What does it do?
This is the latest version 22.11 of the Esko Software suite. Widely used in the packaging and labels sectors, it is a modular group of complementary applications centred on all stages of design and pre-press, with increasing automation and emphasis on supply chain collaboration.
Modules can run on either local servers and workstations or can be accessed online as SaaS. Esko claims to have the largest SaaS platform in packaging, used by “more than 35 leading global brands with more than 30,000 users and millions of transactions each month”.
Esko is based in Ghent, Belgium, and is owned by the US Danaher Corporation, alongside other print-related developers AVT, Videojet and X-Rite Pantone. It claims to have more than 25,000 customers in 140 countries and that “packaging for nine out of 10 major brands is produced by our customers.”
When was it launched and what is the market?
The global announcement date was 9 November. Esko currently updates the software three times each year; Printweek has looked at this version in particular because it incorporates new AI layout features developed by Tilia Labs, which the company acquired in January.
Target markets remain the packaging and labels sectors, especially folding cartons and corrugated, labels and flexible packaging, where existing users will receive the 22.11 update as part of their service agreements. According to Jan De Roeck, marketing director for industrial relations and strategy at Esko, the latest release “makes it easier for packaging companies to connect people and processes, to access data, automate operations and to drive operational efficiency.”
How does it work?
The Esko modular software suite incorporates a number of hands-on and automated background processing applications. User companies will tend to have some but not all the components, with individual operators handling some but not all of these.
The main applications are grouped into core operating categories. Packaging and display structure creation is handled by ArtiosCAD (structural design for cartons); Studio (3D design); and Store Visualizer (photorealistic previewing in realistic locations).
Job management is handled by WebCenter (management of job specification, approval and lifecycle); and Share & Approve (collaborative approval including 3D soft proofs).
Packaging and label pre-press includes ArtPro+ (native PDF editing); DeskPack (a set of bidirectional plugins for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop including design and variable data); Dynamic Content (separately editable text for late-stage changes); Plato (layout creation); Imaging Engine (Rip); Automation Engine (workflow with MIS integration); Colour Engine (colour management); and Equinox (spot colour to CMYK or extended gamut ink set separations).
Flexo pre-press is handled by the Digital Flexo Suite, including the Flexo Engine platemaking control application with Print Control Wizard. It can link to Esko’s own CDI and XPS ranges of digital flexo platesetters. There are other modules for functions such as on-press inspection and palletisation planning.
The list of new features in v.22.11 starts with the link between ArtPro+ and GMG OpenColor, which works on colour functions such as trapping, separations and proofing. “A lot of our customers use GMG ColorServer but still manually rework artwork in ArtPro+. This takes time and skill, is expensive and can lead to errors,” says De Roeck. “We know the manual reseparation of images and artwork to match brands’ colour accuracy demands can be a laborious and error-prone process. By automating the reseparation using GMG OpenColor technology via the new unique integration with Esko ArtPro+, pre-press professionals can now accurately visualise colour in before-and-after states and assess colour deviations on-screen with precise Delta E readouts.”
There is new multi-MIS support in Automation Engine SaaS and new configuration tools in WebCenter. Flexo automation gains PlateID automatic placement and nested merging in the Flexo Engine.
Also new is the first incorporation of the latest FEFCO package design standards in any design package.
Finally, there is the integration of Tilia Labs’ Phoenix artificial intelligence into Esko Automation Engine to give optimal layouts and nesting of packs and labels for plates and digital presses. De Roeck says this lets users “rethink the planning and imposition process and unlock productivity improvements to save time and reduce waste, with a seamless interface between prepress data and production data.”
Phoenix uses intelligent algorithms for sheet layout (including different label quantities side by side on digital presses), estimation and planning. De Roeck says “We are filling the gap between converters and brand owners by providing tools to help the converters do the job better, faster and more efficiently.”
Are there performance increases?
Yes, mainly through the increased automation. De Roeck says this “makes it easier for packaging companies to connect its people and processes, to access data, automate operations and to drive operational efficiency.”
How is it supplied?
The Esko software can be supplied to run on local servers or remotely in the cloud as SaaS. Dynamic Subscriptions are a major new feature of V22.11. This is a cloud-based licensing system that covers a flexible team of named operators who can be on different sites. Previously licenses were confined to either numbers of seats, or within sites. Existing licensees can switch to Dynamic Subscriptions if they wish to.
The software platform is modular, enabling customers to pick and choose their solutions, and so pricing is quoted on an individual basis.
Esko Release 22.11 is a free update, available to users at no extra cost provided a maintenance contract is in place.
SPECIFICATIONS
Description An extensive modular suite of applications, covering content and structural design and pre-press for folding cartons, corrugated boxes and display, flexible packaging and labels
Platform Modules that can run on local or cloud servers, plus specialised plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
Solution types Packaging management; packaging design; packaging pre-press, digital flexo plate pre-press; digital print pre-press; print inspection; palletisation; digital asset management
Price Depends on specification and licence scheme, but starting from £10,000 to £40,000
Contact Esko +32 9 216 90 21 www.esko.com
ALTERNATIVES
Hybrid Software
Hybrid Software offers the primary alternative to Esko for packaging and labels pre-press. Its Cloudflow modular automation workflow is equivalent to Esko’s Automation Engine, and likewise can run locally or in the cloud (plus a new managed SaaS option). It handles PDF automation, colour separation, trapping, screening, proofing, approvals plate layout and other functions. It can integrate with Hybrid’s other main products including Packz (a PDF pre-press editor for packaging content and CAD files); Packzflow (an automated Packz); Stepz (PDF editing for variable data printing, step and repeat, print optimising); a Rip module based on Harlequin software; Cockpit for process management of labels and folding cartons; Tectonics for flexo layout; and Datalink connectivity to MIS/ERP and other external services.
Hybrid Software is part of the Hybrid Software Group. Cloudflow links to some of the other group companies’ pre-press products, including Global Graphics’ Harlequin Rip, ColorLogic’s colour management software and the new acquisition Creative Edge’s iC3D 3D pack design and rendering software.
Platforms Local or inhouse server running on Windows, MacOS or Linux; or remotely hosted cloud servers
Core module Workspace database and workflow engine
Optional modules Proofscope, Packzflow, Rip, Job Management, Datalink, Cockpit, Share, 3D, Tectonics
Price Monthly or yearly subscriptions available, or perpetual license starting at about £15,000
Contact Hybrid Software 07961 446 990 www.hybridsoftware.com
USER REVIEW
“When we first set up Creation in 2004, the first step we took was to immediately invest in Esko products to enable us to hit the markets we wanted to hit. The utilisation of Esko software has digitised and automated our business so much that it’s had a massive impact on our sustainability goals,” Matt Francklow Managing director, Creation Reprographics, Daventry
