Chocolate Plate Packaging Box CTcP Technology Review

Chocolate Plate Packaging Box CTcP technology review

 

Since the advent of the desktop publishing system (DTP), the printing industry has been looking for new ways to make plates that can better reflect the high speed of computers. One solution is CTP technology, which no longer requires film development, fixing and other rinsing processes, and directly copies the digital graphic information obtained by computer processing to the printing plate. One obvious shortcoming of this technology is that the plate used is expensive, which makes many users who want to adopt this technology discouraged. CTcP technology is a kind of technology that inherits the advantages of CTP and can continue to use traditional offset printing materials. BasysPrint is the first company in the world to propose the concept of CTcP and develop CTcP platemakers.

 

As early as Drupa1995 International printing Fair, the German printing art (BasysPrint) company launched the initial prototype of the UV-setter plate maker, showing the application of UV light source to the traditional PS offset printing plate exposure of the new technology. At the Drupa2000 International Printing Fair, the German company BasysPrint officially launched the UV-Setter series of plate makers using traditional PS plates for direct plate making, and since then CTcP has boarded the stage of printing history as an epoch-making printing technology.

 

I. Introduction to CTcP technology

CTcP is the abbreviation of Computer to conventional plate, which refers to the direct computer plate making on the traditional PS plate, and it is a form of CTP process. The technology uses a UV light source of 360 ~ 450nm to digitally expose the traditional PS plate. From the current situation, CTcP platemaker generally uses two technical methods: one is digital screen imaging technology (DSI) based on numerical control micromirror device (DMD), the UV-Setter platemaker series produced by BasysPrint is based on this technology; One is to use a CNC light valve to control the optical fiber output laser to achieve exposure technology, Denmark Purup-Eskofot company's Dicon platemaking machine is using this technology. From the current development situation, the CTcP platemaking machine using DMD technology of BasysPrint has achieved remarkable results, occupying the vast majority of the CTcP platemaking machine market share. Therefore, the following will take the German BasysPrint platemaker as an example to introduce the working principle of CTcP.

 

The core of the UV-setter series plate making system of BasysPrint is digital screen imaging technology and micromirror chip technology, through the combination of the two, the successful realization of efficient use of ultraviolet light source to generate clear dot image imaging technology. The system uses an ultraviolet light source with a spectral range of 360 ~ 450nm. The specific working principle is: the ultraviolet light emitted from the light source is illuminated to the DMD (digital micromirror element) by the concentrated light, and the refraction of the DMD is imaged on the plate.

 

Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) was developed by Texas Instrument, USA, DMD is short for Digital Micromirror Device, this technology is also known as "digital light processing technology". There are 1.3 million independently controlled micromirrors on an area of 2cm2. In the imaging process, the light shone on the micromirror is projected onto the plate through the lens, or it is not projected, and is not exposed on the plate, and finally generates an image composed of dots on the plate.

 

2. Analysis of CTcP imaging characteristics

In laser exposure, the resulting circular pixels need to overlap at the edges and thus require more pixels. The UV-Setter series platemaker uses square pixels to form 10 ~ 28μm square pixels according to the resolution, and its clear edges ensure high-quality imaging results. After exposure on conventional rubber plate materials, the clear boundary between exposed and unexposed surfaces guarantees extremely high reproduction quality even at high speeds. Square pixels also guarantee good image quality at low resolutions.

 

For the user, this network means that even with lower resolution, high quality printing can be achieved. In actual work, the use of low resolution has many benefits, such as significantly shortening the RIP time, reducing the amount of data processed, saving the memory of the computer system, faster exposure speed and so on. For example, the number of cables added to the general high-end commercial printing parts is 200lpi, and the resolution is 1500dpi, so the square pixel only has 17μm, so even if the resolution is lower, it can also use CTcP to obtain high-quality images.

 

3. Advantages of CTcP technology

CTcP has many advantages, the most obvious is to improve production efficiency, save time and reduce production costs. However, the degree to which CTcP can be an advantage is also related to the degree of digital technology mastery of the printing company. From traditional plate making to computer direct plate making, there are many important factors affecting the time and cost.

