Technology Hot Spot : Process-free CTP Plate Technology

With the continuous upgrading of technology, treatment-free CTP plate has gradually transitioned from the initial technology development period to the practical and marketable maturity stage from the first appearance of drupa2004 to the prairie fire trend of drupa2012 to the blossoming of drupa2016.

From the development history, treatment-free CTP plate with its mature performance advantages and absolute environmental protection advantages, more and more favored by users, the domestic market sales of treatment-free CTP plate in 2021 is close to 10 million square meters, the sales are growing.

In terms of product supply, the market is rich in treatment-free CTP plate products. Currently widely accepted and used by users are Kodak, Fujifilm, Agfa, Lucky Huaguang, etc., all of which have launched mature processing-free CTP plate solutions.

For example, Kodak has launched the first generation of process-free CTP plate Thermal Direct, the second generation of process-free CTP plate Sonora XP, and the third generation of process-free CTP plate Sonora X. Fujifilm has launched the first generation of process-free CTP plate Brillia HD Pro T, the second generation of process-free CTP plate Brillia HD Pro T2, and the third generation of process-free CTP plate Sonora X. The third generation of process-free CTP plate Sonora X has been widely accepted and used by users. Brillia HD Pro T2, Brillia HD Pro T3 and Brillia HD Pro T3, the third generation of process-free CTP plates; Agfa launched Azura, a process-free CTP plate; and Lucky Huaguang launched TP-G, TD-G and TD-G Plus, the first generation of process-free CTP plates.

Over the past two years, in order to meet the growing demand of users, major plate suppliers have invested a lot of R&D efforts to launch new treatment-free CTP plates. For example:

01

FUJIFILM's new Superia ZX, a super no-process CTP plate, incorporates four new technologies: Superior Color Development Technology, Print Control Coating Layer Technology, No-Process Adhesive Layer Technology, and Super Adhesion Gluing Technology, which can complete on-machine development with only 10 to 20 sheets of overprint paper, and provides a higher contrast between graphic and non-graphic portions of the plate, especially as the details of the characters' hair and fine text presented in the plate are all It can support normal offset ink, UV offset ink and LED-UV offset ink at the same time.

02

Process-free CTP plates offer faster imaging speeds and three times the image contrast, and can achieve high print durability of 400,000 prints on rotary offset presses, 250,000 prints on sheetfed offset presses, and 100,000 prints in UV printing, as well as similar scratch and abrasion resistance as non-process-free plates, which makes them more suitable for fast-paced, high-volume printing environments. Process-free CTP plates have ultra-high repeatability and resolution, with dot reductions of 1% to 99% at 200 lpi, and FM screening can be as low as 10 microns, providing cost-effective performance, more stable quality and better performance. Whether it is technology or application, these innovative products have brought a lot of surprises to the industry and overturned the industry's perception of treatment-free CTP plates.

No innovative technology development is overnight. The current treatment-free CTP plate in technology there are still some bottlenecks, such as plate detection is slightly insufficient, print resistance compared to the traditional thermal CTP plate to be low, the suitability of UV ink is low, etc., the scope of application of the printing enterprises caused by the larger limitations. However, the processing-free CTP plate is the future development trend of the printing industry, and will replace the traditional thermal CTP plate to become the mainstream of the market.

Ultra-high plate contrast and adapt to UV ink printing is the future of processing-free CTP plate two major directions of development, I believe that with the continuous iteration of technology, it will further help printing enterprises to improve quality and efficiency.