EskoArtwork, the global market leader in innovative design, pre-production, collaboration and finishing solutions for the packaging, commercial printing and sign and display industry, announces the introduction of SignUp at Fespa Digital 2008, Stand K70, from April 1-3 in Geneva. SignUp is an interactive layout application for digital sign and display shops, and large format digital press owners, who are looking to streamline production and minimize material waste,

Built on EskoArtwork’s expertise in layout technology for conventional printing, SignUp is a prepress layout application tool for large format digital signs and displays. With SignUp, jobs arrive from a variety of desktop design and publishing packages and are assembled or nested. SignUp will conduct layouts based on ordered quantities and job priorities. It can conduct nesting for rectangular as well as irregular shapes, based on the cutting contour. From there, SignUp sends a PDF file to the press and simultaneously sends finishing information to the EskoArtwork Kongsberg cutting table. It is a central, RIP-independent application, so it can be used on a variety of digital printing and proofing devices, both sheet and roll fed.

“There are many companies that compete in the sign and display market and, thus, their margins are under constant pressure. Meanwhile, material costs of substrates are increasing,” explains Geert De Proost, EskoArtwork Director Digital Converting Software product group. “Because SignUp ‘nests’ pieces so well, it minimizes the number of printed sheets per job, optimizing the use of substrates as well as press time. This, of course, dramatically reduces labor costs and material waste, and decreases preparation time.”

With automated converting on the Kongsberg tables, SignUp also reduces error rates. Shops can reduce operator errors with unique features such as links between the front and back sides of displays, guaranteeing a perfect match. With automatic placement of registration i-Cut marks and barcode-driven automation on i-Cut enabled finishing devices, precise cuts are assured.

SignUp is extremely flexible. It can allow for last-minute edits to cutting paths, is able to create a die shape automatically—for example, to provide smoother and straighter cutting shapes for aesthetic or cutting speed purposes.

SignUp is perfect for tiling for oversized jobs and billboards. It provides interactive adjusting for specialty purposes. Irregular tiles can be defined for special purposes, such as exhibition booth corners, wall coverings, and store displays. SignUp is second to none for jobs that need tiling for both graphics and cutting contours such as for large outdoor displays. Tiling the graphics as well as the cutting path for perfect registration on the cutting table saves hours of operator time and dramatically reduces error rate. An optional feature provides automatic masking and auto bleed for multi-tile wall displays and special applications such as puzzles that require milling—with just one click. SignUp will also automatically compensate for milling on the contours, so that pieces fit perfectly when they are taken off a cutting table.

“SignUp reinforces the economic rationale to purchase a Kongsberg CAM table and strengthens EskoArtwork’s presence in the sign and display market,” adds Mr. De Proost. “It also fits very well into EskoArtwork’s focus on digital converting.”

SignUp will be displayed at Fespa Digital 2008, and will be available as a full customer release in time for Drupa 2008.