 

1. Significant economy

① Simplified the process flow. The CTcP system reduces the process of film production and plate printing in the traditional process, and saves the consumables and related costs.

 

② Use traditional PS plate material. In various CTP systems, specialized CTP plates are inevitably required, and their prices are very expensive. The plate material used in CTcP plate making is a cheap conventional printing plate material, which is the general PS plate material used in the current process. Compared with other CTP technologies, the CTcP system has a larger price advantage because of the use of traditional PS plate and developer and potion, and can achieve low cost operation of production.

 

③ The equipment is simple. The CTcP system uses UV plate material, so it can be easily operated under open room conditions, and companies can introduce the system without changing other operating environments before press. Its light source uses ultraviolet lamps, the life has been increased to 2500 hours, and the price is not enough to 1/10 of the laser light source, so the operation and maintenance cost of the equipment is very low.

 

2. No need to output film, improve the printing quality

CTcP system inherits the advantages of CTP system - no need to output film, but also can realize the computer directly plate making. In this way, film materials and rinsing materials can be saved, and manual assembling time can be saved. Many users of CTcP have worked with film printing, and without the need for film, the print quality of the printed matter is significantly improved, because the image and dot are not affected by the quality attenuation in the traditional prepress process. The quality of the printing plate after printing is better, because the influencing factors such as dust and scratches on the film are no longer present, and the positioning is more accurate. In short, the dots obtained by CTcP platemaking technology are the first generation of dots passed directly to the plate, with clean, sharp edges and faithful originals.

 

3. Fast and stable integration into the traditional plate making process

Since the CTcP system is still using the ordinary PS plate material familiar to the printing house, the producer can undoubtedly continue to use the various pharmaceutical liquids, developing equipment and punching devices in the original plate making process to achieve a good compatibility between the plate making system and the printing press. Printing companies do not need to worry about the problems caused by changes in printing suitability, and do not need to spend a lot of time and energy to complete the matching work of the plate and the printing press. CTcP technology not only simplifies the original lengthy process, but also preserves the traditional operating habits and printing adaptability to the maximum extent, and provides the best way to complete the production task stably and efficiently.

 

In connection with other prepress systems, CTcP also has its own unique features. All UV-Setter series CTcP platemakers are equipped with an open 1-BitTiff interface. No matter what device and workflow as long as the output file is 1-BitTiff format, it can be perfectly integrated with the CTcP maker. For printing companies, this means that operators can quickly and easily implement the digital plate making process without making additional investments. In addition, the simple equipment and open workflow have more advantages for future maintenance and upgrading.

 

4. Reduce printing debugging time and material loss

Because there is no need for plate positioning, the quality of the plate is better, and it will not need to be re-made due to inaccurate positioning, avoiding the need to spend a lot of time correcting the plate when printing on the machine. With the increasing number of short editions in the entire printing industry, changing editions and commissioning on the machine have become regular work. Reduce printing debugging time, can significantly save time and cost. CTcP platemaking is more accurate than traditional analog platemaking, so it reduces the waste of water, paper, ink and other consumables during commissioning.

 

5. Easy to operate

All UV materials (plates or proofing materials) can be operated in the bright room, while the blue and violet laser needs to operate in a dark room, weak light or yellow light source environment, can be easily exposed to various sizes of plates, can also handle multiple plates at the same time, can be exposed multiple times on the same plate.

 

6. Printing customers are more satisfied

Printing customers are more satisfied with the quality of printed matter, and the printing production time is shorter, which means that the delivery is more timely, reducing the operating costs of the factory, and giving the printing company an advantage in the fierce market competition.

 

7. The advantages of UV direct plate making

The use of 360 ~ 450nm UV light source exposure means that the conventional PS plate can be used in the direct plate making process, which is the printing plate material used by printing manufacturers for many years, familiar with its performance and processing processes, mature technology, and PS plate than thermal CTP plate material, purple laser plate material cheaper, PS plate is the most used printing plate material in the world printing industry. There is no need to train the printer because they already know the properties of the plate.

