Market leaders combine their expertise to deliver a “color guarantee” for self-adhesive labels printed on a Hewlett Packard Indigo digital press

Avery Dennison, the global leader in pressure-sensitive technology and innovative self-adhesive solutions for label materials, has teamed up with EskoArtwork and ExxonMobil Chemical to make color guaranteed printing a reality for digital label converters.

Last year, EskoArtwork, market leader in packaging preproduction solutions and ExxonMobil Chemical, the leading global supplier of a full range of specialty and value added oriented polypropylene (OPP) films, introduced PacVantage™ software and technology for digitally printed labels at Labelexpo Europe. In this market segment, where the predominant printing technology is provided by HP Indigo, these leaders broke new ground by offering a color guarantee. This guarantee provides converters who prepare their jobs using EskoArtwork software with PacVantage™ technology and print them on ExxonMobil Chemical's Digilyte™ polyolefin films the assurance that they will be able to make color adjustments during the proofing stage and match them on press with little or no adjustment.

Now, Avery Dennison has joined EskoArtwork and ExxonMobil Chemical to introduce self-adhesive rollstocks faced with ExxonMobil Chemical’s Digilyte™ polyolefin films. This will allow narrow web label converters using EskoArtwork software with PacVantage™ technology to buy Avery Dennison self-adhesive labels faced with Digilyte™ films that activate the color guarantee.

Avery Dennison has extensive experience collaborating with industry-leader Hewlett-Packard to deliver pre-optimized digital labeling materials for printing on the full range of HP Indigo industrial roll fed presses. These materials exhibit excellent print quality and a one-year print shelf life.

By combining their capabilities, the three leaders can now offer label converters everything they need to implement color guaranteed printing:

- EskoArtwork color management and workflow software: With PacVantage™ technology built in, Kaleidoscope™ and FlexProof™ do an exceptional job driving the HP Indigo press-even for six or seven color jobs. PacVantage™ technology also includes tools for proofer certification and remote proofing.

- ExxonMobil Chemical's Digilyte™ polyolefin films: When a label prepared using PacVantage™ technology is printed on Digilyte™ film, it activates the color guarantee.

- Fasson® self-adhesive rollstocks using Digilyte™ facestocks ensure converting success with a HP-certified product, and eliminate the aggravation and multiple costs associated with in-house top-coating.

- Expertise in digital label converting and workflows, including training and consultancy from the industry leaders EskoArtwork, ExxonMobil Chemical and Avery Dennison.

Taking Proofing Away from the Press

Label converters who adopt PacVantage™ technology reap the benefits of a guaranteed color match between a proof and final print. With PacVantage™ technology, digital proofs are printed on an easy to use HP Designjet Z3100 proofer in the prepress department or at the customer's location. With a guaranteed color match between the proof and the HP Indigo printed label, approvals can be made up front and the productivity of the press can be optimized.

Because PacVantage™ technology can ‘lock in’ color before releasing the job to printing, it delivers many advantages to a converter. There is much less color matching time and consumables waste. Not only are media saved, but wearing on blankets is also reduced-as much as three times less. Overall color-matching downtime is reduced by up to 35 percent. In addition, digital converters can offer remote proofing, connecting them much more closely with their customers and allowing their customers to print true, contract quality color proofs at their locations.

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