Compact CTP For Small Printers From Esko

Smaller commercial printers are searching for simple and straightforward conversion to CTP, at a very affordable price, according to Esko-Graphics.

Smaller commercial printers are searching for simple and straightforward conversion to CTP, at a very affordable price, according to Esko-Graphics.

In response, Esko is introducing the Platedriver Compact, aimed at two-up and four-up printing companies that want to progress from film-based platemaking to CTP.

The Platedriver Compact has an internal drum design that guarantees the highest possible geometric and registration accuracy, and perfect dot quality, said Esko.

It uses a 40mW violet laser, which is equally suited to expose silver and photopolymer plates.

Violet silver halide plates can run up to 350,000 impressions and violet photopolymer plates, when baked, can provide more than one million impressions.

Esko-Graphics offers the same three-year unconditional warranty on the violet laser system as it does with other Platedriver models.

Platedriver Compact has a fixed optical resolution of 2540dpi, which allows for screen rulings up to 200lpi.

With a 36,000rpm spinner, it offers impressive productivity of 20 four-up plates per hour, meeting the requirements of most small to medium printers running two or three presses.

The system supports a maximum plate format of 615mm x 745mm.

The built-in three-point plate registration system assures that plates are ready for post punching prior to mounting on press.

The system is operated manually like a conventional contact frame, in a yellow safelight room.

The operator opens the lid and places the printing plate onto the horizontal loading table.

The plate is automatically clamped, loaded into the cylinder and exposed.

When exposure is complete, the plate is sent back to the loading table, which returns to horizontal position.

The plate is unclamped and ready for manual removal.

The Platedriver Compact comes with an integrated queue management system.

Using it, the press operator can launch plates for output, whenever needed.

It comes bundled with Esko-Graphics' Flowdrive 4 workflow solution, or integrates into any existing prepress workflow system able to deliver one-bit TIFF files.

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