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The US GATF publishes a technical report every year. In last year's report, Mr. Frank Romano of the Rochester Institute of Technology predicted that the installed capacity of computer-to-plateetters would double every year from 1998 to 2000. It seems that Mr. Romano is too optimistic now. According to statistics, in 1998, the installed capacity of direct platesetters worldwide was 2,400 sets (see Table 1). From the current situation, it is estimated that the installed capacity in 1999 will be 1,800 to 2,000 sets. There is no doubt that computer direct plate making is the future direction of development. However, due to the current lack of digital workflow, the variety of plates, and the high price, the application process of direct plate-making technology is slower than people think.
First, the digital workflow is not yet mature
With direct platemaking technology, workflows must be digitized, but today's digital workflows are not mature enough. Up to now, the basic printing technology has been adopted by large-scale printing enterprises, and some small and medium-sized enterprises are still waiting and watching. Although there are still some problems with PDF, many people are optimistic about PDF. It is said that Agfa’s Apogee PDF workflow has 300 users.
Second, users face multiple choices
Users who want to adopt direct platemaking technology will face multiple options. For example, there are currently more than 30 manufacturers offering 60 different direct platesetters. Which one should I choose? Is it good for the inner drum or the outer drum? Is it selected for visible or thermal imaging? Which one is the plate selected? Metal version, polyester version or paper base? Should the imaged plate be developed? Which laser is better? Is it an infrared laser diode, frequency doubling YAG or YAG? Maybe you just bought a plate-making machine, and a new generation of low-cost blue laser diode platesetters came out. What should you do?
Third, thermal imaging direct plate making has always been a hot topic
Both Creo and Sai Angel produce thermal imaging platesetters, but they are more expensive. Manufacturers currently offering thermal imaging media are:
Kodak Pauli (830 nm negative version and Electra positive version);
PDI (830 nm version, 1 064 nm version);
Fuji (830 nm negative and positive version);
Lastra (830 nm positive version);
Western Litho (830 nm positive version);
Agfa (the 830 nm and 1 064 nm positive version are undergoing beta testing).
In addition, Presstek's PearlWet and PearlDry plates have been applied in the market, and soon they will also introduce new plates that Pearl-Gold does not require development. I hope that fierce market competition will reduce the price of plate materials. Although the thermal imaging version is selling well, the acquisition of visible imaging plates by Cycle Sciences is also very good, indicating that it also has a certain market.
Fourth, when the plate can cut prices
Think about it, we can't blame the plate manufacturer. After all, the investment in a new plate production line is huge (Mr. Tim of Fujifilm estimates that a new plate production line will cost 100 million US dollars), and currently the plate-making plate only accounts for 3% of the total plate market, so huge. How long does it take for the investment to be recycled, and which type of plate will dominate the market? These problems make it difficult for the plate producers to make up their minds.
In fact, we should not forget that most direct-to-plate producers also produce film. Obviously, the more widely used direct plate-making technology, the less demand for film on the market. It is conceivable that as film suppliers, they certainly hope that the price of direct-made plates in the near future should not be too cheap, so as to maintain a certain sales volume of film.
From the current market, the price of the direct plate material is 25% to 40% higher than that of the ordinary PS plate. If other factors (such as re-plate making) are considered, the cost of the plate will be 33% to 60% higher for companies doing commercial printing and 100% for companies printing newspapers. ~150%, new media that do not require development are more expensive.
Even if the price of the plate can be reduced, it is not a one-off thing to replace the laser photo-printing machine with a direct plate-making machine. According to reports, the current number of laser photo imagesetters in the world is about 90,000 units. As mentioned earlier, the installed capacity of direct platesetters in 1998 was between 2,000 and 2,400 sets. Then, even if the installed capacity of the direct platesetter reaches 8,000 sets per year in the future, it will take another 10 years to replace the 90,000 sets of laser imagesetters.
Fifth, Need to increase investment before printing
If direct platemaking technology is used, the printer must have the necessary prepress system. Originally, many printing companies may have only printing presses and no prepress equipment. Because there is a special output center that can output film, the printing factory can print and print as long as the film sent by the customer is received. However, if the printing company adopts the direct plate-making technology, it accepts the digital documents provided by the customers. The printing factory must purchase the corresponding pre-press equipment and, if necessary, scan or modify the customer.
