Hybrid Software prepares for Labelexpo Americas 2024

Hybrid Software, a developer of productivity tools for label and packaging printing, has confirmed it will showcase its product portfolio, including the new Packz 10, CloudFlow, ColorLogic’s color management software, SmartDFE and iC3D, at the upcoming Labelexpo Americas 2024 in Chicago in September. 

At booth 3015, the company will showcase its entire portfolio of products. On the show floor, several manufacturers of digital label printing presses will incorporate hybrid software technology.

‘Digital presses are here to stay, but conventional printing is not disappearing,’ said the company. ‘Efficient print production requires good manufacturing practices and the craftsmanship and knowledge of traditional print developed over generations. Converters and printers expect connectivity across all their hardware and software systems, but the IT environment where they operate is challenging and unforgiving. Hybrid Software operates at the nexus of prepress production and cutting-edge IT: The IT experts who know pre-press, and the pre-press experts who know IT.’

Hybrid Software will be highlighting several new products and technologies at Labelexpo. 

Hybrid Packz10 is the latest version of the company’s popular all-in-one PDF editor. It adds new capabilities for both digital and conventional printing, including enhanced 3D visualization and ray tracing for shrink sleeves and die-formed metal cans. The product utilizes a tight integration of two Hybrid Software products, iC3D and Capture 3D.

Hybrid Software’s auto layout and step-and-repeat technology for roll-fed digital labels and stack offset printers, Packzimizer, includes new features to manage short print runs and smaller quantities. It analyzes order data to optimize the layout and repetitions of labels on a roll based on quantity, offering maximum substrate usage and press uptime.

Hybrid CloudFlow is a configurable enterprise production workflow system that provides fast and effective automation of pre-press tasks for many converters and printers worldwide. MyCloudFlow is a 100 percent cloud-based SaaS technology running in a dedicated Amazon Web Services (AWS) cluster and supported by Hybrid’s dedicated team of IT professionals, with strong data protection and immutable backups.

CloudFlow’s ProofScope tool for artwork viewing and approval now includes a 3D approval system based on iC3D technology. Users can visualize product labels as well as embellishments like glitter and varnishes applied directly to three-dimensional shapes, including cartons and bottles. The system accurately distorts artwork to ensure the highest-quality shrink sleeves.

ColorSpace offers optimized color matching for digital and conventional printing to all users of Packz and CloudFlow. It supports different color spaces, from process color and extended gamut printing (ECG) to specific brand color inks. It offers an automatic selection of the best ink configuration for each job on a given printing press based on the slightest deviation from the desired spectral color (∆E), with reporting to MIS/ERP for accurate quoting.

SmartDFE is an intelligent digital front end (DFE) targeted at high-speed, single-pass digital presses printing variable data. It is built upon Harlequin Direct providing rasterization and inkjet drop generation. It offers independence from third-party core RIP technologies, relying on Hybrid’s own Harlequin Core as well as workflow technology based on CloudFlow, and color management from ColorLogic. SmartDFE is used to power several digital label presses that are displayed at Labelexpo, although it is often marketed and sold under Hybrid Software OEM customers’ brand names.

‘All Hybrid Software companies have one common mission: we are the heartbeat of industrial printing and packaging, whether flexo, offset or digital printing,’ said Mike Agness, Hybrid Software executive vice president for Americas at Hybrid Software. ‘For example, we are the only company that can drive any digital press with technology developed 100 percent in-house. This includes all the tasks required to manufacture print, from file preflighting and ink estimation, to pre-press workflow and layout, to all facets of color management, RIPping files to a digital printer, overseeing inkjet printhead performance, to analyzing and reporting to networked MIS/ERP solutions. Yet, just as important as our technology is that we care, on a very local level, about our customers’ successes.’