Gent (Belgium), February 6, 2008 – EskoArtwork, the global market leader in innovative design, pre-production and collaboration solutions for the packaging and commercial printing industry, announces the introduction of ArtiosCAD 7.3. The latest version of the world's most popular structural design software for packaging provides easier design features, more realistic views of packaging against backgrounds and extensive support for new operating systems and applications. With dedicated tools specifically designed for packaging professionals for structural design, product development, virtual prototyping and manufacturing—and with integration capabilities with product design packages such as SolidWorks—ArtiosCAD increases productivity throughout the entire packaging supply chain, a significant reason why nearly 70% of all structural packaging worldwide is designed on ArtiosCAD.

ArtiosCAD is the ideal product for all corrugated, folding cartons and POP displays. Its design and drafting tools include functions that structural designers need to get their job done accurately and efficiently. Complete 3D integration allows for quick prototyping of designs and presentations, eliminating communication errors and reducing design review cycles.

Realistic Background Image

EskoArtwork has further enhanced the ArtiosCAD 'background image' feature that lets users place their 3D structural designs in a store 'environment'. New tools in ArtiosCAD 7.3 help the user create even more realistic views with a range of control functions that further enhance the visual model: preparing the proper scale, orientation and perspective, and by providing drop shadows, influenced by the light position. This allows the brand owner to see a very realistic view of how a product will look on the store shelves before time and money is invested in packaging samples.

Rubber Design & Layout Module

ArtiosCAD 7.3 includes a rubber design module for ejection rubber profiles. It is an automatic one-click solution for creating ejection rubber profiles for a cutting die—using a sophisticated set of user configurable rules taking into consideration rule type, location, geometry and other parameters. It even recognizes nicks and bolt holes. Parameter sets can be stored for different customer needs and different die types. A full range of editing tools can make adjustments or changes to the automatic solution, providing ultimate flexibility and control over ejection rubber designs. For example, an automatic layout feature can 'nest' the cutting profiles, making efficient use of the rubber sheet, saving time in production, as well as materials costs.
Combined with a Kongsberg table, designs can be sent immediately to the cutting table to automatically create the cutting profiles—using a dry process that allows the profiles to be used for the production of cutting profiles, without delay. A company can save considerable time and money, without the need to cut designs manually. Terry Schroeder, General Manager of Schroeder & Bogardus Die Co. based in Anaheim, CA (USA), says: "We use the ArtiosCAD 7.3 rubber design module to help create the rubber on a die board used to eject the material from the tooling. The module allows us to quickly and automatically create the rubber geometries for a variety of jobs. The feature is very robust and versatile, lending itself to packaging tooling as well as non-packaging applications. And, the file format is very open—we use it with our laser cutter. Overall, the ArtiosCAD 7.3 rubber design module makes production of our dies much easier."
Design Smarter and Faster

ArtiosCAD 7.3 has a number of new design features created to simplify tasks and save time. Some of the major improvements include:

- Rebuildable designs after deleting layers

- The capability to create quarter designs and automatically copy them horizontally or vertically, joining lines of all sections together to produce a symmetric shape.

- Distribution of line dimensions when copying complicated selections and construction lines

- Easier zooming and panning using the middle mouse scroll wheel

- A tool that can preserve, at the user's option, the same angle, radius, arc, or size of a line, when a package is stretched.
 
Enhancing the 3D Experience

ArtiosCAD 7.3 also has expanded functionality in its 3D Designer for viewing and reports. For example, with a simplified process, PDF files of reports can contain a '3D' window in which to place an interactive 3D model.

As an open system, ArtiosCAD 7.3 supports the U3D universal standard for three-dimensional data, exporting the ArtiosCAD A3D format to the new U3D format and exporting data to a PDF file with an embedded U3D model. In addition to Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP64, and SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2005 Express support, ArtiosCAD 7.3 will now run on Apple Macintosh computers driving Windows operating systems within the Parallels desktop. To make the work areas easier—and more accessible—for all users, ArtiosCAD 7.3 has dual monitor support, allowing users to design with views from two monitors. ArtiosCAD's Portable Workstation allows a designer to work on a remote laptop, away from the corporate network. Copies of relevant libraries, tables, and common data are moved to a local folder for easy reference.

"We have added significant features to ArtiosCAD 7.3," explains Richard Deroo, Product Manager Structural Design, "They focus on four general areas: tools to make it even easier to work and navigate within ArtiosCAD; a focus on maintaining open access to Esko ArtiosCAD on a number of operating systems and within environments such as laptop and dual-monitor use; tools that make it even easier to place 3D images onto a background in perspective; and a new module to design ejection rubber profiles."

ArtiosCAD 7.3 will be released at the end of January. As a fundamental part of the world's most complete set of integrated packaging preproduction software tools, it will be offered in version 7.3 of Esko Software Suite 7.