Details:
Summary:
An overview on computer to plate equipment and the benefits and contras of the different platesetter design principles will be given. The increasing number of aluminum based printing plates and coating types for CTP will be evaluated stating the trends to processless and/or thermally sensitive plates with also some of them suitable for waterless offset printing. Installation samples in practical use, different workflow configurations and experiences realized at several print shops will be presented and discussed. One target of the new technologies and system solutions arising with computer-to-plate is the reduction of production times and costs smoothing the workflow from prepress to press. Up-to-date presses are prepared for this workflow shortening the make-ready times by automatic presetting facilities and assuring the print quality by automatic control equipment. To reduce redundant efforts, prepress systems (e.g. the imposition software or the raster image processor) becomes able to send low resolution data to a press interface using this digital data for example to calculate the ink key presettings for the press directly. This data file is coded in a print production format revised and enhanced by a consortium the so-called CIP3 (Cooperation for Integration of Prepress, Press and Postpress). To take the specific dot gain into consideration, it is necessary to fingerprint the presses. The kind of proofing is a further workflow aspect of total reappraisal required by the printer when going into CTP.