CTP, ten years of grinding a sword
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According to the latest statistics, the number of CTP installations worldwide has reached 15,000. From the CTP concept to the promotion of CTP, CTP has gone a long way and is now a standard configuration for many printing production environments.
CTF vs. CTP workflow
The CTP workflow does not need to output the film, directly image the digital graphic information on the printing plate, eliminating the need for film processing in the workflow, significantly reducing the chance of error, and the image quality is significantly improved; in the CTF workflow, the film and the film The printing plate is tightly closed and exposed in the vacuum frame of the printing machine. Factors such as dust and scratches often leave marks on the plates and eventually appear on the prints. Other factors, such as changes in chemicals used for rinsing, and environmental quality in the darkroom, also have an impact on plate quality. CTP improves the quality of the plate making, saves plate making time and costs after eliminating the film link, especially when the plate is in quality failure, or when the press is down, CTP saves time and cost. In the CTF workflow, once a quality failure occurs in the plate, the film must first be re-exported. In the CTP workflow, the digital graphic information is directly transferred to the direct plate-making machine, the digital printing plate is imaged, and then the plate is loaded. It takes only a few minutes to complete the work, and the CTP production efficiency is unobstructed.
Before the investment CTP
It has been a long time since the launch of CTP. In the past few years, faster motors, more reliable laser sources, and higher manufacturing efficiency of CTP have caused CTP prices to decline. More and more companies can afford CTP prices.
1) Testing
Large commercial printing companies are only a minority in the printing industry, but these large commercial companies have the capital to invest in new technologies and equipment. Large commercial printing companies usually have one or more employees who are responsible for investigating and analyzing the latest technologies. Before applying the new technology to the actual production environment, the new technology has been thoroughly tested.
2) Analysis of the characteristics of printed jobs
In the market, direct platesetters from Agfa, Heidelberg, Screen, Fuji, Creo, ECRM, Presstek, Esko-Graphics, basysPrint, etc., have a wide variety of prepress and printing companies that are planning to purchase CTP systems. Overwhelmed. Fundamentally, manufacturers who are ready to purchase CTP must first assess the quality requirements of the company, how much it prints, the workflows currently in use, and collect the relevant information needed for CTP purchase decisions. First, the first question asked by the equipment manufacturer about the customer is “What is the typical print job of the company?” After knowing the characteristics of the typical print job of the customer, the equipment manufacturer can help the customer determine the most suitable plate type and direct plate making. device. Once the CTP supplier knows the customer's print jobs and needs, it can recommend the best solution for the customer's printing business.
3) Upgradeability of CTP equipment
In thermal CTP, violet laser CTP, UV CTcP and visible light CTP, no matter which system you choose, the most important thing is to ensure that the CTP system is open, flexible and scalable. All CTP equipment in Heidelberg can be upgraded in terms of imaging speed, format or automation. Printing companies that do not use CTP require the fastest platemaking speed, large format, or the initial purchase of CTP requires CTP equipment to be automated, but the upgradeability of the equipment in the future is tempting for CTP buyers.
The printing company needs to carry out equipment transformation during the development process. The easier it is to upgrade or retrofit, the easier it is to maintain market competitiveness. When the printing company starts investing in CTP, it will definitely buy a system that can withstand the price. As the business expands, the printing plant will consider adding some CTP functions.
If you can link your long-term development and plans to your current business before investing in CTP, it will be helpful for CTP investment decisions. Of course, if you don't have such thoughtful considerations, you can also purchase a fully scalable CTP device. Creo CTP One selling point is that the device adapts to a variety of thermographic plates, meaning that Creo's CTP devices can be imaged on various brands of thermal plates.
4) How to choose CTP plate
First, go deep into the print shop to determine which plate has the best printability, then find the best imaging device for the plate and finally establish the necessary workflow. After that, a field study was conducted at the printing house to find out which type of printing plate the printing press operator is most suitable for, since the operator is the final user to deal with these printing plates. Actually, in CTP In the life cycle, the cost of plate material is more than ten times the cost of CTP hardware. Therefore, choose the correct plate type for different prints.
