At Labelexpo Americas, Esko and GMG announced a partnership to deliver a new connection between GMG’s profiling and color prediction solution: GMG OpenColor and Esko’s native prepress editing software, ArtPro+. The connector will be launched in November 2022.

The collaboration is intended to satisfy demand for highly automated and globally connected color management solutions.

Creating a smoother and more efficient color conversion process for packaging and label printers, trade shops and premedia houses, the new ArtPro+ GMG OpenColor Connector enhances the connectivity and data exchange between the two productive solutions. This integration ensures uninterrupted file processing and color conversion without losing mission-critical metadata between systems – allowing both solutions to operate at their best.

“Color management is a complex process and hugely important because there is no single quality standard that you can work with,” says Geert de Proost, director of product management at Esko. “Therefore, it has been hugely satisfying to have collaborated on this project with GMG and bring our respective customers a solid data connection between our two leading solutions.

“The manual reseparation of images and artwork to match brands’ color accuracy demands can be a laborious and error-prone process,” he adds. “But by automating the reseparation using GMG OpenColor technology, via the unique integration with Esko ArtPro+, prepress professionals can now accurately visualize color in before-and-after states and assess color deviations on-screen with precise Delta E readouts.”

Rainer Schmitt, head of product development at GMG, comments, “Esko and GMG have a shared goal of delivering fully integrated digital workflow and color management solutions. A better integration of GMG technology inside Esko solutions is one of the most often reported requests from our joint customers. Focusing on a friction-less user experience by connecting Esko ArtPro+ and GMG OpenColor, our partnership is starting with a great deal of value for our customers. GMG and Esko will continue to search for areas of collaboration to further simplify our customers’ workflows.”

The new connector will deliver wide ranging benefits for customers using ArtPro+ and GMG OpenColor, including the creation of a standardized and automated process for color matching and reseparation of multi-color image and vector data, eliminating manual work, reducing the risk of errors and saving up to 60 minutes of operator time per job. Plus, as ArtPro+ can modify colors, it is now simple and quick to add file edits after conversion for multi-color process printing. Enhanced color precision is available on-press through standardizing color conversion using GMGs enhanced spectral color technology.

“At Esko, we know printers and their brand customers are looking for a 100% color guarantee,” notes de Proost. “We have always had an open system and that’s why we continue to invest in technology partnerships and R&D to bring the color consistency and quality they seek. Working with partners such as GMG underlines our commitment to bringing new innovations to market.”