Thermal and light-sensitive options for designing printed output

The B2 format printers who choose CTP face further decisions. Should they choose a thermal or visible light solution?

After B1 format printing companies selected CTP, printers with B2 format (728 mm X 514 mm) also faced a dilemma in choosing CTP. The question is whether they should choose to use thermal plates and platesetters or light sources? The proponents of each technology will put forward a lot of very convincing facts, so for those newcomers in the CTP field, it is difficult to make correct judgments through advertising that is heavily advertised. More and more vendors, including Heidelberg, Agfa, Fujifilm and Graphic Systems, offer two systems to meet the needs of both technologies. Wise choice

Mr. Steve Cookman, product manager of Fuji Group, said: “We believe that providing different equipment allows customers to make a wise decision. For many commercial printers, Luxel Vx-6000 CTP (violet laser) is an attractive choice And Luxel T-6000 CTP (thermosensitive) with Fuji Brillia LH-PIE thermal plate is also very attractive."

However, the relatively new violet laser CTP technology is rapidly developing, especially in this era when the cost is critical. "The Vx-6000 uses a 30-milliwatt low-cost, long-life violet laser diode. In-drum exposure guarantees low cost." Mr. Cookman announced that the latest Fuji photopolymer version (Brillia) is for commercial printing at 175/200 lpi. The print quality of LP-NV) can be compared with the thermal system. “With a microscope, the thermal dots may look smaller; but if a system can continue to meet the needs of customers, make twice the version at the same time, and the system is running at a lower cost, it should be carefully considered. Make wise choices.

Fujifilm's thermal and light-sensitive solutions can be driven either by Celeron (based on Adobe Rip) or by Valiano Rampage (based on Harlequin Rip). Both methods can achieve RIP once Output Many times. (Abbreviated Room) to ensure that the data is completely consistent. Rampage can also directly drive many different output devices to ensure that the new system works with existing devices. The Vx-6000 semi-automatic platesetter with a Celebrant Rip and processor has a total price of approximately £100,000. The total price of an entry-level T-6000E equipped with Rip and Processors is approximately £90,000. Both offers include installation, personnel training, and a 12-month warranty.

Jim Todd, head of sales at Heidelberg UK, said: “Most B1 printers now have CTPs. With the popularity of CTP, we have found that thermal technologies dominate the majority of large-scale, large-volume printers. The B2 and B3 markets are positive. The same trend has evolved. Any company still using imagesetters, film, and PS must work hard to maintain a competitive advantage.” Heidelberg has made improvements in both thermal and photosensitivity platesetters. The Prosetter violet laser system is equipped with a new laser head that can convert 5mW lasers suitable for silver halide plates into 30mW for photopolymer plates, which is better suited for long live and UV ink printing. The Topsetter platesetter has been able to adapt to a wider range of different formats, from GTO to B1+, and the plate making speed is faster, achieving 20 sheets of 2400 dpi B1 per hour.

At Ipex 2002, Agfa introduced the thermal Xcalibur 45 Drum Imaging Platesetter, but System Product Manager Colin McMichael believes that the inherently lower operating costs of violet laser diodes are a better choice for B2 printers. For these customers, Agfa offers complete sets of equipment including the Palladio B2 platesetter, Apogee Rip, Print Drive and the Automated Loading Manager at a price of approximately £80,000. Mr. McMichael explained that most of the customers in the B2 market are business printing companies, and the machine speed is less than 350,000 rpm. Therefore, the speed and the production capacity of 20 sheets per hour are important examination factors. Lower profit

Derek Sizer, Managing Director of ECRM, agreed that Visible Photosensitive CTP is the best choice for customers in the B2 and B4 markets because of the low profitability of the market and the large amount of media used to print short runs. He believes that although current thermal plates from different manufacturers mean many options, the situation is changing. It is expected that by the end of this year, many new companies, including Lastra, will sell violet laser plates.

Due to the price, not all printers are willing to purchase a complete set of equipment, including work processes, when purchasing a CTP. Many printers are seeking direct plate-making systems that can fit their existing workflows, and many suppliers are now able to meet this requirement. For example, ECRM has just introduced the Mako 4 system. Mr. Sizer calls it "a simple manual device for the four-market market."

