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 from 1998 to 2000, the installed capacity of computer-to-plate machines would double every year. It seems that Mr. Romano is too optimistic. According to statistics, in 1998, the installed capacity of direct platesetters in the world was 2,400 (see Table 1). From the current situation, it is estimated that the installed capacity in 1999 will be 1 800-2 000 sets. There is no doubt that computer direct plate making is the future direction of development. However, due to the fact that the current digital workflow is still not perfect, there are too many types of plates, and their prices are high, so the process of direct plate-making is slower than people think. First, the digital workflow is not yet mature. The use of direct plate-making technology must digitize the workflow, but the current digital workflow is not mature enough. So far, the basic printing technology has been used by large printing companies, some small and medium enterprises are still waiting and watching. Although there are still some problems with PDF, many people are optimistic about PDF. Allegedly, there are 300 users of Agfa's Apogee PDF workflow. Second, users face a variety of choices Users want to use direct plate-making technology, they will face a variety of choices. For example, there are currently more than 30 manufacturers offering 60 different direct platemakers. Which one should be selected? Is it good inside or outside drum type? Is it visible light imaging or thermal imaging? Which kind of plate is selected? Metal, polyester or paper base? Should the imaged plate be developed? Which kind of laser is better? Is it an infrared laser diode, frequency doubled YAG or YAG? Maybe you just purchased a platemaking machine, and a new generation of low-cost blue laser diode platesetters came out. What should you do? 3. Thermal Imaging Direct Plate Making has always been a hot topic Creo and Saturn have produced thermal imaging platesetters, but they are more expensive. Currently, manufacturers who can provide thermal imaging plates include:
Kodak Polyray (830 nm negative and Electra positive);
PDI (830 nm version, 1 064 nm version);
Fuji (830 nm negative and positive editions);
Lastra (830 nm positive edition);
Western Litho (830 nm positive plate);
Agfa (830 nm and 1 064 nm positive plates are undergoing beta testing).
In addition, Presstek's PearlWet and PearlDry plates have been used in the market. Soon, they will also introduce new plates that Pearl-Gold does not need to develop. I hope that the fierce market competition can make the price of the plate fall. Although the thermal imaging market has a good sales momentum, Cymbolic Sciences' sales of visible light imaging media are also very good, indicating that it has a certain market. Fourth, when the plate can cut prices Think carefully, we can not blame the media manufacturer. After all, a huge investment in a new media production line (Fuji's Mr. Tim estimates that a new media production line to invest 100 million U.S. dollars), and the current plate is only 3% of the total plate market, so huge How long does it take for the investment to be recovered, and which kind of media will dominate the market? These problems have caused the media manufacturer to make up their minds.
In fact, we should not forget that most manufacturers of direct plate materials also produce films. Obviously, the wider the use of direct platemaking technology, the less demand the film has on the market. It can be imagined that, as film suppliers, they certainly hope that the prices of direct plate materials will not be too cheap in the near future in order to maintain a certain amount of film sales.
From the current market, the prices of direct plate materials are 25%-40% higher than those of ordinary PS plates. Considering other factors (such as remastering), CTP technology is actually used for commercial printing companies, the cost of the plate will be 33% to 60% higher; for businesses engaged in newspaper printing, it is 100% higher. ~150%, new plates that do not require development are more expensive.
Even if the prices of plates can be reduced, the use of direct platesetters to replace laser images and imagesetters will not happen overnight. According to reports, there are currently about 90,000 laser photo imagesetters in the world. As mentioned earlier, in 1998 the installed capacity of direct plate machines was 2 000 to 2 400 sets. So, even if the installed capacity of direct plate-making machines will reach 8 000 sets per year in the future, it will take 10 years to replace 90,000 sets of laser imagesetters. Fifth, also need to increase investment before printing If the use of direct plate making technology, printing plants must have the necessary prepress system. There are many printing companies that may have only presses and no prepress equipment, because there is a special output center that can output films, and the printer can print and print as long as they accept the film sent by the customer. However, if the printing factory adopts the direct plate making technology, all accepted digital documents provided by customers, the printing factory must purchase the corresponding prepress equipment, and if necessary, also perform scanning or modification work for the customer.
