Current status of CTP and color management
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CTP technology development level
Although CTP technology as a mature technology did not become an absolute protagonist in several major industry exhibitions in the global printing industry in 2008, in several major international exhibitions such as drupa2008 and IFRA Expo 2008, CTP performance is still remarkable. And show some new trends.
1. New development of newspaper CTP
The newspaper CTP market seems to be a photosensitive world in the past. Now thermal CTP can reach 300 sheets / hour, which is enough for newspaper printing production. Kodak launched the Generation News CTP for the newspaper market and the newly upgraded Magnus 800 platesetter. Krause's CTP has been using violet laser technology, and the company said that the process-free violet laser technology is the mainstream of the newspaper market. Agfa's new: Advantage series of violet laser CTP, the new Agfa N92VCF free processing plate. This is the first time the newspaper CTP has tried to process the plate. Kodak also announced at IFRA Expo 2008 that it will launch Kodak PF-N process-free plates in 2009 for the newspaper market.
2. Start the environmental protection plate war
Environmentally friendly plates have become a trump card from many manufacturers. Agfa has introduced a number of environmentally friendly chemical-free CTP plates, including the green version of the thermal plate: Azurats and the violet laser plate: Aspire. After the upgrade: Azurats' production capacity on each thermal plate-making machine has increased significantly. Fujifilm has introduced the chemical-free violet laser version of the Brillia HD Pro-V and the Brillia HD series of processing-free thermal plates. Chengdu Xintu has launched a FIT Eco non-preheating physical environmental thermal negative image CTP version, Kodak also launched the environmentally friendly plate Thermal Direct without preheating technology.
3. The speed is even higher
Kodak introduced the fastest Magnus 800 platesetter – producing 60 8-plate plates per hour. It uses a new thermal imaging head that doubles the laser's transmit power. When processing Kodak Thermal Direct process-free plates, the Magnus 800z can run at speeds of up to 35 sheets per hour.
The laser diodes used in Heidelberg's new Supermaster CTP have increased power by nearly 60%. The new Super Suprasetter 74 and 105 are available in 4 and 5 speeds respectively, with a maximum plate making speed of 38 sheets per hour.
4. Large format CTP equipment
The size of the current offset press is getting larger and larger, and more and more CTP suppliers have introduced corresponding large-format CTP devices, such as Ultima 48000 and Kodak Magnus XLF 80. Agfa Avalon N48, and Heidelberg Super Suprasetter Al62. To ensure image quality, large-beam CTP devices have added multi-beam imaging modules.
5. High performance violet laser CTP equipment
Many suppliers have introduced upgraded CTP devices with higher power violet laser diodes to increase the imaging speed of violet laser-free plates. For example, ECRM, Krause and other manufacturers have introduced CTP of l20mW high power violet laser diode.
6.UV CTP light source innovation
UV CTP is commonly referred to as CTcP. BasysPrint has introduced the fifth-generation CTcP with UV laser diodes as the light source. The fifth-generation machine has more than doubled its production capacity and the plate-making speed has reached 26 sheets per hour. The four-open automatic model can be up to 60 sheets/hour. Luscher (Lausanne) is not only committed to the launch of UV CTP equipment, but also introduced thermal and violet laser CTP, and it launched all XPose! UV CTP imaging systems can be replaced with thermal laser diodes and upgraded to thermal CTP. Corey has launched UV CTP with independent intellectual property rights, and its output accuracy exceeds 2800dpi. The plate making speed is up to 25 sheets per hour.
