CTP FIELD REPORTS -- A Digital Duet

BY MARK SMITH

A consensus of opinion seems to have been reached about why to adopt a computer-to-plate workflow. At least in some quarters, though, the same cannot be said for the question of how to implement one. Or more precisely, which combination of plate and platesetter is the best solution.

New product introductions continue to fuel the thermal versus violet imaging debate. The recent IPEX international printing expo also brought a new player (Esko-Graphics, the newly named combination of Purup-Eskofot and Barco Graphics) to the arena of digitally imaging conventional ultraviolet plates. Processless technology continues be developed along ablative, phase-change and other tracks. Even the bake or not-to-bake question hasn't been resolved fully.