CTcP printing plate classic choice

CTP and digitization

Driven by the prepress digital revolution, China's printing industry has entered a period of rapid development since the late 1990s. This digital concept, which will subvert the traditional printing production mode, has long been spread throughout the printing industry. In this storm that has been hailed as “changing the destiny of China's printing,” the prepress industry has been pushed to the forefront of the digital revolution as a forerunner, and has thus become the best of all kinds of emerging technologies, production concepts and new types of equipment. Debut and competition arena. Among the many new types of prepress equipment, the most prominent ones are computer-to-plate (CTP) devices that integrate "information digitization, production standardization, and management systemization." The equipment has become a hot spot for many manufacturers to compete with their advantages of "high-tech, high-quality, and high-efficiency", and has become a symbol of the first-class printing companies and a synonym for digital prepress.

However, does owning CTP mean that you really have digital?

With the development of CTP technology, people find that the answer is uncertain. Many unsuccessful purchase cases have repeatedly proved to the same reason that the simple introduction of CTP equipment does not make much sense for achieving simple and efficient digital production; only the performance of the equipment is integrated with the production advantages and characteristics of the enterprise. In order to maximize the effectiveness of CTP equipment.

The difference between CTcP and CTP What kind of prepress equipment can best embody the advantages of digital production? So far, prepress computer-to-plate equipment has been divided into two major categories: common CTP and CTcP. Although both processes save the film plate-making process, and all use digital information to realize the "prepress production - data transmission - direct plate-making" one-stop operation, but in terms of technical features and actual process implementation, CTP and CTcP There is a big difference. CTcP is the extension and development of CTP.

Difference 1: The most essential difference between CTcP and CTP is that the exposure materials used by the two are different.

The CTcP images digital information on a common PS plate, while the CTP images digital information on a dedicated CTP plate coated with a special light-sensitive layer.

As we all know, "Things are rare." Since the wavelength of the CTP laser source is very strict, the range of the photosensitive wavelength is very narrow. Therefore, the imaging exposure of the CTP requires a very high requirement for the photosensitive layer of the plate. The corresponding coating process and production cost of the CTP plate are therefore also cumbersome and much more expensive than the conventional PS plates that have been popularized earlier. The headache for most printing company procurement personnel is that the CTP plate is not only expensive but also scarce. It is only available from several suppliers of imported plates such as Agfa, Kodak Polystar, and Fuji Starlight. Domestic brands are not only rare, but also the various indicators and performance of the plate are far from the import, and can not meet the normal printing requirements.

Printers who are familiar with the production know that each plate in the printing process will be half as much or even twice as expensive. If a PS version is 35 yuan and a CTP version is 70 yuan, a medium-sized and small-sized printing enterprise with an annual printing capacity of 20,000 square meters will lose 700,000 yuan in profit every year. Although CTP can also bring a lot of potential economic benefits to the company, in the face of such a clear cost gap, no matter how many advantages are paler and weaker.

Difference 2: The exposure technology of CTcP and CTP is different.

Exposure technology is the core content whether it is a CTcP device or a CTP device. It is not only related to the quality of exposure imaging, but also closely related to the life of the equipment. The structure and motion of the exposure head directly affect the maintenance and maintenance of the equipment in daily use.

CTcP uses a short-arc UV high-pressure mercury lamp as the exposure light source, and completes the entire platform exposure operation through digital dot imaging technology and magnetic suspension type driving.

Its exposure head consists of two parts: one is a high-precision optical element; the other is a modern electronic sensing device that controls and detects exposure imaging. The device can automatically adjust the height of the exposure head according to the unevenness of the surface of the printing plate, thereby ensuring the exposure quality. Compared with CTP devices using lasers as light sources, CTcP exposure heads are more convenient and easy to maintain; replacement of light sources is not required for professionals, and ordinary operators can complete them. Magnetic levitation drive technology without mechanical wear not only minimizes the accuracy error of the entire device, but also greatly reduces the chance of equipment failure, providing a solid guarantee for creating high-quality products. This advantage is not possessed by CTP equipment, because the daily mechanical transmission used for a long time will certainly lead to wear, which is unavoidable in any case.
Difference 3: The performance of CTcP, CTP and printing process fusion is different.

The ultimate goal of plate making is printing, and the advanced platemaking method only has a practical value when it is smoothly joined with the printing process.

Although CTcP devices and CTP devices can be integrated into the printing process, the requirements and results of the two are completely different.