 

Fourth, the shortcomings of current CTcP technology

Of course, CTcP plate making system also has its shortcomings that can not be ignored. Although the CTcP platemaking system can realize the direct computer platemaking on the ordinary PS plate, the platemaking speed is not satisfactory because the sensitivity of the ordinary PS plate is generally low. In order to cooperate with the promotion of CTcP system, Agfa, Fujifilm, Kodak and other companies have launched a series of plate materials with high sensitivity, so that the CTcP plate making speed is close to the thermal CTP plate making speed. However, in order to make CTcP more competitive, the platemaking speed needs to be further improved. In addition, DMD is the core part of the platemaking machine, in order to improve the resolution, the microlens has been increased from the original 300,000, 800,000 to the current 1.3 million, DMD is a very precise part, which brings certain difficulties to its daily maintenance and maintenance. The failure of any microlens will affect the imaging effect to a certain extent. Once the DMD has a big problem, it needs to be replaced, which not only affects the normal operation of the machine, but also costs a lot.

 

5. Application of CTcP

At Drupa2000 International printing Fair, CTcP is still only a concept product, and its quality, speed, and price are far from other technologies. But after four years, the device has become more mature, the speed has been greatly improved, and the price is more reasonable. At the Drupa2004 International Printing Fair, BasysPrint, a pioneer in computer direct plate making using traditional plate materials, made great progress in imaging technology. At this exhibition, it exhibited UV-Setter1132, UV-Setter N546, UV-Setter531, UV-Setter736, UV-Setter731e and other CTcP systems in the traditional PS plate making, and launched DSI2 technology. The fourth generation UV-Setter series platemaking machine has higher imaging accuracy and faster speed. After the FOGRA test, it is considered that the resolution of the output of the UV-Setter system is very good. For example, the UV-SetterN546 platform platemaking machine designed for the newspaper industry uses DSI2 technology, which increases the exposure speed by 40%-60%, and the platemaking speed reaches 120 sheets per hour, which is a new imaging technology that well solves the needs of higher speed for the newspaper industry.

The main products of the UV-Setter direct plate-making output machine of Biwin Printing Art include: UV-Setter 5 series, UV-Setter 7 series, UV-Setter 11 series and UV-Setter N series. The UV-Setter 5 is designed in quad format for commercial, packaging and book printing with a maximum exposure size of 690×940mm on conventional PS plates and printing materials. The UV-Setter 7 series is designed in a folier format for commercial, packaging and book printing, with a maximum exposure size of 940×1150mm on traditional Photoshop plates and printing materials. The UV-Setter 11 series is the only UV-Setter that can handle a size of 1580×3207mm, and can also handle multiple plates at the same time (e.g., two folics, 700×1000mm); The UV-Setter N series is designed for newspaper printing solutions where all target newspaper formats can be exposed (maximum size 940×690mm).

 

Once CTcP technology appeared, it was immediately sought after by the printing industry. In just a few years, Bilwin has installed 530 UV-Setter systems worldwide. Among them, there are about 135 UV-Setter 5 series installations, about 280 UV-Setter 7 series installations, about 50 UV-Setter 11 installations, and about 65 UV-Setter N series installations.

 

The CTcP platemaking machine of Bilwin Printing Art company has entered the Chinese market since 2003, after more than a year of market understanding and verification process, Bilwin Printing Art company CTcP platemaking machine has gradually won the recognition and love of Chinese customers, and showed a good and strong sales momentum in 2005, the beginning of 2005, CTcP plate-making machine has been Baosteel Group, Yonghong Printing Group, Junsi Group and other large well-known enterprises to order. On the basis of its long-term experience in using CTP, Yonghong Printing Group purchased 9 CTcP platemaking machines at one time after contacting the CTcP equipment of Bisheng Printing Art, which shows the attractiveness of CTcP platemaking machines in many aspects such as cost. As of May 2005, the sales volume of CTcP platemaking machines in China in 2005 has exceeded 20. Because CTcP can reduce the cost of plate making and improve the efficiency of plate making, so as to improve the competitiveness of printing plants, the author believes that CTcP has great application potential in China.