The agreement means that the software company will participate in a range of Fespa activities throughout 2011, including speaker sessions and debates at its exhibitions in Asia, Europe and the US, as well as articles and other content.

The company will also have a stand presence at the Fespa shows, where it has been an exhibitor since 2005.

Fespa managing director Frazer Chesterman said: "At Fespa, we have recognised for several years that our community is showing an increased interest in workflow automation and finishing, as digital technology takes hold and printers focus on optimising efficiency at all stages of production."

EskoArtwork marketing director Jef Stoffels added: "Until a few years ago, the sign and graphics sector was relatively slow to adopt specific software workflow solutions, but we are seeing that change rapidly now, as printers recognise the need to remove production bottlenecks to take advantage of faster digital output speeds and manage increased workloads."

Fespa marketing director Marcus Timson said the deal was a reflection of the market and that software was gaining an increasingly high profile in the wide-format sector as evidenced through show trends, Fespa's own research as well as anecdotally from members.

"Software is increasingly important in terms of how many printers are using it, and how they are using it," he said.