Key to success
Computer-to-plate (CTP) is among the most tried and tested methods in the print industry, with many print companies in the UK and around the world swearing by this technique as a way of ensuring high quality output in litho print.
Despite the influx of digital printing technologies, plenty of print service providers (PSPs) remain true to offset and continue to run litho machines. For this reason, manufacturers constantly introduce new technologies and developments to ensure these businesses can hit output and quality targets.
Here, Print Monthly speaks with a number of names in the CTP sector to learn more about the latest movements in the market and how these can help users bolster output.
More relevant than ever
First up, Kodak has a long and illustrious history with the litho market, with the brand still regarded as one of the leading names in offset technology. Darren Chard, sales director for Benelux, France, UK and Ireland at Kodak, says CTP is more relevant today than ever as new devices can lower labour and energy costs, decrease waste, and bolster network security for offset printing companies.
“As run lengths continue to fall, having a state-of-the-art CTP solution is a key success factor for the successful offset printer,” Chard says, adding: “Offset CTP, as offered by Kodak, is the most efficient form of platemaking today and is significantly easier and faster than platemaking for flexo, gravure, or letterpress printing.
“When high performance Kodak Platesetters are combined with Kodak Sonora Process Free Plates and high-capacity plate loading and unloading automation, CTP becomes a fully automated, streamlined process that requires almost no manual intervention. The plates are simply imaged in a fully automated process and can then be taken straight to the press.
CTP with process-free plates also eliminates the defects and variability associated with conventional plate processing”
“CTP with process-free plates also eliminates the defects and variability associated with conventional plate processing. This leads to more reliable press make-readies and no press downtime and paper waste due to plate processing defects. Ultimately, this means cost savings in the pressroom.”
Speeding up
With this, Chard draws attention to the latest developments from Kodak, the first being the Magnus Q800 Platesetter with T-speed Plus option, which images up to 84 plates (B1/eight-page size category) per hour.
According to Chard, this is the fastest eight-page CTP device on the market and is supported by automation options such as Single Cassette Unit (SCU), Multi-Cassette Unit (MCU), Single Pallet Loader (SPL), and Multi-Pallet Loader (MPL). The MPL for the Magnus Q800 holds up to 3,200 plates in as many as four formats – split across two pallets of 1,500 plates each and two cassettes of 100 plates each.
Also new from Kodak is the Kodak Magnus Q4800 Platesetter, which is capable of imaging plate sizes up to 1,600 x 2,870mm for 96-page web offset presses at a throughput of 21 plates/hr.
O Factoid: The Kodak Magnus Q4800 provides online capacity for up to 4,800 plates in up to eight different sizes O
“The highly automated Magnus Q4800 is the world’s largest platesetter and supports dual plate imaging,” Chard says, adding: “It is the only CTP device capable of imaging two 1,650mm-wide plates simultaneously, with a maximum plate size of 1,650 x 1,600mm at a throughput of up to 46 plates/hr.
Kodak’s Magnus Q4800 Platesetter is capable of imaging plate sizes up to 1,600 x 2,870mm for 96-page web offset presses
“With its custom-configurable pallet automation options, this Kodak platesetter provides online capacity for up to 4,800 plates in up to eight different sizes.”
Chard adds that Kodak offers the only mobile app that allows users to remotely control and monitor their Kodak CTP devices. The app controls up to ten Kodak Platesetters and shows whether the CTP device is running or stopped for any reason, plus detailed information such as current job, jobs in the queue, active plate cassette count, environmental conditions, and event history.
Kodak’s dedicated app allows users to remotely control and monitor up to ten Kodak Platesetters
“Given today’s market environment, it is certainly noteworthy that Kodak is the only company in the world that develops, manufactures, sells, and services complete CTP solutions: CTP platesetters and related automation solutions, plates, and workflow software,” Chard says.
“This means printers get a complete solution from one source, and all the responsibility lies with Kodak. Also, customers can be certain that the various solution components – like the printing plates and the platesetter – are precisely matched, so that maximum reliability and performance are guaranteed in daily use.”
Reliable and affordable
Next, Screen Europe also offers a range of CTP solutions, with marketing director Taishi Motoshige saying this is a proven imaging technology, increasing sharpness and detail, and avoiding potential losses in quality.
“With wide applications from commercial printing, packaging, and newspaper printing to label printing, it’s both a reliable and an affordable technology, with a high assumed cost effectiveness which makes computer-to-plate lower initial investment than some alternatives,” Motoshige says.
“Due to some applications in confidential printing, it has become the preferred option for public organisations and private companies to bring their printing in-house.
