DIGITAL PLATES & PLATESETTERS -- Two Steps Forward

Past articles in Printing Impressions have covered commercially available plates and platesetters, so the focus of this one is on the latest information about the other announced CTP products or technologies.

As was noted earlier, the current generation of violet systems require use of a faster, silver halide-based emulsion because of the relatively low level of power delivered to the plate by 5mW laser diodes. Violet-sensitive photopolymer plates hold the promise of eliminating silver from the process, along with other benefits. However, the slower emulsion requires the use of a 30mW diode for the process to be practical.