Fiery Esko and GIS 23.05.24

Fiery, Esko, and Global Inkjet Systems (GIS) have announced a new partnership to provide inkjet press manufacturers with a comprehensive digital print solution for packaging.

The partnership aims to deliver pre-integrated solutions and standardized components from all three companies. They hope to accelerate the analogue-to-digital transition by reducing development time for press manufacturers, enabling them to introduce printing solutions and better meet converter and packaging producer needs.

Together, Esko and Fiery have co-developed a new colour workflow that is configurable based on customer needs. Customers can choose either Esko Color Engine (fully integrated into Fiery Impress) or Fiery’s colour management workflow, which includes Fiery Edge profiling technology, Fiery Spot Pro, and Fiery Color Profiler Suite. 

The companies state this approach aims to improve the integration of digital capabilities into flexo shops and deliver brand colour accuracy, whether matching industry standards or customizing to client brand specifications. 

Fiery Impress is a flexible, scalable Digital Front End (DFE) designed to support industrial inkjet production, allowing packaging producers to respond to changing market demands, from one-off proofs and versions to short runs to the longest runs supported on the press. 

Apparently, Impress drives inkjet presses at maximum press speeds with streaming variable data printing (VDP). A native Adobe PDF Print Engine implementation delivers reliable reproductions of an original PDF, ensuring that the final printed product matches brand designer and customer expectations.  

It is also said to have advanced screening technology that uses printhead-level optimization, as well as image-based missing nozzle and density compensation to reduce print defects on labels and packaging. 

GIS offers printhead electronic systems to deliver colour ink throughout the job at speed with accuracy. The company says its electronics and core software can be configured with printheads including Epson, Fujifilm Dimatix, Konica Minolta, Toshiba TEC and Xaar, as well as ink delivery systems compatible with all leading suppliers.  

Fiery Impress streams RIPped data directly to GIS printhead electronics for maximum press productivity. GIS’s printhead control systems can be combined with Fiery Impress and Esko’s inspection technology. 

Fiery will present its end-to-end solution at drupa 2024 in Düsseldorf, Germany, in Hall 8b, booth B10. Esko will also be present in Hall 8b, booth A12, talking about its fully integrated packaging ecosystem. 

Ahead of drupa 2024, HP’s Eli Mahal recently spoke to us as part of our Packaging Europe podcast series. We discussed the landscape around print for packaging and labels, why advances in speed and productivity means digital print is poised to go mainstream, how HP is addressing packaging’s sustainability demands, and what challenges will define the innovation agenda over the coming years.

In similar news, digital embellishment provider Scodix has unveiled its first AI (artificial intelligence) tool - Scodix AI - ahead of drupa 2024, aiming to address growing demand for automation tools among print providers and designers. Hoping to help brands gain attention in a crowded marketplace, the company says its technology uses learnings from databases of Scodix-enhanced pages to automate the embellishment design process, analyzing designs before suggesting intelligent design choices. 

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