A New Technical Concept Producing Offset Plates

There are a great variety of offset plates on the market. Differences concern such properties as raw materials, prices, plate surfaces, coatings, and uses. The quality of a modern offset plate is based mainly on printability and runnability characteristics of the plate, related to price. There are three factors that influence plate properties and technology: topography and surface quality of the plate, coating characteristics, and the ecological, economic, and recycling parameters during production. Other ways in which offset plates can be characterized include the materials used for ink-receptive and non-printing areas, the type of print image (positive or negative), and the kind of handling (direct or indirect).