7. Flexo CTP is refreshing
Today, Flexo CTP has occupied a solid position in the European and American carton processing enterprises. The major suppliers in the field, DuPont and EskoArtwork's Cyrel Digital Imagers (CDI), currently have the largest sales volume in such markets. EskoArtwork and Dupont introduced template ablation and UV plate exposure technology at drupa2008, a new flexo CTP product that can be completed simultaneously in the platesetter. The new product can process 3 plates per hour (50" x 80"). On drupa2008, Kodak introduced the Flexcel NX plate and the Flexcel Digital Flexographic system, claiming to provide offset quality for flexo printing. This CTP can also be used as an offset plate, so it is a good choice for users who have both offset and flexo services. MacDermid, the second largest supplier of flexo CTP plates, has also developed a new plate that is more sensitive than other plates. Macdermid teamed up with Luscher of Switzerland to plate MacDermid's plates with its UV CTP equipment. This is a truly groundbreaking device that can be defined as a flexo CTcP. MacDermid also cooperated with basysPrint to bring related products to market in early 2009.
8. The new favorite of inkjet CTP plate making
Glunz & Jensen also adheres to the inkjet CTP camp and continues to develop and introduce the new inkjet CTP system ICTP, the Platewriter 2000 and the new interPlate HDX polymer for the high-end market.
The Jetplate CTP system was developed on the basis of the Epson Stylus Color 3000 inkjet printer. It uses a special plate-making ink called liquid light to form a graphic on the printing plate. After development, a printing plate can be obtained. The Jetplate CTP system has an imaging resolution of 2880 dpi, which is equivalent to l75 lines per inch. It can print l5 plates per hour. After two baking plates, the printing durability can reach 100,000 impressions. In addition, the British FFEl company and India's Technova have launched inkjet CTP plates.
CTP market size and usage
According to the data, in 2006, the total installed capacity of CTP in the world was nearly 30,000 units. The penetration rate of CTP in the United States reached 75%, 70% in Europe and 50% in Japan. Currently in the European and American markets, CTP is already a very mature technology with a penetration rate of over 90%. The penetration rate of CTP in China is still low. According to the survey report of “CTP in China” by Keyin Media, as of September 2008, the total installed capacity of CTP in China was l417. In China, the penetration rate of 100,000 printing enterprises is only about 1.4%, which is quite different from that of developed countries.
1. Low penetration rate and low operating efficiency
Since 2007, CTP has begun to install in China in volume. In 2007 and 2008, the increase was 262 units and 429 units respectively, which was a steady increase from the previous year, but it did not usher in the expected “explosive growth”. The actual application effect of domestic CTP is not good. Based on the national 1417 CTP installed capacity, experts estimate that the total domestic use of CTP plates is 10 million square meters (about 1/10 of the total domestic plate), and the average plate making amount per machine is l4400. The average number of publications per CTP per day is 48. For a standard commercial CTP, 20 sheets per hour is a standard speed. It is conservatively estimated that if a printing house calculates 8 hours of work per day, a CTP device should have at least 160 plates. It can be seen that the CTP equipment of the printing plant is operating at a low efficiency, and the application of CTP in China is still quite backward. Many CTPs exist only as concept machines and do not achieve the actual application effect. If the existing CTP in the market is used normally, the production capacity will be doubled.
Low operating efficiency, narrow application, in addition to the price of the plate is too high. There are also reasons such as the mismatch between the business volume and capacity of the installed enterprises, the immature application technology, and the lack of technical talents.
2. Future CTP market can be expected
According to relevant experts, the penetration rate of CTP in China will reach 70% in 5 years. In terms of edition, 60 million square meters of PS plate will need to be transformed into CTP plate every year for the next 5 years. How many CTP equipments are difficult to determine in the industry. If the CTP application is currently 48/set/day, about 7,000 CTPs are needed, and if it is calculated according to the normal 160/set/day CTP capacity standard, only about 2,000 CTPs are needed. Others have argued that China will have 10,000 CTPs in 10 years. In addition, there are people in the industry who have proposed to achieve the "one factory one" penetration rate. The demand for CTP equipment should be determined by the printing demand, not the number of printing factories.
The development level of color management technology
To succeed in printing products, print service providers must invest significant time and resources in color management of all devices. The goal of color management is to get the device to print the desired color. The achievement of this goal can be affected by many factors, such as the level of image captured by the camera, the scanning quality of the scanner, the designer's display and lighting conditions, the humidity of the printing shop, the substrate, the ink, the RIP and the performance of the printer. . The key to accurate color matching at the time of printing is to create a closed-loop color management system that controls all variables.