The coating material of the CTP plate is greatly different from the coating material of the ordinary PS plate, resulting in a great difference between the printability exhibited in the printing process and the printing suitability of the ordinary PS plate. The ink balance of the plate, the pressure of the press, the pH of the liquid, and the environment surrounding the press have to be readjusted and tested in actual printing. Practice has proved that this is a relatively long and complicated change process for both the operator of the printing press and the manager. The replacement of various printing parameters has increased the difficulty of the rapid integration of CTP and the printing process, resulting in a longer period of time for companies to recover investment costs and generate economic benefits.

CTcP has an outstanding advantage in fusion with the printing process. The consistency of the plate ensures the normal operation of the printability. Printing companies do not have to worry about the problems caused by the change in printability, but they do not need to spend a lot of time and energy to complete the matching of the printing plate and the press. Relatively stable printing parameters allow the platemaking process and the printing process to be completed in a very short time and produce economic benefits.

CTcP: Taking into account technical progress and improving efficiency

The real digital production should not only have high-tech content, but also should create real economic benefits for the company; truly effective digital equipment should be a perfect unity of technological progress and efficiency improvement. From the above analysis, it is not difficult to see that CTcP is such a digital plate making device that takes into account both technological advancement and improved efficiency. The difference between it and CTP devices is precisely why it is better than CTP devices.

In addition, CTcP also has all the advantages of digital platemaking equipment.

Advantage 1: Excellent image quality

CTcP technology uses square pixel imaging, with clear, sharp edges, and excellent reproduction of tone and dot heights of 17μm diameter and 200 lines/in. The 250 line/inch screen can also be successfully completed. The image is copied.

Germany's neutral printing research organization FOGRA has conducted tests on the dot reducibility of CTcP, thermal CTP, photopolymer CTP, and silver salt CTP. The results show that these technologies are significantly different in platemaking quality. CTcP once again proved that the traditional offset printing plate has superior exposure performance and print quality.

The test report also proved that the CTcP system has a high copying accuracy, and the positioning error between each exposure unit is kept within ±2 μm.

Advantage 2: Perfect Workflow

In the configuration of workflow, CTcP system has set up three programs to meet the needs of various users in order to provide assistance for as many users as possible.

(1) RIP post-project: This process integrates the pre-press process's mainstream technology "RIP Post-Improvement" and "RIP Once Proofing" and is an open and reliable digital prepress solution.

(2) Nexus program: It is a compatible high-quality work flow, suitable for most of the users of the job is packaging and labeling users.

(3) Odystar program: It is a particularly reliable and open workflow for all prepress and publishing printing. It can be easily integrated with third-party products in the workflow; it is especially suitable for commercial printing.

Advantage 3: Easy to Compatible with Other Prepress Systems

All UV-Setter CTcP platesetters have an open 1-bit Tiff interface. No matter what kind of equipment and workflow, as long as the output file is in 1-bitTiff format, it can perfectly connect with CTcP platesetter. This creates good conditions for the smooth transition from the traditional film platemaking process to the digital direct plate making process. As the plate material remains unchanged, and the output of the photocopying uses the 1-bitTiff file format, the user can simultaneously implement the traditional plate-making and digital direct plate-making two-line operation at the beginning of production to ensure the smooth transition of the new technology. For printing companies, this means that operators can quickly and easily implement the digital plate-making process without additional investment. In addition, simple equipment and open workflows have more advantages for future maintenance and upgrades.

Advantage IV: Platform exposure structure, flexible and variable format

For the printing factory, the variable exposure format solves the problems of a single-use digital printing machine and inconvenient use due to the inconsistency of the type of the printer. The platform-type structure has the advantage that other versions of the exposure structure cannot match. For the missing layout, it does not have to be like other CTPs. It needs to passively wait for all the pages to be fully exposed before it can be exposed. Instead, it can leave the missing pages to expose other existing pages, and finally, after the vacant files arrive, it can be exposed. Save time and effort.

Advantage 5: Brightroom operation

Since the conventional PS plate material will not be sensitive to visible light under normal circumstances, the user can confidently complete the plate making work in a bright room environment.

The UV-Setter series CTcP platesetters produced by Bessie Corporation have manual, semi-automatic and 5 series (four open format), 7 series (open format), 11 series (full open format), and N series (press type). Automatic and other models for users to choose. Among them, the maximum publication speed of the 7 series open format can reach 20 sheets/hour; the maximum publication speed of the N series newspapers can be up to 120 sheets/hour.

Whether it is technical, technological or economical, CTcP is unique among numerous CTP products, and it is highly advantageous and competitive. Choosing CTcP, what are you waiting for?

Reprinted from: Printed Materials in China