DIGITAL PLATESETTERS -- The Write One

To be fair, the original post did contain a preliminary list of hardware manufacturers the buyer was planning to evaluate. This set an expectation that the discussion was to be about platesetters. What the message threads revealed, though, is the extent to which the CTP buying decision really is about a system (digital plate, platesetter, front end and possibly a processor or even ovens) and an underlying imaging technology (thermal vs. violet, primarily). Since the components are so interdependent, this article really should be considered the second part to the story on digital plates that was published (on page 48) in the August issue of Printing Impressions.