Esko Print Clone, the advanced cloud-native color matching software launched earlier this year, has been crowned a winner in the Printing Technology category of the 2025 Zero Impact Packaging Awards.

Unveiled by the global developer of integrated solutions for the print, packaging, and label industries at this year’s Esko World event, Print Clone leverages AI and automation to enable digital press operators to replicate colors from previously printed packages with unmatched precision, regardless of the original printing process. Esko Print Clone will be among the innovations awarded a trophy at a special event held in Paris on Monday, 8 December 2025.

“Esko Print Clone delivers high-quality results with minimal manual intervention,” explained Esko CMO Jan De Roeck.

“This innovation eliminates the traditional trial-and-error approach to color matching, significantly reducing manual interventions and accelerating job completion times for packaging and label converters,” said Jan De Roeck, marketing director at Esko.

“The ultimate color-matching solution, Print Clone boosts digital printing productivity, eliminating lengthy test cycles and helping minimize waste and subsequent environmental impact,” he said.

“Decreased press downtime serves to improve profitability, and the fact that Print Clone is cloud-native, requiring no installation, means users can just log in, upload, connect, and measure. Moreover, Print Clone is exceptionally user-friendly – this ease of use makes it possible for anyone to prepare files for digital printing.”

First teased at drupa 2024, Print Clone was officially unveiled and made available worldwide as part of Esko World 2025, which took place in St Louis, Missouri, in June 2025.

Explaining how the innovation works, Jan said, “Once a PDF file has been drag-and-dropped into Print Clone, the software guides the user to measure a number of colors on the physical sample using a spectrophotometer. The AI-powered algorithms then optimize color accuracy to deliver a high-quality, color-accurate re-separated PDF file.

“By integrating Print Clone into their workflows, digital press operators can ensure consistent, high-quality results while reducing their environmental impact and operational costs,” he said.

Packaging and label converters using Esko Print Clone are already benefitting from real-time adjustments, allowing operators to instantly refine colors by uploading PDFs and using a spectrophotometer. They also gain from quick measurements that replace tedious trial-and-error methods with just a couple of clicks. AI-powered precision ensures that advanced algorithms match colors to specifications perfectly, while consistency across runs helps maintain uniform color on different substrates and print jobs. In addition, production-ready files are created as dynamically adjusted PDFs that match the original artwork seamlessly.

The Zero Impact Packaging Awards are the new incarnation of the prestigious Oscar de l’Emballage, known as the Packaging Oscars, which have honored innovation in the sector for 70 years. They reward projects, products and solutions that move the industry towards more sustainable, smarter and more responsible packaging. Focused on innovation, impact reduction, circularity, new approaches to materials or uses, the award ceremony honors players who combine performance and meaning.

“We are delighted that this innovation, which saves significant time, energy and waste for digital press operators, has been recognized by such a highly regarded French awards program,” said Jan. “This is a real testament to the effort that goes into delivering meaningful improvements and driving operational efficiencies at outstanding value for our customers.”

The Zero Impact Packaging awards highlight the industry’s best packaging innovations of the year.