Creo Screening technology – Staccato and SQUAREspot – Producing Better Printing

Creo delivers advanced screening technology for consistent, reliable, high-impact print production in offset and flexo printing.

Staccato screening produces high fidelity, artifact-free images that exhibit fine detail without halftone rosettes, screening moiré, grey-level limitations or abrupt jumps in tone – with no impact on RIPing or rendering time.

Staccato screening also improves colour and halftone stability on press, making it a perfect complement to consistent "by-the-numbers" printing. When imaged with the consistency and accuracy of SQUAREspot thermal imaging Staccato screening delivers unmatched quality to proof and plate, making screening a practical tool for today's pressroom, and an effective competitive edge for today's printers.

Increased stability means more vibrant, more predictable colour
Staccato screening brings tonal and colour stability to the pressroom, by reducing variations in dot gain, wet trap, and colour contamination from paper. The random nature of the Staccato halftone patterns also means that misregistration does not degrade the look of the halftone, nor does it cause overall colour shifts in presswork. Unique halftones are used in each separation to prevent dot-on-dot printing. With this kind of stability, you can reliably replace custom colours with process screen builds.
Staccato screens absorb light more efficiently and produce midtone vibrancy and gamut that is not possible with AM screens. Staccato provides near-contone quality, protects the purity and saturation of colours.

SQUAREspot thermal imaging for reliable stochastic screening
Conventional filmsetters as well as computer-to-plate (CTP) devices require a level of process control in imaging, proofing, plating, and processing that makes it difficult for many printers to deliver consistent results.



Comparing the difference between traditional thermal imaging and Creo's SQUAREspot thermal imaging. Note that round laser spots have gradations of energy from centre to edge.

Creo SQUAREspot thermal imaging technology is the foundation for accurate and consistent presswork in all production conditions. With SQUAREspot, stochastic screening is reliable and practical for routine daily production. SQUAREspot delivers end-to-end imaging integrity from the original file through to the press despite natural imaging variables such as laser power, plate emulsion sensitivity, and processor variation.

Smooth tints and quartertones for noise-free print
You can print consistently smoother tints and quartertones with Staccato screening. Second-order screens overcome the problems with graininess and visible artifacts in flat tint areas that are commonly associated with traditional first-order FM screens. Staccato second-order dots are clustered into orderly patterns to eliminate low-frequency noise and inconsistencies that lead to visibly grainy patterns seen with other FM screens.

Print on more materials, with thinner ink films
Staccato screening prints with thinner ink films, making it ideal for printing onto a wide range of substrates including fine paper, uncoated stock, recycled paper, newsprint, plastics and metals. Shadows can be held open without sacrificing solid ink density, contrast or gamut. Thin ink films dry faster than AM screens, which improves performance on perfecting presses, reduces drying time with less setoff, and may help speed up work in progress and reduce time to bindery.

Staccato screening meets the stability and quality needs of sheetfed and web offset printers. It is being used with great success in all offset printing environments, including web publication, directory printing, packaging, and commercial sheetfed printing.

Staccato provides on-press stability for critical-critical work, helping ensure flesh tones and process colour builds remain consistent.


Optimised screens for print, proof, and tone control
Staccato screening is optimised for printability and smoothness. Unique halftones are used in each separation. To ensure consistency, the dot patterns are built-in and deliver the same pattern every time they are imaged. Pre-defined calibration curves help normalize dot gain to standard printing conditions. For specific print requirements, Staccato screens can be optimised with the Harmony tonal calibration utility in Prinergy, or with Tone Reproduction Curves in Brisque workflow software.

Creo uses a unique 10,000 optical dpi energy swath to expose the plate. The laser spot is turned on and off (modulated) as it sweeps the plate, according to the 2,400 dpi recorder grid, to build each halftone dot.

Simplicity for workflow integration
Staccato screens are applied and calibrated in prepress in the same manner as other halftone screens. Staccato screening can be controlled from Brisque and Prinergy workflows, and from desktop applications that can assign screening to PDF and EPS images, pages, forms, and individual separations. It has no effect on RIPing or rendering time.


Creo's New Flexo Screening Technology - MaxTone™

For high-quality flexographic printing, Creo offers MaxTone™ screening, a hybrid AM screening solution that overcomes highlight and shadow reproduction limitations. MaxTone uses high-quality Prinergy® AM screening through the main part of the tone scale. Highlight and shadow tonality is managed with larger dots that are more printable, and tonality is controlled by varying the number of dots using sophisticated FM screening techniques.

MaxTone allows users to specify different dot sizes in highlights and shadows, independent of screen ruling, angle and dot shape. MaxTone is available in version 2.1 of the Prinergy Powerpack™ workflow.

A brand-new technology from Creo, called ‘scaffolding’, complements MaxTone. It aids in the exposure of small dots or graphic elements on a photopolymer plate. Scaffolding helps to reduce the relief depth in between dots and expands the base of the shoulder so the dots are better formed and ready to stand up to the wear and tear of normal use. Scaffolding preserves the size of the dot and the intended tonality, but makes it possible for printers to work with smaller highlight dots. Users configure MaxTone and scaffolding to suit the behavior and leverage the capabilities of their manufacturing operation.

For further information on Creo's Flexographic screening Solution go to www.bluelinemedia.com.au/index.cfm?pageid=feature&id=14&archive=138