I. Benefits of introducing CTP technology
Reduce production links and shorten the production cycle
Improve production efficiency and increase the utilization rate of printing machines
Improve printing quality and increase market competitiveness
Reduce production costs and improve benefits
With the development of printing today, the competition between printing companies is no longer a simple equipment competition and price competition, but a competition of comprehensive capabilities. Whether the printing process and process changes are practical and correct should be evaluated and measured by whether they can improve the company's control over production. The most important of these is the control of each work link: control efficiency, control quality, and control cost.
There are many variable factors in the traditional plate imaging process that will directly affect the printing plant's most expensive department printing workshop. The impacts it causes include:
Longer adjustment preparation time
Increased material loss
Unable to guarantee accurate screening (amplitude modulation and/or frequency modulation)
Poor printing suitability leads to unstable printing quality.
The direct consequence of unstable plate imaging is increased costs, reduced profits, and reduced customer satisfaction.
Key points: The key to CTP technology is to eliminate variable factors in the plate imaging process.
Improving production capacity and quality will, of course, come at a cost. But this cost should be seen as an investment - an investment in improving the company's capabilities, which will yield greater returns.
2. Comparison of technical principle
Photosensitive technology:
The traditional imaging principle similar to film exposure is used. The surface of the plate is coated with photosensitive materials, and the film senses the light energy controlled by the data to produce an image. There are two photosensitive methods: silver salt and photopolymerization. Generally, the internal drum exposure imaging method is used.
Visible light printing plates are more sensitive because they can expose images with very low energy (it is measured in milliwatts, while thermal lasers are measured in watts). The weak exposure energy can only cause subtle changes to the photosensitive emulsion, and these subtle changes will be magnified when the plate is developed. As long as the exposure is slightly over or under during the manufacturing, storage, temperature, humidity, or washing process of the printing plate, it will have a significant impact on the imaging area. The sensitivity of the visible light CTP system makes its imaging stability not much improved compared with the typesetting system, and it is even more difficult to control.
Thermal technology: Thermal technology refers to the generation of plate images by thermal energy. Generally, the external drum imaging method is adopted.
An important concept in thermal technology is the critical value: below the critical temperature, the plate will not generate an image and no reaction will occur. When the critical temperature is reached, the plate generates an image. Moreover, when the temperature exceeds the critical temperature, which is equivalent to overexposure in the traditional plate making process, the size and shape of the generated dots will not be affected. This fundamentally solves the inaccurate dot replication caused by overexposure, insufficient exposure or unstable washing conditions in the traditional photosensitive platemaking process.
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/.