Digital Imaging Versus Computer-to-Plate

Business requirements drive decision-making

Talk to any of the numerous manufacturers of CTP systems and the view is that a digital platesetter is absolutely the only way to go, primarily because there are no format constraints. For Presstek and Screen, the only two manufacturers of both CTP and DI devices, the picture is less clear-cut because it depends on the business requirements. Although CTP tends to outstrip DI, both companies seeing steady sales in DI as well as CTP. According to Digital Dots research, there are slightly more than 5200 DI presses and nearly 20,000 digital platesetters in production worldwide. Most commercial printers preferring to go with DI have done so to meet very specific business applications, such as support for longer run lengths than a variable data digital press would be used for. For the most part such printers invest in DI to provide additional capacity, complementing a variable data digital press, and for medium run lengths up to 10,000 copies. On the other hand, printers invest in CTP to streamline their workflows, save time and cut consumables costs and do not make the decision based on run lengths.