Agfa re-energises thermal plates

Agfa completes its widest range of digital offset plates to meet exact requirements of any printing operation.


At a pre-IPEX press conference late last week, Agfa Graphics announced that it will launch a new range of three thermal plates at Ipex (Birmingham, UK, 4-11 April).

:Energy, :Energy Marathon and :Energy Elite target the largest segment of today's offset plate market - the global market for thermal plates is estimated to be over 200 million sq.m/year business in 2006.

(Right: With its new :Energy assortment, Agfa are completing a series of innovations that put it at the forefront of thermal imaging)

:Energy

:Energy is Agfa Graphics' new general-purpose plate for the thermal CtP (computer-to-plate) market. It will gradually replace the current :Thermostar P970 across Australia & New Zealand in coming months. :Energy brings high sensitivity for full-capacity throughput in any Agfa or third-party platesetter with an 830nm thermal laser. The plate offers excellent visual contrast for easy image verification. It has absolute thermal stability for precise imaging with consistent plate making characteristics, plate after plate. :Energy is qualified for all major thermal platesetters, as well as operating in virtually all thermal plate processors. Consistent within the whole :Energy family of plates, :Energy is capable of the highest quality reproduction: 1 - 99% at 200lpi, FM screening and 340lpi :Sublima.

The :Energy plate has an exceptionally wide press latitude with ideal ink/water balance and excellent make-ready and restart characteristics, giving lower paper waste and faster start-up. It will achieve 150,000 impressions unbaked (depending on press conditions) and over a million impressions when baked.

To compliment the :Energy plate, there is new :Energy Developer, which gives clean processing with low replenishment rates - long bath life of six weeks or more and simple drain and rinse cleaning. The :Energy Developer is back-compatible with :Thermostar P970 to enable an easy changeover for existing Agfa customers.

:Energy Marathon

:Energy Marathon is a new plate aimed at long-run print applications. When undertaking very high print runs under difficult printing conditions, many baked plates need frequent blanket washing, especially when using lower grade uncoated paper, cast-coated card or other difficult stock. :Energy Marathon is a unique premium plate for very high print runs of a million impressions or more with baking. It offers all the benefits of :Energy with the addition of features like the special Marathon Graining Technology, which makes it the most robust baked plate on the market. :Energy Marathon reduces the frequency of press stops, blanket cleaning and remakes, which improves productivity and thus saves cost in printing operations with high print runs under difficult printing conditions.

:Energy Elite

The new :Energy Elite premium no-bake plate brings all the benefits of :Energy thermal plates to printers who require long print runs without baking. Agfa's coating technologists have formulated a patented base layer under the thermally sensitised top layer, which gives :Energy Elite outstanding chemical resistance. The run length for :Energy Elite is 350,000 impressions or more without baking and it is compatible with UV inks, alcohol substitutes and aggressive press chemicals. The press latitude is wide, with low dampening levels and optimum ink/water balance.

Its high exposure sensitivity enables all platesetters to operate at their maximum throughput and it is capable of the same excellent reproduction as all the :Energy plate family.

:Energy Elite uses the dedicated Elite Developer, which keeps processing very clean and stable regardless of the type of processor used.

The Widest Range of Digital Plates

"With our new :Energy assortment, we're completing a series of innovations that put Agfa Graphics at the forefront of thermal imaging," says Garry Muratore, Agfa Graphics Regional Marketing Manager. "We now have the widest choice of digital plates to suit the exact needs of printing companies in commercial, packaging and newspaper printing applications. Back at the height of analogue plate sales it was clear that no one plate could adequately support all print applications, the same is true now in the digital era, hence why we have greatly expanded the thermal plate range.”

Violet Technology Continues to Grow


When asked about leadership position in violet plate technology Muratore replied, "We pioneered violet plate imaging technology and remain the clear leader in this segment of the market. The violet laser and its low cost of ownership offer untapped potential for further developments and future growth."

(Above: The Avalon LF, with its violet laser and low cost of ownership, offers untapped potential for further developments and future growth)

With Agfa's expertise in violet plates and imager technology, Agfa also used the pre-IPEX event to announce the world's first violet diode based GLV equipped external drum platesetter, the :Avalon Violet. The new model uses a variation on Agfa's HD imager found in the highly successful :Avalon thermal engines which were launched in Australia and New Zealand in the latter part of 2005.

This new model utilises a patented proprietary imaging technique to provide the high image contrast needed for high-speed violet plates. A range of models using single and multi-diode configurations will be offered. The throughput for the initial models will range from 20 to 30 plates per hour but faster models will be announced at a later date. The system is compatible with Agfa's :Lithostar and :N91V violet plates.

:Avalon's Grating Light Valve (GLV) design (from Silicon Light Machines) provides precise beam control of individual beams giving excellent consistency.

The :Avalon LF-Violet will be available in a manual plate-loading, semi automatic configuration, and optionally with single-cassette and multi-cassette full automation. Customers in the Oceania region can expect deliveries to start in Q3 2006.


Chemistry-free plates find solid acceptance

“Pacprint last May was day one for chemical-free plates in our part of the world,” says Muratore. “Since then we have seen installs in every state and New Zealand, it's a new market segment that has certainly found acceptance in this region. With ThermoFuse and :Azura, we have taken the lead in the trend toward process-free platemaking. We added :Amigo to the ThermoFuse family at the end of last year.” Early user feedback shows that :Amigo may well prove even more successful than chemistry-free :Azura, which has been installed in over 600 printing sites (globally) in little over a year.

"When we surveyed printers' requirements for thermal plates, they told us what they are looking for is more robust plates with better stability and wider latitude, long run lengths, no baking, good resistance to alcohol substitutes and UV inks, less complex or chemistry-free processing. Agfa Graphics' new assortment meets all of these requirements. We are confident that in 2006, we'll be able to help more printing companies than ever to Stay Ahead."

Agfa can be found at Stand C10 in Hall 6 at IPEX. Ipex: the global technology event for print, publishing and media.

Ipex, the biggest printing and graphics arts exhibition in the English-speaking world, takes place from 4-11th April 2006 at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham UK.