Many small and medium-sized enterprises do not currently have prepress equipment. If they have a direct plate-making machine, they will have to reinvest to purchase the corresponding prepress equipment. This 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 mistakes. If they are not careful, they will make mistakes. Once errors are found, the entire version will have to be reproduced. Therefore, although computer-to-plate making simplifies the process flow and improves the accuracy of registration, if an error occurs, it will require re-creating, which will increase costs virtually. Therefore, in the process of direct plate-making operation, careful, careful, and careful six, color management, proofing and investment recovery. The problem of color management in computer-to-platemaking is also very important. There is no unified standard. However, even with uniform standards, users who have already adopted color management technology may still use methods they are used to, and because many printers do not trust color management, their application process will be slow.
There is also a problem that cannot be ignored. After adopting direct platemaking technology, it is impossible to use the traditional offset printing proofing method. What kind of system is used to proof the situation? Is it Epson 5000 with a price of $ 10,000 or a Kodak Approval with a price of $ 150,000? Digital consumables used by the system are expensive and inexpensive? Can a printing company or a customer accept it? These are the actual issues that are placed in front of the user. Customers who are preparing for direct-to-plate making will also have to consider the above issues.
The question of investment recovery for direct plate making is still difficult to be conclusive because it is not simply a matter of replacing the old machine with a new machine, but it replaces a traditional process with new technology. Direct platesetters are often equipped with a perforating device, which can shorten preparation time for plate loading, adjustment and registration, and increase production efficiency. For large printing companies with large amounts of plate materials, their investments may be easier to recycle. Suppliers of platesetters generally claim to be able to recover their investment in 18 months, but a survey by the US GATF has shown that many users tend to spend about 35 months to recover their investment. 7. Prediction of Direct Platemaking Technology Development Direct plate making technology will continue to develop rapidly. By the time Drupa is held next year, people will see some new trends.
The application of digital workflow will be more popular. Not only will the prepress industry adopt digital workflows, but publishers, advertising companies, etc. will also adopt it. Newspapers may receive more digitally-supplied advertisements, and people will find it better than film-based advertisements. RIP is faster and more powerful, especially for processing large files. The price of high-power laser devices required for thermal imaging platemaking will be reduced to the price acceptable to the user. The 830 nm infrared laser diode is likely to become When people choose the thermal imaging plate laser device to be held in Drupa 2000, people will see more large commercial printing companies choose external plate 830 nm laser imaging platesetter, small printing companies may prefer to manually give Version of the low-price direct plate-making machine that uses the blue laser diode used in the existing laser imagesetter engine as the laser device. The price of plates for direct platemaking may decrease slightly. At the Drupa 2000 exhibition, people will see more manufacturers introduce direct plate materials that do not require development. It is worth noting that plates that do not need to be developed are not suitable for baking. Therefore, the resistance force can only reach 50,000 impressions at most. It is more suitable for the short-lived version to be held in Drupa 2000. Some problems in the current PDF format will be resolved. Resolved, the number of manufacturers that will use the actual plate-making machine will be reduced in the actual PDF workflow. In the fierce competition, some manufacturers that do not meet the market development will be eliminated. In summary, computer-to-plate making is indeed The direction of future development, but the use of direct plate-making technology is not a matter of overnight. On the one hand, there are disputes over the use of 830 nm or 1 064 nm lasers in direct platemakers. The use of visible light imaging and thermal imaging poses challenges for users to face a variety of investment scenarios. On the other hand, printers need to take direct platesetters. Faced with many issues such as revising the entire workflow, installing new equipment, training personnel, and re-establishing customer relationships, especially since the digital workflow is not yet mature, investment recovery has to wait two or three years. Therefore, many printers are When the use of direct plate-making technology is still difficult to resolve. This is precisely why the speed of application of computer-to-plate 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 increasingly widespread. Especially now, there are so many traditional offset presses in operation around the world. At least in the next 20 years, the off-line plate making technology using the direct plate making mechanism will still be widely used by a large number of printers. In October 1998, various manufacturers competed to exhibit their respective direct plate-making systems at the EPmedia exhibition, which aroused great concern among people from all walks of life. The picture shows Mr. Hu Qili, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, accompanied by Shen Haixiang, Director of the China Institute of Printing Science and Technology, watching a live performance