Esko begins a busy 2012 show season in the U.S. as a very active FTA Forum/INFO*FLEX participant, and an exhibitor at WestPack.
 
“Esko has found it very valuable to reach out to our customers during industry events,” says Mark Quinlan, President, Esko North America. “It gives us the opportunity to consult and explain, face-to-face, how our solutions can be extremely productive and cost-effective within the complete packaging supply chain. These two predominantly packaging events are a good start to the year.”

Playing a major part at the FTA Annual Forum
Esko is the sole Platinum Plus sponsor at this year’s FTA Annual Forum and INFO*FLEX exhibit, from March 18-21 in San Antonio, TX. The company is involved in a number of conference sessions as well as an exhibitor in the expo area. Esko has been asked to open the conference with welcoming remarks, which will be offered by Ian Hole.

Mark Samworth, last year’s inductee to the FTA Hall of Fame, is one of the session Chairs of FOG'D 2012: Reality Flexo. Attendees will be able to see and compare real world print jobs comparing flexo against offset, gravure and digital. Real world production jobs will be reviewed from a print quality and consumer perspective and perspectives will be offered from brand owners, a corrugated packaging and display company, and printers/converters. Attendees will learn how flexo compares in terms of quality, repeatability and color accuracy with the alternative forms of print.

Ian Hole will discuss the association of standard ink density and accurate color match during his presentation. Ink lay down on press, when delivered correctly, should be even and show no pinhole effect or reticulation, all too familiar in the flexo process. This session examines the role of ink lay down, quality ink solids (SID) and matching industry standards, as well as customer targets. Details will be offered from tests made around different ink lay down levels and how they affect color and SID levels.

Rory Marson, will discuss flexo and graphics terminology, and the basics of ink, including the types and qualities of those most often used in today's flexo presses — such as water-based, solvent and UV. Rory will conclude the session with a ‘graphics primer’, covering prepress elements and related printing terms including dot gain issues, compensation curves, gray balance, tonal range, ink film thickness, solid ink density, traps, vignettes and more.

Offering a wide range of solutions for packaging during WestPack 2012
At WestPack 2012 booth 5560, from February 14-16 in Anaheim, CA, Esko will demonstrate its extensive range of innovative solutions for packaging print providers. WestPack 2012 offers hands-on access to the latest packaging equipment, machinery, materials and services.

Esko will display its end-to-end workflow solutions, showcasing its Suite 10 portfolio of print and packaging pre-production software, featuring Studio, a unique set of tools for 3D packaging design made specifically for packaging artwork professionals. Automation is becoming an extremely important determinant of print provider profitability and Esko automation solutions address a range of tools from simple trapping programs in the prepress department, to the introduction of advanced 3D design software and the building of full-fledged, sophisticated prepress production automation.

Esko’s Suite 10 is a software solution for packaging prepress, 3D structural design and quality assurance, collaboration and automation, and color management. Visitors can follow demonstrations of Automation Engine 10 and editor applications: ArtPro 10, PackEdge 10, DeskPack 10, ArtiosCAD 10 and Studio 10. Automation Engine 10 adds capabilities to the automation of repetitive tasks and takes more human interaction out of prepress production.

Rather than working on 2D flats, designers can now create projects in 3D — designing with finished lines, adding graphics, and wrapping them around to see how they fit. Graphics can be designed on 3D materials using Esko Studio and Visualizer, plug-ins for Adobe ® Illustrator ® that put interactive 3D display creation in the hands of the designer, letting them see their artwork applied instantly on the screen. Studio also allows designers to create exciting 3D visuals to show to their clients, ranging from PDF files with 3D content, to movies, or virtual pack shots. Visualizer adds the finishing touch, showing a wide range of substrates, printing and finishing effects in real-time.

One of Studio’s featured options is Esko’s Studio Toolkit for Shrink Sleeves, the recipient of the most recent Printing Industries of America InterTech™ Technology Award. Studio Toolkit for Shrink Sleeves creates artwork for shrink sleeves (labels placed around a package or packages and shrunk around them during production).

“Esko continues to be an important partner for packaging companies. These two events — focusing not only on booth demos, but also on presentations — offer ways to help companies manage the process of packaging production,” notes Quinlan. “We expect a successful turnout at both events and look forward to working with more people at many more venues during 2012.”

Esko maintains a very busy events calendar, which can be viewed at http://www.esko.com/en/company/press-and-news/Events.