Many SMEs do not currently have prepress equipment. If they go to the direct plate making machine, they will have to invest in additional prepress equipment, which is also a burden for enterprises. Direct plate-making simplifies the process, but at the same time, it also reduces the chances of people seeing and checking for errors. If you accidentally make mistakes, once the printing plate is finished, you will find the error, and the whole version will have to be remade. Therefore, although computer direct plate making simplifies the process flow and improves the registration accuracy, if it is wrong, it needs to be re-plate, which will increase the cost invisibly. Therefore, careful, careful, and careful care is required during the direct plate making operation.
Sixth, color management, proofing and investment recovery
The problem of color management for computer-to-plate is also important. There is no unified standard yet. However, even with a unified standard, users who have already adopted color management technology may still follow the method they are used to, and because many printers do not believe in color management, the application process will be slow.
There is another problem that cannot be ignored. After using the direct plate-making technology, it is impossible to use the traditional offset proofing method. So what kind of system is used to proof? Is it the Epson 5000 with a price of $10,000 or the Kodak Approval with a price of $150,000? The price of consumables used in the digital proofing system is not expensive? Can printing companies or customers accept? These are the actual problems that are placed in front of the users, and customers who are ready to make direct plates have to consider the above issues.
The issue of investment recovery for direct plate making is still difficult to determine, because it is not a simple matter of replacing old machines with new ones, but replacing a traditional process with new ones. Direct plate-making machines often have punching devices, which can shorten the preparation time such as plate loading and adjustment registration, and improve production efficiency. For large printing companies with large amount of plates, their investment may be easier to recycle. Suppliers of direct platesetters generally claim to be able to recover their investment in 18 months, but a US GATF survey shows that many users often have to recover their investment in about 35 months.
Seven, direct plate making technology development forecast
Direct plate-making technology will continue to grow rapidly, and by the time Drupa will be held next year, people will see some new trends.
1. The application of digital workflows will become more popular. Not only will the prepress area adopt a digital workflow, but publishers, advertising companies, etc. will also adopt it. Newspapers may receive more digitally-provided advertisements, and people will find it better than film-based advertising.
2. RIP is faster and more powerful, especially for processing large files.
3. The price of high-power laser devices required for thermal imaging platemaking will fall to a price acceptable to users. The 830 nm infrared laser diode is likely to be the thermal imaging plate-making laser device that people choose.
4. When it comes to Drupa 2000, people will see more large commercial printing companies choose the external plate-type 830 nm laser imaging direct plate-making machine, small printing companies may be more interested in the manual version of the low-cost direct plate-making The plate-making machine uses a blue laser diode for an existing laser imagesetter engine as a laser device. The price of plates for direct plate making may drop slightly.
5. At the Drupa 2000 exhibition, more manufacturers will see more direct-to-plate plates that do not require development. It is worth noting that the printing plate that does not need to be developed is not suitable for baking. Therefore, the printing durability can only reach 50,000 marks at most, which is more suitable for printing short version.
6. At the time of Drupa 2000, some of the current PDF issues will be resolved and the real PDF workflow will be applied.
7. The number of manufacturers of direct platesetters will be reduced. In the fierce competition, some manufacturers that are not suitable for market development will be eliminated.
In summary, computer direct plate making is indeed the future direction of development, but the use of direct plate making technology is not a one-off event. On the one hand, there is a dispute between the direct platesetters using 830 nm or 1 064 nm lasers, the use of visible light imaging and thermal imaging, which makes users face a variety of investment options. On the other hand, printing companies must go directly to the platesetter. Faced with many problems, such as re-modifying the entire workflow, installing new equipment, training personnel, re-establishing customer relationships, and so on, especially since the digital workflow is still immature, it is necessary to recycle the investment for two or three years. Therefore, many printers It is still difficult to decide when to use direct plate making technology. This is also the main reason why the application speed of computer direct plate making technology is not as fast as people expected. However, there is no doubt that with the continuous improvement of digital workflow, the application of direct plate-making technology will become more and more extensive. Especially now, there are so many traditional offset printing presses in operation around the world. At least in the next 20 years, offline direct plate making technology using the direct plate making mechanism version will still be widely used by printers.