The Technology Generations of Digital Thermal Printing Plates

Digital thermal plate technology developments have been progressing at a rapid rate since the introduction of the first practical thermal plates in 1996. The now fully commercial standard thermal plate requires laser exposure, preheat and chemical processing before a press ready image is obtained. The next generation of thermal plates (no preheat) requires the laser exposure followed by chemical processing (or some sort of combination of chemical and mechanical processing). Further, within the no-preheat concept both waterless and conventionally printing plates are available. The next generation of thermal plates will require only imaging with no external cleaning step (though might incorporate vacuum removal on the imaging device or some on-press cleanup). We will discuss the design concepts and issues connected with all three generations of thermal printing plates.