Agfa's eco-friendly :Amigo plates help Printgraphics go green
One of the early adopters of Agfa's new developer-free :Amigo thermal plates is Melbourne magazine and periodical printer Printgraphics. The plates handle run lengths to 200,000 (500,000 baked) and use the same ThermoFuse technology as the :Azura system to physically bond the image to the plate without chemical processing – reducing process variables and ensuring consistent, high quality plate production. Together with an :Avalon LF platesetter, the new CtP system is also helping Printgraphics reduce its chemical usage in line with the requirements for ISO14001 environmental accreditation.
“We run about 1500 plates per month but we have the capacity to do more,” explains Printgraphics' director Mark Terrill (pictured below). “We got the system spec'd for growth. Our average press run is around 8,000 but we do go well over 100,000 for some jobs. Using the :Amigo plates gives us more flexibility with long runs and they behave exactly the same as the ones we were running before.”
Printgraphics was established in 1979 by current managing director (and Printing Industries' Victorian Regional Council President) Ray Keen. It moved into its refurbished premises Mt Waverley in 2002 and has been steadily growing since then. It operates two Komori presses – one 5-colour and a newer 6-colour 40 inch – which handle 1030x800mm plates. Before installing its own CtP system, Terrill says they relied on outsourcing their digital plates.
“Bringing it in-house gives us more flexibility with clients [like giving them test proofs at no-charge] and gives us total ownership of the jobs, which our customers really like.”
The new system comprises an :Avalon LF with PlateManager, :Amigo plates, and a :Grand SherpaMatic imposition proofer for mock-ups, :ApogeeX workflow, and the accompanying workstations. Although Printgraphics looked at many other CtP systems, Agfa was chosen because of its quality product and holistic approach.
“Agfa was happy to do the whole package, right down to the MACs and the software ... and their advice and professional approach was very good.”
The :Avalon LF incorporates Agfa's High Definition Imaging Head (with Grating Light Valve), a three-pin registration system, external-drum design and high-powered processing, auto-calibration, and an advanced operator terminal. Maximum plate size is 1130mm x 820mm . The PlateManager – a four-cassette, automated plate loader – can hold a total of 240 plates online.
The :Amigo negative-working plate combines a standard electrochemically-grained and anodised aluminium base with a single coating of ink-accepting thermofusable (latex) particles. During exposure to a standard thermal laser, the coating absorbs heat in the image areas, fusing the particles and bonding them to the plate.
To handle the long press runs, the :Amigo's latex pearls are smaller than the :Azura (which handles press runs to 100,000). This provides a greater surface area (for higher plate sensitivity and resolution) and ensures the image adheres effectively to the aluminium substrate during fusing so it can handle longer runs.
Because of the stronger latex bond, a mild chemical wash-out is used to remove non-imaged areas (rather than the gum used for :Azura). However, as Garry Muratore (Agfa's Oceania marketing manager) explains, the amount of chemistry used in this clean-out step is small compared to a standard processed plate.
“A conventional processor using developer will utilise up to 300ml per square metre of plate processed, depending on plate type. :Amigo uses 20 to 50 mils and one batch can clean up to 5,000m2 of plate.”
Muratore believes that, as more 'green-aware' printing operations like Printgraphics strive to become 'environmentally-responsible', sales of Agfa's ThermoFuse plates will increase further.
“It is encouraging to see such a major printer taking up Agfa's :Amigo plates,” he says. “We've already had significant success in Australia and New Zealand with our chemistry-free :Azura plates [and] we expect to see the same with our :Amigo plates.”
One of the early adopters of Agfa's new developer-free :Amigo thermal plates is Melbourne magazine and periodical printer Printgraphics. The plates handle run lengths to 200,000 (500,000 baked) and use the same ThermoFuse technology as the :Azura system to physically bond the image to the plate without chemical processing – reducing process variables and ensuring consistent, high quality plate production. Together with an :Avalon LF platesetter, the new CtP system is also helping Printgraphics reduce its chemical usage in line with the requirements for ISO14001 environmental accreditation. 
Printgraphics was established in 1979 by current managing director (and Printing Industries' Victorian Regional Council President) Ray Keen. It moved into its refurbished premises Mt Waverley in 2002 and has been steadily growing since then. It operates two Komori presses – one 5-colour and a newer 6-colour 40 inch – which handle 1030x800mm plates. Before installing its own CtP system, Terrill says they relied on outsourcing their digital plates.