The platesetter is priced around £40,000, with three positioning pins for different press configurations, and an online transmission system that can directly reach the plate processor. Whether it is used online or not, the Mako system is designed to embed user workflows. Mr. Sizer said, “You can directly remove the imagesetter and replace it with Mako, because the Mako system can be used with any RIP that generates a 1-bit Tiff. There are now two versions: one is 30 mW using Fuji's photopolymerization. Plate; the other is 3mW using Agfa, silver version of Mitsubishi."

At the same price point, HighWater's Platinum platform platesetter uses violet lasers to work in a yellow light (close to daylight conditions) environment, and two versions are also available. The Model 2218 (maximum 525x459mm) is priced at £38,000 for a twin B2 press and the Model 2230 (maximum 745x605mm) is priced at £45,000 for a quad B2 printer. Both models use either Mitsubishi SDP or Agfa's Lithostar LAP-V metal plate.

Sales and Marketing Manager Sue Wood said: Sales and Marketing Manager Sue Wood said, “Platinum Platesetter is very similar to traditional stencils in structure and easy to operate. It can be used to print on the day of installation. "Manual printing and unloading are also easy to use. HighWater claims that the production of a 2540dpi version, the upper version, exposure and unloading time and as long as 3 minutes. The average monthly output of the Type 2218 plate-making machine is 750 sheets; the number 2230 type is 2,500 sheets.

The other two manufacturers, Lüscher and Krause, produce direct platemakers targeting the B2 market segment. The latter LS70 uses violet laser or green visible light, using the company's internal drum technology used in the B1 mode. Mr. Trevor Darlington, head of UK supplier for Krause DtP, described the LS70 (approximately £80,000) as a plug-and-play device for connecting existing workflows. Lüscher's Xpose 75 Four Platesetter is a thermal type with a unique inner drum design, but uses laser diode rotation instead of plate rotation. The Swiss manufacturer said that this technology eliminates the issue of upper plate, vibration and balance, and greatly improves plate-making accuracy. Xpose 75 is sold in the UK by Turning Point Technologies and is priced at £85,000. Double production capacity

For the more advanced printers, heat is a viable option. Screen UK has two thermal devices: the entry-level PlateRite 4100 is priced at £71,850; the PlateRite 4300 is priced at £90,600, and its productivity is 20 sheets per hour, which is twice that of the former.

There are different options for manual editions, semi-automatics and fully automatic editions. Managing Director Brian Filler said, “For B2 printers who only have one press, they need 300 to 400 prints per month. It is recommended to use one of the first two. However, if the company has two to three printing presses, With a monthly quantity of about 1,000 sheets, you should buy an automatic platemaking machine." Without a doubt, Mr. Filler agrees with the choice of thermal sensitivity. He believes that unlike any visible light platemaking machine, the thermal device can operate entirely in sunlight, allowing printers to choose to use a processless plate in the near future. Selecting a thermal printer currently has an advantage. He can choose up to eight different suppliers of media, instead of relying on only one or two suppliers of media.

KPG is a well-known supplier of thermal plates. Its website (http://www.kgp.org/) is a comprehensive list of the benefits of thermal technology. These include long-lived versions without baking, silver reduction, and random printing.

The chief of thermal CTP is Creo. Co-founder of the company, Mr. Dan Gelbart, said that because of the binary nature of the thermal plate, the thermal imaging technology delivers better imaging accuracy than the violet laser system. It has only exposure and no exposure options. Range of choice

Creo's Lotem400 series is targeted at B2 printers, with several options for semi-automatic and fully automatic, up to 35 sheets per hour. The Lotem 400 entry-level complete device bundled with the PS/M software Rip is approximately £67,639.

It has been eight or nine years since Purup made the first B1 platesetter. At the time, its products were known for their quality equipment and precision. Purup has now formed a global company Esko-Graphics through various forms of mergers. Attention to detail and build quality has made Magnum undoubtedly a high quality product, and these advantages are now given to PlateDriver. However, due to the extensive and functional design of PlateDriver, it has become Esko-Graphics' tool to challenge the market in many frontier areas.

Perhaps its best design feature is that the imaging source is away from the image carrier, so that it may have a longer life. Due to the upgrade of its imaging light source, the PlateDriver can also be turned from the B2 format to the B1 format. Unlike most CTP systems, BasysPrint uses standard UV light sources to expose traditional plates. It uses an electronic grid system to convert the light source to 2,400 dpi by interpolation. Although this kind of system has existed for many years, the application of this kind of system in Britain at present is still very limited.

Source: PACK.CN