“CTP is also becoming more environmentally friendly with less electricity consumptions, the use of chemical or processless consumable, and less waste offering greener options.”
Looking to the latest developments and solutions from Screen Europe, Motoshige highlights how it has configurations for manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic available for all standard industry 4, 8, 16 and very large-format (VLF) models.
Screen Europe has configurations for manual, semi-automatic, and fully automatic available for all standard industry 4, 8, 16 and VLF models
“Depending on configurations there are various price structures with lower cost pricing for emerging markets,” Motoshige says, adding: “Our technology offers an excellent interface with advance Screen workflow Equios as well as interface with other competitors’ workflow.”
Screen Europe, Motoshige says, also offers a wide choice of lower cost consumables related to plates and developers, which in turn means lower cost operations consumable. He adds that Screen Europe’s solutions have a smaller footprint than some competitor machinery, allows for automation, and is energy efficient.
Remain relevant
Elsewhere and Service Offset Supplies (SOS) has been working within the UK offset market for 50 years this year. Mike Ryan, sales territory manager at SOS, says that CTP remains as popular as ever and that so long as there is litho print, CTP will remain relevant within the industry, as platemaking is an essential component to the litho process.
Mike Ryan, sales territory manager at SOS, says so long as there is litho print, CTP will remain relevant
However, he does offer some specific advice in terms of format and trends in the market, saying these will shape the future of CTP.
“It must be noted that while the commercial print sector overall is still dominated by litho technology, the B3 format is now predominantly digital and those still using litho in this format will likely find their CTP equipment more difficult to replace when it reaches the end of its working life, as the major manufacturers are phasing out manufacture and support for B3 products,” Ryan says.
“The advice from SOS to any B3 litho printers which need to replace their CTP would be to call us. As CTP specialists we can offer both new and used equipment, and as suppliers of Konica Minolta digital presses we can advise on alternatives to make a small-format digital transition affordable and relatively pain-free.
“In the B2, B1 and VLF markets, CTP continues to thrive, as the advantages of litho over digital remain in those formats.”
On this, Ryan highlights the core benefits of CTP, namely that there has been no alternative to CTP when it comes to platemaking for the past 20 or so years. He explains that compared to digital press production, the relative merit of litho continues to be best measured in run length and, put simply, it is more economical to produce higher volumes.
“There are numerous other benefits to litho – while digital has made great strides, arguably litho still has the quality edge, and is more flexible when it comes to stock choice,” Ryan says, adding: “There are competing technologies among CTP products. The industry trend has been towards the use of processless plates, which offer many benefits, notably a cleaner, greener workflow.
“However, there are some who prefer to use a processor for various reasons. In these cases SOS supplies a range of processor units which link seamlessly to all models.”
While most plates – processed and processless – are thermal, Cron, which is available from SOS, is unique in offering a UV plate option. Ryan says a UV offset plate is uniquely durable and easy to handle – and crucially, plate costs are considerably lower. He goes on to say that this saving quickly adds up to dramatically reduce the lifetime cost of the system and is an attractive option for high volume plate users such as today’s internet printers.
Leading on from this, Ryan goes on to pick out some of the latest developments from SOS and its partners. Firstly, Ryan says that the Cron range is highly configurable and spans every conceivable format from B3 up to VLF, the latter of which is used mainly in specialist packaging applications, so there is a system to suit every market niche.
“Cron machines tend to require a lower investment and have a lower lifetime cost than their rivals, plus SOS has a dedicated nationwide CTP support team,” Ryan says.
Cron launched a number of major upgrades and restyled its full CTP range in 2021. The Cron ‘H+’ variant offers a unique space-saving 3-in-1 design, with autoloader, de-interleaving and punching built in. This means it is around two-thirds the size of equivalent alternatives, which can make a big difference where space is at a premium.
Ryan says the ‘G+’ variant has greater modularity; it is available with a range of autoloaders with a high-capacity, single size tray, or multiple trays depending on work profile. The Cron multi-tray autoloader is significantly more compact than the bulky equivalents employed by rival manufacturers. Manual loading is also an option. Switching between plate sizes, plate thickness, and punch configuration is entirely automatic.
SOS says the ‘G+’ variant of the Cron model offers greater modularity. Pictured: the Cron 46G+
“SOS also supplies the very latest CTP systems from Screen and Kodak as well as warrantied second user units, which SOS can service with its own trained engineers,” Ryan adds.
The supposed decline of litho that was much talked about when the digital revolution first began never came to be. Offset litho remains a core part of operations for many PSPs in the UK and indeed around the world, and for this reason, demand for and development of new, innovative CTP solutions will continue for years to come.
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