Agfa Launches N95-VCF Chemistry-Free Violet Plate

MORTSEL, Belgium—September 14, 2015—When Agfa Graphics first launched its chemistry-free plates for the newspaper industry in 2007, the industry got triggered yet hardly convinced. That completely changed with the introduction of the N94-VCF chem-free violet offset plate in 2011. Since then, more than 70 percent of Agfa Graphics' newspaper customers worldwide made the switch and use Agfa Graphics’ chem-free plate technology for the production of newspapers.

At World Publishing Expo 2015 (Oct. 5-7, Hamburg, Germany) Agfa Graphics will introduce the new N95-VCF plate and pushes the chemistry-free technology to the next level. It is a 'universal plate' that gives today’s newspaper printers the required flexibility and ease of mind to master today’s challenges:

N95-VCF offers improved robustness on press and supports much higher run lengths, up to 300,000 sheets, dependent on the press conditions.
Support for UV ink printing, which allows for higher flexibility in the press room, when printing (semi) commercial jobs and special applications.
Thanks to the very high image contrast, plate inspection and optical recognition by punch and bending equipment is easy and avoids mix-up on press.
Once cleaned-out, the plate is fully daylight resistant and features a high scratch resistance.

Compared to conventional polymer plates and other plate technologies on the market today, chem-free plates offer many unbeatable advantages. Thanks to the absence of conventional processing parameters the plate production is extremely stable, and maintenance is easy.

"Our chem-free technology offers our customers a stable and mature solution that has a proven record of satisfied users," said Emiel Sweevers, newspaper segment manager at Agfa Graphics. "Both the new N95-VCF plate and the Attiro VHS allow us again to set a new standard for the newspaper industry."

Smaller, yet more frequent editions require very fast plate makeready times. Platesetters, such as the new Advantage N-TR HS and Advantage N-TR VHS from Agfa Graphics, in combination with the new Attiro VHS clean-out unit (also launched at WPE 2015), produce up to 400 plates/hr. The new N95-VCF plate is fully compatible, also with the existing series of violet processors and clean-out units. The implementation of the N95-VCF requires no changes in the platesetter, nor the COU or the press.

N95-VCF and Attiro VHS
Using N95-VCF in combination with new Attiro VHS clean-out unit from Agfa Graphics, the benefits add up even more thanks to the unique cascade concept:

Minimal gum consumption for maximal clean-out effect
Full maintenance is only required after 8.000 m²

“At WPE 2015 we introduce not only the new plate but also an improved version of the cascade technology in the Attiro clean-out unit, improvements for the Advantage N platesetters and new features in the new Arkitex Production workflow software," Emiel Sweevers continued. "That is a long list, which shows our commitment to this industry of printed newspapers. We help publishers or contract printers with the most productive and cost efficient prepress and print solutions, and at the same time do we offer them the necessary solutions to develop a mobile strategy with Eversify, our solution for mobile publishing."

The N95-VCF is being used by selected customers today. It will make its global debut at the World Publishing Expo 2015 in Hamburg, Germany, in October and will be available early 2016.

Agfa Launches N95-VCF, the Next Generation Chemistry-Free Violet Plate