Agfa Graphics product debuts, including workflow and plates, to highlight exhibit at IFRA

Agfa Graphics announced this week that it has demonstrated more than a dozen of its latest products and software solutions, including the first-ever public demonstrations of the :Arkitex Core 6.0 workflow system and :N92v plates.

The demonstrations have taken place at IFRA, the international newspaper and publishing show, currently taking place in Vienna, Austria. Agfa has also hosted 'Meet the Experts' discussions with experts on a wide variety of technical issues that are impacting the industry worldwide.

In addition to software demonstrations, Agfa has been running several imaging units live on the stand. Demonstrations have included the new :N92v photopolymer CTP (violet) and violet chemistry-free plates. Other integrated prepress solutions demonstrated at IFRA this week are:

* :N92v (worldwide debut), violet laser plates that incorporate violet photopolymer plate technology and offer improved run lengths combined with superior performance on press;

* :Arkitex Core 6.0 (worldwide debut), a workflow system that includes :Arkitex Courier and Director and features enhancements such as integration with industry-leading pre-flight systems to enable automatic PDF page checking, and early notification of technical issues;

* :Advantage DL, a manual-loading platesetter that uses a durable violet-laser diode, produces up to 100 plates per hour, and can be configured for multiple plate sizes (being shown with the :VPP processor and violet chemistry-free plates);

* :Arkitex AdCenter and AdControl, web-based solutions that improve and streamline the newspaper display ad process from front end to back;

* :Arkitex Afirma, a health monitoring and reporting solution for newspapers that controls the plate production process and accelerates the understanding of problems when they occur;

* :Arkitex IntelliTune X, a powerful image enhancement software system that helps newspapers improve photo reproduction quality quickly and easily (also includes :IntelliTune for Mac);

* :Arkitex OptiInk, a system that improves image quality while reducing ink consumption, improving performance on press and increasing productivity;

* :Arkitrex PowerWedge, a digital wedge developed and patented by Agfa, that is placed on every plate to check quality;

* :Arkitex Sublima, an advanced cross-modulated screening technology that improves print quality by capturing the finest details and creating the most vibrant colours;

* :Polaris XTV-S, a violet imaging CtP system designed to meet all automation and speed requirements of newspaper production (shown with the :VXP processor and the new :N92v plates).

Local Representation
Fresh from a successful PANPA show in Melbourne in August Agfa's Newspaper Business Manager Koni Neuhofer is in Vienna to meet with Australian newspapers who have made the pilgrimage to IFRA.

"The IFRA show has always been an effective venue for us since newspaper and publishing professionals from all over the world come to learn about the advances being made in the industry worldwide. The many live production demonstrations with products such as the new :Arkitex 6.0 system,:N92v plates and OptiInk have been hugely successful with a delegation from an Australian newspaper one of the first to take part in an OptiInk demonstration," said Neuhofer.

OptiInk Down under
Neuhofer explained that already OptiInk has already been trailed at several Australian newspaper sites with great success.

"OptiInk also improves image quality while reducing ink consumption. This is the result of using the Agfa patented ICC-compatible technology, which we call Smart Input Space recognition (SISR) OptiInk will also improve press performance enhancing productivity even further," said Neuhofer.

Agfa's SISR intelligently analyses incoming images-from both advertising and editorial-to determine the ICC profile (input space). Very often a page will contain images with contain a commercial heat-set profile embedded, specifying more ink. Sometimes an image won't have any profile at all, which will cause unwanted colour casts. OptiInk automatically calculates the colour space and converts it to the specific newspaper press profile (output space) on which the run will print. It even converts spot colours to the appropriate process profile. The result is improved colour fidelity and more consistent ink coverage.

OptiInk applies GCR (Grey Component Replacement) in conjunction with Agfa's patented Advanced Colour Management, to provide the maximum possible Ink Cost saving at the highest level of quality. This is applied after correcting the colour profile with SISR to reduce the amount of ink over the complete file. And this includes all images inside the PDF file, even if they in RGB, and also text and vectors.

Calculate your ink savings online
Agfa believes that  OptiInk allows newspaper printers to save up to 30% on ink consumption. So as local printers can get a realistic idea Agfa has created an FTP site to facilitate the uploading of sample files. Agfa states: "Simply upload a couple of PDF files and your press profile and we'll do the math for you. We'll run your files through :OptiInk and calculate your potential saving."

The OptiInk FTP site can be found at  apl.agfa.com/ftp01/