Technology marches on, and plates/platemaking is no exception. To keep you abreast of the newest technology and its usage, Converting surveyed suppliers of plates and prepress systems. Their responses make clear that digital plates and computer-to-plate (CTP) are beating out other plate/plate-making options. Suppliers we spoke with discussed the newest trends, misconceptions, and today's capabilities.

Digital and CTP plate technology is not just for "early adopters" anymore. "A broader audience is now seeing the benefits of moving to CTP and the solutions are now available to justify their ROI. The future will be thermal processless media and CTP devices," says Chris Allen, product manager of VLF for Creo, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

Paul Beaumont, product manager of Applied Imaging and Media for Creo, states that the current trends are a move to more no-preheat plates. "Printers/converters can realize cost savings with no-preheat solutions and more new thermal CTP installs are utilizing no-preheat plates—the next step being processless."

"The industry by and large is finding the simplicity of the digital workflow," says Tyler Harrell, FIQ manager for Esko-Graphics, Vandalia, OH.

There are a few misconceptions that may be keeping converters from investigating the technology, say suppliers. A few commented that many companies believe CTP is more expensive, while others say companies tend to think the newest technology is too hard to learn. "Studies have shown ROI in terms of increased productivity and reduced costs," states Allen.

"There is a misconception that thermal no-preheat plates only offer limited run lengths. Today, in the market, there are several positive working thermal media types available that are specified to run at 400k impressions—some of those media do not require post bake and are being competitively priced by the vendors," says Beaumont.

"The most common misconception we run into is that platemaking has to be a difficult, unpredictable, and cumbersome process. People are reluctant to accept the simplicity of the digital plate workflow," says Harrell.

Because offset digital sales continue to grow to meet the rising demand for faster turnaround and improved quality, manufacturers must expand their plate manufacturing facilities to meet the challenge, according to Sheila Nysko, Agfa Corp., packaging segment manager, Wilmington, MA.

"This doesn't mean that analog plates have gone away. Today, customers want to be assured that both analog and digital plates are in a manufacturer's portfolio," says Nysko.

"The digital plate workflow eliminates so many of the common inconsistencies and problems found in its analog counterpart. Digital platemaking is more mechanical and repeatable, and therefore more consistent than analog platemaking," says Harrell.

"Customers are needing to provide better quality plates faster and at reasonable/lower prices," states Allen.

"The product to press is predictable, and at the press level, digital plates improve quality with severely reduced difficulty," states Harrell.

"As the digital market grows, converters are looking for the best platemaking systems to meet run length, quality, and ink type requirements," says Nysko. Plate manufacturers can now develop grain technologies requiring less water and faster roll up than ever before, she says.

Thermal used to be the only digital plate type on the market, but today other options are available. "Today violet plate technology has become almost as popular, particularly for certain packaging applications. This allows printers to have the right platesetter and plate system to meet their particular press application," says Nysko.

While older digital plate technology required off-line processing, especially for larger format plate-setters, "Today, totally online automated configurations are available for ease and productivity," she says.

For converters, health and environment concerns need to be understood when making a final decision on any type of plate or platemaking system.

This technology needs to be designed to remove the ablation particles that may occur in thermal platemaking systems. "Some thermal plates have little to no ablative characteristics," says Nysko.

As for the future of digital, the next plate technology breakthrough for offset printing is said to be no-process plates. "This technology is right around the corner," she says.