Prepress providers pointing the way

3 May 2012

The fortnight-long print industry extravaganza that is Drupa is upon us all of a sudden. That must mean we’re nearly half-way through a year in which, for many, the sole objective is to make it through to the next one again. Yet there is plenty of activity across the industry – the press releases are flying in from companies in the printing sector, trailing their activity at the 3-16 May Düsseldorf show.

Durst has a new Tau 330 digital UV inkjet label press; there’ll be the latest version of Sistrade Print, including augmented reality tools; HP will be showing a new portfolio of digital printing and workflow solutions which, the company says, will help print service providers “achieve profitable growth”.

And DuPont will be highlighting new flexo printing plates and hosting “flexo tours” to demonstrate, on other exhibitors’ stands, how its Cyrel workflow systems can help packaging manufacturers achieve branding consistency.

Interestingly, from a competitive viewpoint, DuPont will be positioned on the stand next-door to Esko. It’s only a couple of months ago that one UK executive of the Belgium-based workflow software provider was talking about his market-leading company’s plans to “challenge the Pantone benchmark” with its own developments. My eyebrows were raised, therefore, when in early March the company announced it was instead, it seemed to me, throwing in its lot with X-Rite in the new PantoneLIVE cloud-based, prepress and colour management system – thereby creating a considerable global force in the sector.

The pieces fell into place in April when, almost without fanfare, news emerged that Esko’s US parent company Danaher is acquiring X-Rite/Pantone in a US$625 million deal (see news section). “The cloud-based colour service will transform the way print specialists interact with brand owners,” Geert De Proost, Esko software engines director, has told Packaging Today.

De Proost adds that, combined, the companies’ systems will: “Deliver globally consistent colour standards, including corporate spot colours, that are essential to brand identity on a variety of substrates.”

Brand identity and consistency are becoming the all-encompassing priority. This month also sees the return of a major triennial packaging exhibition in one of Europe’s hardest-hit economies. Held in Barcelona, 15-18 May, Hispack is this year co-located with the Bta food technology fair. Show director Xavier Pascual says that non-Spanish companies can utilise the opportunity not just as a platform to territories in Europe, the Mediterranean and Russia, but also as: “The ideal springboard into Latin American markets.”

David Longfileld,

Deputy Editor


David Longfield



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