Recently, people mostly focus on the prepress section. Over the past three years, the prepress process has shifted from film-based operations to today's all-digital operations.

David Harris entered the company four years ago and is currently the manager of the system department responsible for monitoring the entire process.

David Harris said: "As with other printers, John Price started using film. Now that there are five people in our prepress department, the direct reason for adopting a fully digital process is the introduction of the CTP process."

Finally, John Price selected Esko-Graphics' latest PlateDriver platemaking machine and became the first printing factory in the UK to install this device, effectively witnessing Esko-Graphics' third-generation CTP equipment. The device has won the attention of the public due to its outstanding plate-making speed and quality, and it has also made breakthroughs in many other aspects, with multiple functions.

Mr. Harris's purchase has been perfect, he has almost examined the equipment of all the manufacturers on the market, and the deepest impression left by PlateDriver is its flexibility and cost-effectiveness.

With the continuous development of technology, PlateDriver can be equipped with any of the four lasers to suit silver salt, thermal and polyester plates. Laser options include violet laser diodes, argon ions, FD-Yag, and thermal lasers with a wavelength of 1064 nm. Each laser correction can be done in the field, with a variety of imaging speeds, and can also be applied to a variety of media from many other manufacturers.

Mr. Harris decided to continue the thermal route because he pursues quality rather than speed. He said: "If we want to replace the violet laser or other systems after 12 months, we do have many options to consider."

Three months after installing the new equipment, Mr. Harris no longer had doubts about the speed of the system. John Price's fully-automated four-platemaking equipment can produce 16 to 20 plates per hour at resolutions up to 3175 dpi, depending on the resolution requirements.

The CTP process changes the production process from the design department to the printing plant, from the film to the printing plate. Harris said: “With the PlateDriver platesetter, the plate was obtained in two days more than we had in the past week. In fact, for one or two plants, the PlateDriver can fully meet its printer's throughput of one day.”

The work of any platemaking machine precedes the printing press. Today, the time requirements for on-demand plate making are becoming more demanding, and PlateDriver allows users to effectively handle a variety of emergencies. If the operator temporarily finds scratches on the plate, he can make it again. PlateDriver stores data in bitmap format, and it takes only 5 minutes from the time the command is received to obtain another plate.

Harris believes that Esko-Graphics not only provided them with a CTP system, but also brought them a complete set of process solutions. Esko-Graphics has successfully developed the FlowDrive system, which can not only handle workflows, but also can make layouts and plate punches to meet the requirements of the press. This is a versatile system that allows networked operations.

Mr. Harris spent two days at Esko-Graphics Corp. receiving training on the FlowDrive system and learning how to operate the PlateDriver platesetter for a day and a half. Harris then brought his knowledge back to John Price to train his staff. He thought everything was simple and he even thought how anyone who could teach the machine could do it.

Really open interface

“The drop-down interface is used in the FlowDrive system and is easy to master. However, the PlateDriver does not necessarily require the FlowDrive system because it has a truly open interface that can be plugged into any operating system such as Heidelberg, Sai Angel or other manufacturers. At BLP, this is well documented and connected directly to Creo's proofer through a simple interface plate maker."

PlateDrive can work automatically overnight and is accurate in color. This is due to the design of the cartridge, which has five cartridges that can hold 100 printing plates. PlateDrive also cleverly solved the problem of backup storage.

At the bottom of the PlateDriver device is a storage area where hundreds of backup plates are placed waiting for imaging without interrupting the normal production process. According to Keith Davison, sales manager at Esko-Graphics, this is a detail that other manufacturers often overlook. He said: "This may seem like a minor problem, but when you want to continuously make 500 copies and truly unattended, this feature is very important."

He said: "The built-in roller imagesetter has many advantages in design. The most important point is the built-in plate punch registration system." This may not be very important, but in order to get the best printing plate, we need Accurate plate punching. ”

Because the image formation of the printing plate is synchronized with the punching of the printing plate, the printing plate can be perfectly registered during preparation of the printing job. Both machines in the John Price plant were semi-automatically loaded. Mr. Harris reported that each machine's job preparation time was reduced by 25 minutes, and paper wastage was reduced by 10%.

Source: Sino-Indian Network