Esko 25.11 What’s New

Dashboard View: Centralize all production priorities in one visual interface—giving every team member instant visibility into jobs, overdue tasks, and workloads.

• Overview Tiles: High-level snapshot of active, overdue, or critical jobs.
• Interactive Navigation: Clicking on a tile or task takes the user directly to the relevant job or task context.
• Default Dashboard Option: Users can make the dashboard their landing page for faster daily startup and focus.

Workflow Canvas: Empower teams to automate repetitive packaging tasks and reduce manual coordination—streamlining job flow from upload to approval.

• Chained Tasks: Build sequential task flows (e.g., upload → review → status update) to automate multi-step job management.
• Conditional Triggers: Use Wait for Event to automatically trigger the next task once prerequisites are complete.
• User & File Control: Assign different users per task and define specific file types to improve accuracy and accountability.

AI-Powered Smart Select for Faster Editing

• ArtPro+ introduces Smart Select, an AI‑driven object selection tool that identifies visually related elements — such as logos, panels, or grouped artwork — even in complex, unstructured files.
• This reduces manual selection time and simplifies editing, helping operators work faster and more confidently in daily prepress tasks.
• Now available in beta for ArtPro+ Subscription users, Smart Select marks the next step in bringing AI intelligence to packaging prepress.

Centralized Font Management for Multi-Seat Consistency

• Font management is now streamlined through shared or Automation Engine font folders.
• Prepress managers can define one central font library accessible by all connected workstations, eliminating manual font installations, ensuring brand consistency, and saving valuable setup time across teams.

Cleaner Traps and Smarter Flexo Plate Usage

• ArtPro+ 25.11 enhances trapping control with cleaner trap layers that remove unnecessary paths and the ability to ignore specific objects during trapping to prevent unwanted results.
• A new Plate Saving Mode in Prefer Stagger Pattern further minimizes plate size, helping converters reduce waste and improve sustainability.

Accurate Text Recognition with Variable Font Support

• DeskPack’s OCR/Text Recognition now supports variable fonts, ensuring the correct font styles are preserved when converting outlined text back to an editable format.
• This eliminates post conversion cleanup and ensures designers’ original intent is maintained across prepress workflows.

Enhanced PDF Export for Bullets and Lists

• PDF export from DeskPack now supports bullet and numbered lists, preserving their structure as live editable text within ArtPro+.
• This one-way enhancement improves collaboration between Illustrator® and ArtPro+, maintaining list formatting and reducing rework.

Ready for macOS Tahoe and Adobe® Creative Cloud 26

• DeskPack 25.11 is fully compatible with macOS Tahoe and the upcoming Adobe® Creative Cloud 26 release.
• This ensures uninterrupted operation and seamless integration with the latest creative environments used by design and prepress teams.

Allen Field components included in the ArtiosCAD 3D component library!

By adding key Allen Field components—such as box clips and handles — directly into the ArtiosCAD 3D component library, it is easier than ever for designers to incorporate these components into their designs from the very beginning.

• Seamless Integration: Designers can select from a list of Allen Field parts to be automatically added to their packaging design, saving time and simplifying the design process.
• Faster Prototyping: Reduce development cycles by accessing precise component specs from within the ArtiosCAD 3D design process. The 2D structural design file is automatically updated based on the Allen Field component specifications, and the component is added to the Bill of Materials.
• Design with Confidence: With official Allen Field geometry in the library, you know your packaging is compatible and ready for production.

New Flexible Bag Type: Diaper Bag with Handle

• Based on multiple customer requests, we’ve added this flexible bag type that is increasingly popular in soft goods markets.

Import from Shapes in Studio Toolkit

• Now you can import from the Shapes library on S2 directly into Studio Toolkit for a simplified workflow when creating assemblies on common packaging components.

Easy Subscription Management

• Choose which subscription edition you want to use in Studio Toolkit (already available in Illustrator with version 25.07)
• Select which subscription to enable at login and release a subscription for others to use without quitting the application.
• Subscriptions now support use via Remote Desktop.

Ready for macOS Tahoe and Adobe® Creative Cloud 26

• Studio 25.11 is fully compatible with macOS Tahoe and the upcoming Adobe® Creative Cloud 26 release.
• This ensures uninterrupted operation and seamless integration with the latest creative environments used by design and prepress teams.

Automatic Product Model Generation

• The AI-assisted generation of models now works with a single front image or front and back images, making it simple to fill the store with competitive products.

Improvements to Consumer Insights, VR, and the Shelf Generator

• Consumer Insights and VR: Added support for the HTC Vive Focus Vision headset, including eye tracking.
• Shelf Generator: Now supporting wire shelving and added options to generate sloping shelves with custom angles

Introducing Cape Pack: Prime Edition

Cape Pack Prime has arrived! This new subscription edition introduces many new features including:

• A new materials database hosted on S2 delivers a single source for all users
• Automatic creation of CAD files via an S2 library of resizable design templates
• Export of calculated pallet loads as a 3D model for easy sharing with PLM and ERP
• Support for S2 Drive to save and share reports, CAD files and 3D models
• Integration for Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) systems for calculating carbon footprint

Updated Integration with WebCenter

Cape Pack Solutions uploaded to WebCenter now include a link directly back to the solution giving one-click access to the full details of the solution.

Comply – AI-assisted Quality Checks

Introducing Comply, now in beta, the new AI-powered quality assurance module for artwork content review, available exclusively for Esko WebCenter SaaS customers. Comply brings intelligent compliance automation into packaging workflows, combining rule-based validation, AI inspection, and human oversight to ensure every asset meets brand and regulatory standards.

• Enforce consistent standards: Centrally manage and apply reusable validation rules across all projects.
• Accelerate approvals: Catch critical errors early, reduce manual rework, and bring products to market faster.
• Automate decisions: Integrate Comply directly into workflows, so tasks advance automatically based on quality results.
• Validate against approved content: Automatically compare artwork with content sheets or project attributes for accuracy.

Proof Reports in Any Language

Proof Reports can now be downloaded in any language supported by WebCenter, aligning with each user’s preferred default language.

• Enable multilingual collaboration – Deliver proof reports in the local language of every team or client.
• Ensure clarity and consistency – Standardize reporting across regions with customized language settings.

Proof Reports in Any Language

A new search field displays how often each document has been downloaded.

• Gain usage insights: Track engagement and identify frequently accessed assets.
• Improve content governance: Monitor download activity for better visibility and control.