Thermal Plates -- The Heat is On

"Since DRUPA, we have been seeing more alternatives to thermal—as in high-quality, long run-length thermal ablative plates such as Agfa's Mistral. Agfa has also previewed its ThermoLite plate, which is non-ablative, and activates on-press," he adds. At Graph Expo, Agfa showed its spray-on emulsion called LiteSpeed—a derivative of ThermoLite. LiteSpeed was shown as part of a technology demonstration on the Creo-Scitex SP process. LiteSpeed is Agfa's spray-on, instant-drying, fusible thermoplastic that, according to Musselman, has wide lithographic characteristics.