Almost like real life: Esko DeskPack 3-dX prepress software, a new plug-in for Adobe® Illustrator®, supports virtual three-dimensional views and navigation for packaging design. It was among the 11 winners of 2007 InterTech™ awards presented by PIA/GATF.

DeskPack 3-dX (www.esko.com) assists graphic designers by intuitively navigating through complex structural designs, yielding a virtual view while creating the graphics, as if designers were holding the actual package in their hands.

3D visualization early in the design phase is a major advantage. “One feature that we particularly appreciate is that the 2D design remembers the package's folding angles and displays a direct 3D picture in Illustrator,” said Gust Artois of the SCA Packaging Innovation Centre, in his InterTech-entry testimonial letter. “You always have the opportunity to look at a 3D image of the packaging and turn it around.”

3-dX package designs can be exported to realistic product shots for team collaboration. The software exports PDF files with embedded 3D models that can be directly viewed with Acrobat Reader®.

As reportedly the world's first sheetfed press with direct drive technology, the new ROLAND 700 DirectDrive press (www.manroland.com) also took a 2007 InterTech Technology Award. Speed is key in short-run (less than 5,000 sheets) printing, and the system is said to cut make-readies by as much as 60 percent.

The DirectDrive equips each printing unit's plate cylinder with its own high-torque motor, controlled by MAN Roland's print net digital press operating system. Isolating the plate cylinder from the press main drive allows several makeready chores to be completed simultaneously. Example: all of the plates can be changed at the same time while washup takes place, effectively resulting in zero plate-changing time. A prototype DirectDrive was demonstrated at drupa 2004, and several such presses have since been beta-tested in Europe.

Another 2007 InterTech winner, the KBA Rapida 105 41-in. press (www.kba-usa.com) and its array of automation including the Sensoric Infeed System (SIS) address a key part of sheet feeding. The SIS feature removes the traditional side guide and integrates sheet alignment/register into the first infeed cylinder. This is said to make the process more stable and reliable without the need for manual intervention.

Savings in obtaining and maintaining register as well as a reduction in overall makeready time are estimated at 25 percent due to the side-lay free infeed. Not having to manually adjust the system between substrates and job changeovers also speeds production. The technology reportedly allows 50 percent more time for the incoming sheet to be adjusted precisely along the entire route from the swing gripper to the impression cylinder.