Epson to offer Esko's highly functional Digital Front-End with its SurePress L-4033 series, bringing improved productivity and quality to digital label printing

Gent (Belgium), – Esko (www.esko.com) announces that it has entered into an OEM relationship with Epson (global.epson.com) to provide a customized Digital Front-End (DFE) for use with the Epson SurePress L-4033A and L-4033AW inkjet digital label presses.

"As the label and packaging market increasingly transitions from analog to digital solutions," says Jef Bogaerts, Commercial Partnerships at Esko, "manufacturers of digital printing equipment are looking for digital front-end alternatives that can effectively address workflow and job processing issues specific to their industry. Our DFE does just that by streamlining prepress and workflow for greater efficiency. And with Esko's Color Engine 12 integrated into the DFE, it offers Epson the ability to process files of up to seven colors to take full advantage of the capabilities of the L-4033 series presses. We are pleased to be partnering with Epson, one of the printing industry's best-known brands."

The 6-color Epson SurePress L-4033A and 7-color L-4033AW (with white ink) inkjet digital label presses are designed for efficient high-quality, short-run label printing. Delivering exceptional print quality and accurate color reproduction on a wide variety of standard label substrates, the L-4033 series presses enable label converters and commercial printers to expand their service offering and improve profitability. Now, with the addition of the Esko DFE, Epson customers will be able to take advantage of Esko's expertise in the label and packaging market to deliver differentiated digital label manufacturing that incorporates Esko capabilities that have become the standard in the label and packaging industry.

"As we continue to grow our presence in the label industry, we turned to the industry leader for additional capability," comments Mr. Kitahara Tsuyoshi, General Manager, Epson. "Combined with Epson's reputation for high-quality, affordable printing solutions, this DFE powered by Esko will bring even more value and automation to customers serving the digital label printing market. As the market continues to evolve, so do Epson products and the Esko partnership is another example of our dedication to bringing our customers best-in-class solutions that help their businesses grow and grow with their businesses."

The new DFE, powered by Esko, will be standard on Epson SurePress L-4033 series digital label presses sold in Europe and Australia, and will be an option for presses sold in other parts of the world.