The Indian packaging industry is growing at 14-15% annually, and with rising income levels, the demand for quality and convenience-based products is increasing. It is estimated that more than 80% of packaging in India constitutes rigid packaging. The remaining 20% comprises flexible packaging. Within the next five years, the ratio will be 3:1 (75% rigid packaging and 25% flexible packaging).

The per capita spend by the Indian consumer on packaging is only Rs 739 as compared to a world average of Rs 4,922 which gives India ample room to grow in the future.

EskoArtwork’s PackEdge 10 is an upgrade of the company’s portfolio of Esko Suite 10 software for packaging and print professionals. Traditional software packaging is often based on a folding carton shelve box, but EskoArtwork’s PackEdge 10 provides solutions to all kinds of packaging that can be different and innovative.

PackEdge 10 is a full-featured packaging pre-production editor offering unique technologies and dedicated tools focused on your major pre-press pain points. These points include CAD/graphics misalignments, trapping, distortion, screening and barcodes. PackEdge 10 drastically reduces the cost of errors and increases the efficiency of the PC-based pre-production department.
During a technical training session at PrintWeek India’s office for the pre-press managers of 20 packaging firms, EskoArtwork India’s H S Arun, senior solutions expert for South Asia, says: "PackEdge suite 10 supports all industry standard file formats and can be integrated in any packaging workflow but due to a seamless integration with ArtiosCAD and Automation Engine. PackEdge is a complete packaging solution."

EskoArtwork (formerly Barco Graphics) launched PackEdge more than a decade ago (end of 1990s). Since its launch, there are thousands of licenses sold across the world and in India. This steroid-bound packaging editor on Windows platform is used by large companies in India. This includes installation at Shilp Gravures, Universal Print Systems, Vakils Pre-media, Comart, Parksons Packaging, TCPL Packaging, Utility Printers, ITC, Pragati, EIH Press, Reynders India, Veepee Graphics, Numex Blocks, ColorDot, etc.

Arun says: "The PackEdge suite 10 is the benchmark software for packaging printing, created with value-added features to significantly reduce the errors in pre-press activity and deliver higher precisions."
 
Features
PackEdge 10 is equipped with features and tools which reduce the pre-press operators’ pain and increases the productivity. The Preflight tool in PackEdge 10 verifies the design against a profile and generates an interactive report. Strong colour separation tools can convert process inks, custom inks such as Pantone into any required ink. Advanced clean-up and editing tools allow detailed analysing and quick processing of even the most complex packaging designs.

Arun says: "Editing of all objects like line art, live text or images can be checked for shape, colour, screening, transparency, blend mode and its relation in the file structure. And all these parameters can easily be changed. Text can be edited. Even text that is split up due to the PostScript or PDF language can be reflowed. All kinds of gradients can be defined and images can be placed and changed. PackEdge 10 supports image formats like TIFF, EPS, DCS, PDF. All file elements, even images, can use special inks and are not restricted to four-colours or CMYK.

With the use of PackEdge 10, barcode creation is straight forward and supports a wide range of industry standards. Necessary checks for optical readability and adjustments for press distortions are incorporated in the software.

PowerTrapper in PackEdge 10 can handle all the PDF transparencies and blend modes of today’s modern design files flawlessly. This trapping module is completely compliant with packaging needs and knows how to handle special colour pairs, opaque inks, varnishes, white plates, rich black trapping, etc. All calculated trap objects end up in a new separate layer combined with the ability to edit and modify the trap objects.

Viewing
PackEdge 10 Viewer offers high resolution separation viewing, as if operator was inspecting the final printing plates. A set of smart view modes helps the pre-press operator to focus on critical areas and to apply the necessary corrections.

Arun says: "Viewer offers separation preview, colour preview, TAC (total area coverage) preview, moiré detection, flexo plate preview, flexo print preview and registration error preview. It is equipped with a precise digital densitometer.

This allows verifying the printed result even before expensive proofs or plates are made."
The registration error preview simulates the press mis-registration per separation, allowing the operator to check, for instance, if the applied trapping distance covers the press mis-registration tolerance to avoid gaps.

The compare tool compares and detects the differences between different versions of the design and highlights it immediately on the screen.

Work in 3D
Studio Designer adds a 3D preview to the editor. The structural design files can be placed from ArtiosCAD, Collada files. The files can be viewed directly in 3D complete with the artwork. Navigate in 3D, zoom in on problem areas; the canvas automatically rotates to make the operation easier.

Arun says: "Designer reduces time-consuming mock-ups and allows spotting the design errors faster and takes away the guesswork from 2D flats. For folding carton or corrugated packaging, the structural designs are supplied by ArtiosCAD or the Studio Toolkit for boxes."

For flexible packaging structures, EskoArtwork offers Studio Toolkit for Flexibles. The Studio Toolkit for Flexibles shortens the approval cycles and exports the result directly to 3D PDF, U3D or TIFF and forwards the soft proofs to the client.

The ShrinkSleeve module offers a set of warp tools to compensate the distortion applied to the graphics while shrinking the sleeve. The result can then be visually checked in 3D.

Reducing the risk of human errors is built into every aspect of Esko Suite 10 in the first instance by automating the workflow as much as possible, and secondly by introducing 3D capabilities as quality assurance tools for an error-free workflow.