Pre-Press - Computer-to-plate

Thermal Plates -- The Heat is On
October 1, 2000

BY MOLLY W. JOSS When computer-to-plate (CTP) technology expanded from the single choice of conventional platesetters to the dual choice of conventional or thermal, commercial printers were faced with twice the choices. If you wanted CTP, you bought conventional or thermal and you bought plates that the system vendor said matched the platesetter. Things got more complicated earlier this year as plate manufacturers started their pre-DRUPA announcements and as DRUPA unwound in May. Many of the major plate vendors announced new plates; some introduced three, four or more new offerings. Some announced thermal plates that reduce, or remove, the processing steps. What's more,

Pros and Cons of Pre-, Post- and No-bake Plates
October 1, 2000

BY MOLLY W. JOSS Here's a riddle for you: It's not cake batter, it's not cookie dough, but you still have to bake it to get the most enjoyment out of it. What is it? To some the answer will be obvious: it's a printing plate. Even if you didn't guess the answer to the riddle, you may still find yourself deriving enjoyment—or at least increased print runs and other benefits—from baking digital plates. Depending upon the plate and the print job it's intended for, you stand to gain significant production advantages by using a plate that requires baking either before or after

E&D Web--Pursuit of Productivity
October 1, 2000

E&D Web believes that using the latest printing technology delivers the rewards of greater productivity and profits. It's no wonder then that the 36-year-old commercial printing operation is able to push more jobs through its facility by using some of the most advanced printing equipment in the industry. "We strive every day to operate as efficiently as possible," says Ken Love, COO of the Cicero, IL-based company. "Several press and plate processing equipment acquisitions have brought us leaps and bounds ahead of how we used to work." In E&D Web's endless pursuit of greater quality and productivity, bi-metal plates from Printing Developments Inc. (PDI)

The Great (Digital) Plate Debate
June 1, 2000

BY CHERYL A. ADAMS In the great digital plate debate, the stakes are high, competition is fierce and expert opinions are numerous . . . "Thermal is dead!" "Visible light will fade away!" "Polyester is taboo!" "Blue laser diode isn't a technological breakthrough, it's a setback!" "Anything but silverless UV CTP is economically unsound!" When the dust settles, which consumables (and related technologies) will be left standing? Which ones will not only survive, but thrive in a future where print will compete with other media channels and other digital printing options, such as distribute-and-print, and the Internet? As more commercial printers address the transition

Garlich Printing--Lights! Camera! CTP!
June 1, 2000

As a leader in computer-to-plate technologies, Garlich Printing was selected as the site of Creo's recent video shoot. Having wholeheartedly embraced CTP, Garlich is "airing" its expertise of the technology. BY CHERYL A. ADAMS Most employees are bound to get the "heebie-jeebies" when informed they are having their picture taken—be it for a magazine article, a company press release or even a self-promo brochure. Posing for a professional, corporate photograph is enough to make any worker nervous. But having a still picture taken isn't nearly as nerve-racking as having a film crew show up at your door. That's when you really start sweating bullets.

CTP vs. CTF -- The Debate Rages On
June 1, 2000

Of all the issues, and they are many, facing the graphic arts and printing industry today, none can ignite a heated debate more quickly than the issue of computer-to-plate (CTP) vs. computer-to-film (CTF) among their respective ardent supporters. In the past few years, as CTP became a reality with efficient, dependable and cost-effective equipment, increasing numbers of companies replaced aging imagesetters with platesetting devices. Why? Because many printers saw the new breed of CTP devices as an opportunity to springboard to a shorter production workflow without the added consumables and chemicals of film processing. Also, the new digital, CTP plates are more uniform, longer-wearing

Ditial Prepress--Beta Watch!
May 1, 2000

Eastern Rainbow and Offset Paperback are knee-deep in beta exercises. Eastern Rainbow is testing Agfa's new violet laser digital platesetter, Galileo VS. Offset Paperback is exploring new reverse imposition territories with a new Purup-Eskofot EskoScan.Why the testing? What are the verdicts? BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Beta duty. It ain't pretty. In the trenches, dozens upon dozens of commercial printing operations in the United States, each year, open their doors, their digital infrastructures, their prepress departments, their pressrooms, to bleeding-edge technologies. There are PDF workflows to test; there are new digital proofing devices to calibrate; there are top secret on-press imaging technologies to

CTP--The Digital DRUPA
March 1, 2000

DRUPA 1995 was the beginning of the thermal computer-to-plate frenzy. Leading the charge: Creo and Kodak. Five years later, new platesetting initiatives are poised for DRUPA 2000. What digital platesetters will be announced at DRUPA 2000? Dusseldorf, Germany, holds the answers. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO At DRUPA 1995, a tiny Creo Products—tiny compared with the CTP giants Linotype-Hell, Gerber and Scitex— touted the production and workflow merits of thermal CTP for commercial printing. Creo's message was all thermal. Kodak consumables were Creo's enabling technology, bridging Creo's thermal output engines with the digital plate production demands of the average commercial printer. Who didn't take

CTP--What's New In Blue?
January 1, 2000

Blue laser diode platesetters (that actually emit energy in the violet spectrum) will be in vogue this year. Who will be the customer of choice for these technologically advanced units? What consumables (silver-based or negative-working conventional plates, for instance) will support a "true blue" 2000? Read on. . . BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Blame Sony. For that matter, blame Pioneer. (Or, depending on where you sit on the issue, thank them.) These two major Japanese suppliers are feeding the race to develop the perfect blue-laser-based, gallium-nitride disk player, both trailing the current leader, Nichia Chemical Industries. Why should you care? Blue

CTP--New Tools, Old Theories
September 1, 1999

When considering a computer-to-plate purchase, printers usually look at utilization measurement rates to determine whether or not the purchase would be a wise one. But decision-makers should proceed with caution. While the use of utilization rates are based on sound, albeit traditional, financial principles, they do not take into account newer management theories. BY HOWIE FENTON Equipment purchasing decisions are never easy. This is particularly difficult today, due to the momentum-driving technologies such as computer-to-plate and the compressed life cycles of digital equipment. Now add to this problem the hidden expenses associated with the implementation of computer-to-plate such as: Digital contract proofing—faster networks;