Pre-Press - Computer-to-plate

VALHALLA, NY—Sept. 27, 2006—Following previous announcements by parent company, Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., a number of Fujifilm businesses operating in the United States today announced changes to their company names. As of October 1, Tokyo-based Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. will take on a new holding company structure, launching Fujifilm Holdings Corporation, which will provide strategic management of the entire group, including two newly named operating companies: Fujifilm Corporation and Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. The shift in structure will strengthen consolidated management, enhance strategic planning and expand collaboration. The name changes have been made to better reflect the company’s expansion into business areas

HUDSON, NH—September 12, 2006—Presstek, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRST), a leading manufacturer and marketer of environmentally responsible digital offset printing solutions for the graphic arts markets, reports that Anthem Pro, the most recent addition to Presstek’s portfolio of chemistry-free CTP plates is receiving very positive customer reception. Customer feedback indicates that Anthem Pro is delivering the chemistry-free benefits that printers are looking for as they pursue improvements in productivity and profitability. “A truly chemistry-free plate streamlines workflow, eliminates variation in process control, saves time and material costs, and protects our environment,” states John O’Rourke, Presstek’s CTP systems marketing director. “Our customers are realizing those

Quality, reliability and flexibility drive sales of KODAK equipment and consumables ROCHESTER, NY—Sept. 5—Newspaper printers in Georgia, Oregon, Louisiana, and Ohio are the latest to purchase Kodak thermal CTP solutions to improve output quality and enhance operating efficiencies. Athens Newspapers LLC of Athens, GA, which prints the Athens Banner-Herald, a number of weeklies, the daily student newspaper at the University of Georgia and a large number of commercial projects, purchased two Kodak Trendsetter News 70 thermal platesetters, Kodak thermal digital plates, a Kodak Prinergy Evo workflow system, Kodak PREPS imposition software and Kodak Staccato screening. Athens Newspapers is part of Morris Communications Co.

RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ—August 17, 2006—Agfa Graphics announced today that The Town Talk, a Gannett-owned daily newspaper in Alexandria, LA, has purchased two of Agfa’s violet Advantage platesetters, one for the newspaper and the other for its commercial operation at a separate facility. “We’ve been studying the CTP market for three years now. Our sister facility in Lafayette, LA, purchased two Advantage DLs two years ago, so we decided to go down there to take a look,” said Dorothy Sasser, production director for The Town Talk. “Once we saw it in action, we were convinced. The competition in this business is fierce, so we need

ROCHESTER, NY—Aug. 10—Four newspaper printers across North America are the latest to go digital with Kodak thermal CTP solutions, with the Denver Newspaper Agency, which prints the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post, purchasing five Kodak Trendsetter News 200 platesetters. The Denver Newspaper Agency is a joint venture between The E.W. Scripps Co. and MediaNews. In addition, The Abilene Reporter-News, an E.W. Scripps Co. paper, purchased a Kodak Trendsetter News 50, the second Kodak thermal CTP platesetter at the newspaper, and ThermalNews digital plates to produce 35,000 daily and 45,000 Sunday copies of the paper, plus a number of weeklies and commercial print jobs.

ROCHESTER, NY—August 7, 2006—A desire to enhance his company’s productivity led Kamron Motamedi, president of American Printing and Copy, to install a trio of Kodak solutions. Motamedi selected Kodak Prinergy Evo News software, a Kodak Magnus 400 platesetter and the Matchprint Inkjet 9800 proofing solution to advance his time to press and grow his business. “We needed to improve our speed to press because that’s where we make our money,” explained Motamedi. “After a thorough review of different technologies and multiple vendors, Kodak became the single choice because they offered the best products in all three categories — workflow, proofing and computer to plate.”

MEETING DELIVERY dates can be a challenge for any type of printing operation, but there’s nothing quite like the deadline pressures of producing a daily newspaper. Pages need to be kept open as long as possible for competitive reasons, but the printed paper absolutely must be available to readers with their morning coffee. All elements of the newspaper production workflow have to be up to the challenge, and platemaking is a critical link in the chain. More plates typically are output in the final 15 minutes before the presses start to roll than during any other block of time. In recent years, digital technology

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Printers in growing numbers are having second thoughts about their computer-to-plate (CTP) systems. First-time buyers are still the dominant force in the market today, but the aging installed base is rapidly driving up the percentage of shops looking to invest in a second, or even third, generation of technology. By the end of 2004, the installed base of CTP devices in North America had reached nearly 12,000 units, including metal and non-metal systems, according to a new plate market study recently published by PRIMIR (the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization). Completed by State Street Consultants in

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Given all the debate about the technology of coatings in recent years, one might think printing plates are an exception to the rule that it is what's below the surfaces that really matters. One thing almost all of the solutions, even analog plates, have in common, though, is an aluminum base. Polyester plates are the exception, of course. This commonality in printing plates hit home earlier this year when vendors notified customers of price increases due to the rising cost of raw materials. Aluminum prices reportedly have risen some 40 percent over the past two years, and higher

Fujifilm Adds PS Line at Plate Facility GREENWOOD, SC—Enovation Graphic Systems, a Fujifilm company, recently teamed up with Fuji Photo Film to provide a tour of the latter's plate line expansion at its Fujifilm-South Carolina manufacturing site. The project, which included adding more than 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space, is said to represent a $100 million investment. Fujifilm went public with its plan to add the plate line—which it has designated P7—in March of 2003 and, by August of this year, had completed the first production run on the new machine. It is designed to produce all of the manufacturer's pre-sensitized (PS) plates, but will