Print Control Wizard nominated for coveted award
As the state-of-the-art Print Control Wizard from Esko continues to win praise and recognition from across the industry, the software has now been shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Award for Innovation’ by judges at this year’s Label Industry Global Awards.
Designed to improve the flexo implementation process and print quality via Crystal Screens, Print Control Wizard offers the sector a simplified, standardized approach to screen and curve creation, outputting a new Crystal Screening algorithm to address a wide range of potential print issues.
Esko, the leading global supplier of integrated hardware and software solutions for the labels and packaging sectors, developed the Wizard in response to industry calls to simplify the implementation of screens and dot gain curves. This Label Industry Global Award shortlisting is just the latest nomination for the technology follows on from previously winning the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) and European Flexographic Industry Association’s (EFIA) Technical Innovation awards.
“The innovative Esko Print Control Wizard software took more than two years to develop and was designed to have a positive impact on a broad range of reprographics processes,” said Robert Bruce, Esko Product Manager. “For our customers, the improved accuracy of the dot gain curve created by the Print Control Wizard ensures that everything on the plate is much more consistent.
“Vignettes are smoother with no inflection points or bridging and there is also a considerable reduction in plate cleaning frequency,” he said. “Increased stability and predictable results on press are a clear enabler for flexo printers to move to fixed pallet printing, leading to increased productivity and press uptime.”
Robert said that as well as improving efficiency and quality, Print Control Wizard also carried considerable benefits in terms of sustainability. “Environmental and sustainability aspects of Print Control Wizard arise from the significant reduction in makeready time, including a reduction in the time and cleaning materials required during the plate-cleaning process,” he explained.
“The software generates a bespoke printing condition, tailored to the user’s production workflow. This highlights optimal curves and screens to achieve the print standard and workflow efficiency required, ultimately reducing makeready and streamlining the flexo print operation. Using Print Control Wizard therefore realizes potential for less substrate waste, ink, energy and time.
“Throughout the testing period, every one of our pre-release community reported positive feedback in terms of these reductions,” he said.
To find out more about the Esko Print Control Wizard, visit https://www.esko.com/en/products/digital-flexo-platemaking/print-control-wizard
The Label Industry Global Awards will be presented at this year’s Labelexpo Europe on Tuesday, 24 September 2019.