1. Color management tool
Tools for characterization of devices and creation of uniform colors are based on standards published by the International Color Consortium (ICC). The International Color Association is a neutral organization whose goal is to develop a unified color management standard. Printers must calibrate displays and printers to check that they produce consistent colors and comply with ICC standards.
Adobe also introduced a color management system for designers. Adobe Photoshop occupies an irreplaceable position in image processing. At the same time, Adobe is also trying to develop Photoshop into a complete color management system.
Agfa's software includes ColorTune X for creating lCC profiles, Sherpa CMS for creating and measuring standardized targets, and Spectra-Spot for creating custom spectral data spot colors.
EFI Fiery ColorWise is a system designed to deliver uniform colors across a variety of programs, computer platforms, color spaces and file formats.
Pantone offers a range of products for designers, commercial printers and other professionals, including Pantone color matching systems, hueyPRO display calibration tools and the latest Goe systems.
X-Rite has developed a range of hardware, software and services for color correction and propagation. The company's color management products are very rich. It also includes Eye-One Display 2, which is designed for high-end spot color display calibration and characterization calibration.
Apple's ColorSync color management system uses the ICC standard with Lab color space as the standard reference space. It is an open color management system that allows users to color convert between different color management systems via ColorSync's Plug-in module.
Kodak's ColorFlow technology helps printers pass, control and confirm color through all output devices. Kodak's color management system tends to use a modular approach to color management, including KPCMS, DCP, PICC and PCS100. They can be used separately or combined into a complete color management system.
2. Color management measuring instruments and software
An important driving force behind the development of color management technology is the development of measuring instruments and color management software. Regrettably, foreign technology has occupied the entire market in this respect, and the country is still blank.
At present, the color measuring instruments used in China mainly come from two companies: X-Rite in the United States and GretagMacbeth in Switzerland (which has been acquired by X-Rite). Among them, X-Rite's products enter the domestic market early and the products are cost-effective. Domestic accounts for most of the market.
The two companies have introduced different measurement instruments such as ICColor and Profiler for the needs of different companies.
Almost all color management measuring instruments are used with color management software. Color management software mainly includes Co lorOpen of Heidelberg; ProfileMaker of GretagMacbeth; Profiler of X-Rite; others such as Kodak and Agfa The software is now used less.
Application and development of color management
At the beginning of the 20th century, color management really entered the practical stage in China. The reason for promoting the application of color management technology is that color management technology is gradually mature. People generally recognize the role of color management and the urgency of improving print quality. Second, due to technological development, CTP technology must have digital proofing and matching, and promote The development of digital proofing, and digital proofing requires the support of color management technology, and promotes the application of color management technology.
Color management technology only makes sense when the color of the entire production process is stable and has a uniform color standard. At present, many companies have realized this problem and started to implement color management from the aspects of comprehensive quality control and process standardization, and have received very good results.
It should be noted that there are many enterprises in China that implement color management conditions. Many enterprises have purchased software and hardware devices for color management, especially those that have purchased CTP equipment. Almost all of them have purchased color management equipment. There is no color management yet, but there are also ideas in this regard. However, it is not very satisfactory from the overall situation of the effect of color management. The role of color management has not yet been fully realized, and some companies have adopted color management only in some production links. There are two reasons for this: First, it is bound by traditional production methods and concepts, and has not yet completely changed to modern production methods. Second, it is subject to technical level and operator constraints on color management technology, only in equipment. Color management was done during installation, and there was a lack of technical maintenance.
With the continuous advancement of technology, the promotion and promotion of new technologies in the industry continues to develop, the industry's understanding of color management will gradually deepen and popularize, and the mastery of color management technology will continue to improve, and the effect of color management technology will also be improved. Getting better and better will play a bigger role.