Operation Digital Output

Q. What other issues about plates do you see in relation to CTP?

A. Long term, I'd say filmless digital exposure of plates will be the method of choice. Short term, it seems quite unlikely that clients will drop film and switch overnight to digital job files. So, issue No.1 for package printers is the added cost of having to live in two worlds and maintain two separate platemaking workflows. There are a great many standing film flats for frequently reprinted jobs out there. When jobs are reprinted, those flats will be exposed onto conventional, UV-sensitive plates. But, there is also a growing number of digital jobs from customers. For those, direct-to-plate seems the best answer. But, using the majority of CTP systems, that will mean going direct to a "special" kind of plate completely unlike a conventional plate. That situation will demand a parallel workflow: one for film-based conventional platemaking; the other for making laser CTP plates. This means higher investment and operating costs to keep two platemaking lines in operation. Alternatively, however, there is now a non-laser system which enables conventional plates to be imaged, using film or digital exposure, and processed through one common line.