DIGITAL PLATESETTERS -- Growing by Twos and Fours

"We do a lot of makereadies in a day, so we needed an automated, reliable and fast CTP solution," Goldsmith adds. Marcus Printing produces a range of printed products in runs of 500 to 100,000 impressions, she notes.

The company falls squarely into the small- to mid-size printer category that Agfa sees as the target market for the Palladio. It is a fully automated system, including plate loading and slip sheet removal, with an in-line processor. A special media cassette keeps 50 plates online for unattended operation. The platesetter is designed to image Agfa Lithostar Ultra-V (silver-halide) plates at 1,200, 2,400 or 3,000 dpi using Agfa Balanced Screening. It handles plate sizes from 11x17.72˝ up to 25x29.68˝.