- Overview and imaging principle of purple laser CTP plate
Purple laser CTP technology has received unprecedented attention from printing and related industries due to its advantages of faster speed, higher precision and longer laser life. Across the world, there has been an upsurge in research and development of purple laser CTP technology. In recent years, although there has been a dispute between photosensitive and thermal technologies in the field of CTP, the emergence of new photopolymerized versions and higher-power diodes has given violet lasers a competitive advantage over thermal and UV lasers in the newspaper CTP market. Technical juxtaposition. Due to the superiority of violet laser CTP technology, there has been a shift to violet laser technology in the field of visible light CTP. The domestic production and promotion of two new violet laser versions from Agfa and Fujifilm have added impetus to this process. Even staunch thermal advocates are considering entering the field of violet laser CTP.
The imaging process of purple laser CTP plate can be divided into four steps: exposure, pre-baking, water washing and development (as shown below).
Imaging process of purple laser CTP plate
- Exposure
During the exposure stage, the sensitizing dye in the coating absorbs laser energy, and the molecules transition from the ground state to the excited state. The initiator is sensitized through energy transfer or electron transfer, thereby decomposing to generate free radicals to initiate polymerization.
- Pre-baking
The purpose of pre-baking is to further solidify the exposed cured coating (graphic area) under high temperature conditions, increase the dissolution contrast between the graphic area and the non-graphic area, increase the strength of the graphic area and increase the print resistance.
- Wash with water
The purpose of water washing is to remove the water-soluble oxygen barrier layer on the surface of the photosensitive CTP plate before development. In order to ensure rapid removal, the thickness of the protective layer should be controlled within a certain range.
4.Develop
Uncured areas are removed to produce an image. It is worth noting that photopolymerized plates often need to be wiped with a brush during the development process, and the pressure of the brush on the plate should be strictly controlled.
- Market application situation
Purple laser CTP users are divided into two categories: commercial advertising users and newspaper users. The two categories have different requirements for print quality, and ultimately decided to use purple laser CTP plate making systems from different manufacturers. Fujifilm's LP-NV violet laser CTP plate has become the choice of commercial advertising users due to its high precision. As of the third quarter of 2005, Fujifilm has sold a total of 1,000 Luxel violet laser plate making systems worldwide. Agfa's N91V has become the choice of newspaper industry users due to its high plate making speed. As of the third quarter of 2005, Agfa has sold a total of 1,200 newspaper purple laser plate making systems worldwide, and 95% of global newspaper CTPs use this company. Purple laser CTP (including silver salt version).
Purple laser plate N91v is the violet laser version of Agfa N91 photopolymerization plate. The purple laser N91v plate has the same printing characteristics as N91 and can be processed in the same plate processor with the same chemical PDN91. Using N91v, the mid-tone dot increase can also be reduced from the previous 12% to 14% to 5% to 6%. It is reported that the Purple Laser N91v has been produced in the United States or China according to market demand.
Huida Print-All Technology company is an advanced and professional manufacturer of producing printing plates, mainly sales CTP, CTCP, and PS plates as well as offering ODM/OEMs, especially for the offset. For more information, please click the official website link here: https://www.huidaoffsetplate.com/.