CTP imaging method battle
One of the most debated topics about CTP technology is "Which imaging technology is best?" However, many vendors believe that imaging head technology is far less important than the functionality of various plate technologies. Printing companies are not really concerned about imaging technology. They are more interested in which technology has the lowest cost in the long run. And can you meet the requirements of printing customers?
The two most popular CTP imaging technologies currently available are thermal imaging and violet laser technology, and the differences between them are large. The thermal imaging process is a heat-related imaging process. The laser head must be able to generate enough heat to chemically react the plate to form an image. The violet laser technology, like the visible light imaging technology, uses the light source to chemically change the surface of the plate. Produces an image area that is inked. In essence, the thermal CTP direct plate making equipment embodies the connotation of binary, meaning that the spot is on the thermal plate or imaged, or not imaged. Generally, a higher energy level is required to generate sufficient heat; a purple laser device can generate a necessary light source with less energy, and the imaging speed is faster, but the imaging effect is not as good as the thermographic binary principle.
In addition, thermal imaging technology eliminates the need for chemicals during the process and even eliminates the plate rinsing process. Early thermal CTP used a non-polluting aqueous solution to rinse exposure thermal plates. Some manufacturers have recently introduced a thermal CTP system that goes further and the plates can be directly loaded onto the press after being removed from the platesetter without any form of rinsing. Creo's CTP product manager said: "Thermal technology is the only imaging technology for chemical-free workflows. Because thermal technology has the characteristics of binary imaging, the results of thermal CTP are predictable, and different batches are made. The plates are uniform in quality."
If the printer prefers a no-rinse workflow, installing a thermal plate-making device is an inevitable choice. Otherwise there is no other technology to choose from than thermal technology. Some printing companies are actively promoting the use of thermal technology, and the concept of green printing has penetrated into these printing houses.
In fact, there is no contradiction between visible light imaging and thermal imaging technology. What the printer needs is a CTP product that meets the requirements. The visible light CTP device is more efficient, the equipment cost is lower, and the life of the violet laser imaging head is longer.
Although thermal imaging and violet laser imaging are the two technologies currently the most talked about. However, if you want to use the already familiar printing technology, you can use basysPrint. The company's CTcP UV Direct Plate Making Machine, a device for direct plate making of common PS plates. On the PS plate, the CTcP UV plate-making machine uses a UV imaging source for exposure to digital plate making. 250 sets of CTcP UV direct plate making equipment have been installed worldwide.
If the printing company is small and the volume is relatively small, which CTP is most suitable? The answer is the polyester CTP solution! Polyester plates are not as much of a concern in the CTP field as thermal and violet lasers, but polyester CTP is the best choice for short-run printing jobs. Heidelberg's QuickSetter range is especially suited for the workflow of polyester plates, as well as imaging film. In fact, many imaging devices on the market today, including products from Xant and other companies, are specifically designed for polyester plates.
Will the film disappear?
About 10 years ago, when CTP came out, many experts predicted that Feilin would soon die. Years later, although the shipments of the film may not have increased, they still played a suitable role before the press, and they did not disappear as experts predicted 10 years ago. Of course, the sales of the new generation of imagesetters are affected by the installed capacity of CTP. However, the imagesetters are still well used in the prepress field and still consume a lot of film. It is difficult to predict how long the film will last. There is no doubt that CTP will be the choice of the future printing industry. Customers are cautious about investing in CTP, which is correct right now. We note that these CTP-invested customers make strategic investment decisions to increase productivity and save costs.
If CTP would kill the film market, another sharp question is whether direct imaging (DI) technology would be the terminator of CTP? One of the main advantages of CTP to attract printing plants is the elimination of film in the process, so it can improve quality, reduce costs and speed up delivery time. The DI technology goes further, omitting the plate making process and directly transferring the digital files to the printing press. Experts believe that in the near future DI technology will not CTP
Extrusion printing market. CTP is a complementary technology to DI technology, and CTP has its own market. Printers with multiple presses still need to make plates, and CTP is a fast and reliable way to make plates. Offset machines have a long service life and they will consume a lot of plates for a long time to come.
At DRUPA 2004, screening technology is a hot topic in CTP. Whether it's Creo's Stacatto, Fuji's Co-Res, or other screening technologies, much of the discussion about CTP screening technology will be overwhelming after DRUPA.