to perfectly match the printed graphics.

The Kongsberg series of cutting tables excel in processing a wide variety of materials, ranging from all grades of corrugated board, display carton, corrugated plastic, foam boards and rigid display materials, such as MDF, plywood and acrylics. The tables come with a range of expandable tooling options, including a pressure-controlled, high-precision kiss-cutting knife tool, reciprocating knife tool for corrugated and foam board, static knife tool for solid materials, and a crease tool for packaging materials.

About EskoArtwork ( www.esko.com )
EskoArtwork is a global supplier of integrated solutions for packaging, sign and display finishing, commercial printing and professional publishing. Its products and services help customers raise productivity, reduce time-to-market, lower costs and expand business.

Portfolio
EskoArtwork is the worldwide market leader with software for artwork creation, pre-production, automation, quality assurance and collaboration targeted at brand owners, retailers, designers and packaging manufacturers.

The CDI flexo computer-to-plate imagers, Kongsberg short-run converting and signage finishing systems complete the portfolio for the packaging, label, signage and display industries.

The company provides a range of workflow, automation and quality assurance solutions for the commercial printing and publishing market. For graphic designers and print production professionals there’s also the Enfocus suite of PDF tools.

Facts & numbers
EskoArtwork employs around 1050 people worldwide. Its global sales and support organization covers Europe, the Americas and the Asia Pacific and is completed by a network of distribution partners in more than 45 countries.

EskoArtwork is headquartered in Gent, Belgium, and has R&D and manufacturing facilities in five European countries, the United States, China and India. The consolidated full year financials ended for 2010 with revenue of EUR 184.1 million.

For more information, visit www.esko.com