Agfa Graphics Introduces :Energy Xtra Thermal Plate at GRAPH EXPO 2012

CHICAGO–October 7, 2012—Agfa Graphics announced the newest addition to its family of :Energy no-bake plates. :Energy Xtra is a positive working, highly durable no-bake plate that offers up to 600,000 impressions without baking, and longer when baked. The highly-durable all-purpose plate features high image quality, efficient processing, and excellent on-press performance.

The robust coating composition and the quality grade aluminum substrate give :Energy Xtra its high mechanical resistance to harsh substrates typically found in long run commercial sheet fed and web applications. By eliminating pre-heat and post-bake requirements, :Energy Xtra significantly reduces both plate-making time and energy, resulting in substantial cost savings. Thanks to Agfa Graphics' unique graining technology :Energy Xtra also offers a wide latitude on press ensuring fast start-up and restarts and low dampening levels, as well as a stable ink/water balance and an excellent lithographic performance (one to 99 percent at 200 lpi AM, 20 micron FM and :Sublima 280 lpi XM Screening).

"The new :Energy Xtra is an example of Agfa Graphics' continued effort to respond to customer needs and to bring new and innovative solutions to market," said Tim Van den Bossche, vice president global marketing and strategy at Agfa Graphics. "For those printers with very particular press conditions and long runs, our no-bake solution truly simplifies plate-making and offers a more sustainable solution, an important advantage over other plates that require baking."

:Energy Xtra will be available for commercial sales in Q1 2013. For more information please visit www.pitman.agfagraphics.com.

About Agfa
The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world's leading companies in imaging and information technology. Agfa develops, manufactures and markets analog and digital systems for the printing industry (Agfa Graphics), for the healthcare sector (Agfa Healthcare), and for specific industrial applications (Agfa Materials). Agfa is headquartered in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is present in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries around the globe. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 3.023 million euros in 2011.

About Agfa Graphics
Agfa Graphics offers integrated prepress solutions to the printing industry. These solutions comprise consumables, hardware, software and services for production workflow, project and color management.

Agfa Graphics is a worldwide leader with its computer-to-plate and digital proofing systems for commercial and packaging printing and the newspaper publishing markets.

Agfa Graphics is rapidly developing its position in the new segments of industrial inkjet with comprehensive solutions for various applications such as documents, posters, banners, signage, displays, labels and packaging materials. Its experience in both imaging and emulsion technology has provided the expertise required for developing a complete assortment of high-quality inks.

About Pitman, An Agfa Company
Pitman, An Agfa Company, collaborates with world class manufacturers to provide a diverse offering of the most advanced solutions for the prepress, pressroom, wide-format, newspaper, packaging and commercial printing industries.

Pitman reinforces its customer-focused approach by providing the market with an unmatched distribution network, expert specialists, and unparalleled service excellence.

Together, Agfa Graphics and Pitman deliver integrated and complete solutions tailored to the ever-changing needs of the graphic communications industry, enabling businesses to produce powerful messages and be more profitable.

Source: Agfa.