Agfa Graphics unveils Fortuna 10 software

Agfa Graphics is set to launch the 10th version of its Fortuna security printing software.

Fortuna 10 is a modular package for the digital design of security elements that is aimed at high-end security printers. The software is currently being beta tested and will be commercially available for Windows 10 at the end of the year.

This version, which will replace Fortuna 9, features new security design tools and modules, new rasters and a series of additional tools focusing on productivity and simplifying tasks for security designers.

Agfa Graphics said the new tools would reduce complex manual calculations and achieve more productivity and ease-of-use for designers of high-security graphics for printed items such as passports, ID documents, high-security cards, breeder documents, tax stamps and lottery tickets.

The company said it continuously researches new security tools for each new version of Fortuna while adapting the software itself to increase the design productivity.

Fortuna 10 introduces the new Trafo pattern generator, which creates complex and precise transformation patterns for passports and other security documents. Agfa said this replaces time-consuming and calculation-intensive manual operations.

Agfa Graphics Security Software Solutions product manager Quentin van den Hove told PrintWeek: “The pressure on security designers is getting bigger. While in the past they could take a long time, today there is a trend to be faster and faster, but because it’s security you still want to have very complex documents.

“They need the right tools to create the beautiful designs seen on banknotes and passports in a short amount of time and that’s what we have addressed with this new version.”

He added: “With this release we have a couple of tools where we’ve really listened to our designers and what the complexities are when they create certain security designs for passports and ID cards.

“What we can achieve with some of the new tools is incredible. In a couple of minutes they can now create designs that would have previously taken them weeks to create, even with our specialised tools.

“The reaction we’ve had from everyone that has seen how the Trafo tool works has been extremely positive, that module will be very popular.”

The two new special rasters are the Hair Raster, which helps to create unique complex lines based on reference elements or images, and the Text Raster, which uses font properties to create type-based security rasters.

Other Fortuna 10 features include a new align tool, enhanced magnetism of objects, a special zoom option, tools to create and control dashed lines, advanced use of text from external sources and improvements to the special warp grid, mirror and geometrics.

Van den Hove said pricing of the software is dependent on the number of modules required and training would need to be tailored for each customer.

Agfa Graphics has also recently co-developed an enhanced integration between its new Apogee 10 workflow with EFI's Fiery digital front-ends (DFEs) and added to its LED UV-curing family of devices with the Anapurna H3200i LED.