Arziro Design 4.0 will be available for purchase as an update or new software package from October. Customers with a service maintenance contract are eligible for the update free of charge. 

Arziro Design is targeted at security print applications such as stamps and tickets, and packaging applications where anti-counterfeiting measures are required. Version 4.0 introduces new features including a guilloche generator and rainbow – or iris – printing, a process that makes designs difficult to replicate by photocopiers or scanners by merging colours together.

“We developed version 4.0 based on reflections of market needs and discussions over specific demands from our customers,” said Agfa security software business manager Luc Bruyneel. “We have already converted a number of customers who were using other solutions.

“Arziro’s usability is significantly higher than its competitors, primarily because it is an Adobe Illustrator-based plugin.

“It comes with a multitude of modules to create personalised and complex elements, backgrounds and patterns, and is a simple, yet powerful way to protect your documents from illegal photocopying and scanning.”

Bruyneel described the software as “brand-independent”, able to work with all of the most common printing technologies, including flexo, gravure and digital printers.

Its guilloche generator builds on the guilloche library available with earlier versions, enabling users to create complex security designs via a user-friendly interface. 

Agfa said a number of its UK customers were already eligible for the upgrade. Arziro Design 4.0 sits within Agfa's portfolio of secure print applications that also includes Arziro Authenticate and pre-press workflow Arziro Production.