The rapid spread of digital technology has brought great changes to the printing industry. The most important one is CTP (Computer TOPlate). In particular, the digitization of pre-press work has reached an almost complete state.
In the field of printing and postpress, due to the combination with prepress engineering, digital-based automation has made great progress. Machines and devices that meet the needs of many varieties, small batches, short delivery times, and high added value continue to be developed. roll out. Powerful printing companies have introduced these new technologies, sought to rationalize their operations, and increased their productivity. They have established a posture corresponding to the digital era.
Expectation for PDF
The compelling aspect of the standard format for graphic arts is PDF. There have been Acrobat4, OJ sold by Adobe of the United States and NewCIDfont sold by Sensen of Japan, which has made the PDF environment in printing a considerable progress. Acrobat4.0J was developed as a new program for PDF authoring software "Acrobat". It is possible to carry Japanese-language fonts and send PDF files to remote factories or outside processing sites for remote printing (subject to limitations such as RIP). NewCIDfont (for Macintosh fonts) In addition to CID fonts that can be loaded into PDFs, two fonts, OCF (Original Composite Font) and New CID, can be installed on a single Macintosh, changing the font names from the original CID fonts.
As one of the workflows that can promote the digital environment, there is Apogee produced by Agfa. It is not limited to the version of the OS or application software. It is a PDF-based open digital workflow that supports everything from image integration, CTP, and digital printing. Constituted by Apogeephot, ApogeePDFRIG, ApogeePrintDrive. Prinergy, which was jointly developed by Heidelberg and Crio, is characterized by the simplicity and versatility of PDF (PrintReadyPDF) for printing. If a printing company can simply complete a PDF including the necessary conditions for color management, overprinting, OPI (automatic image exchange for images), and the like, it is possible to conduct rapid transactions with users by means of remote proofing, and workflow flexibility can also be achieved. substantial improvement. Scitex's Brisgue has become the digital front end of the workflow process. It manages the summarization of all data formats from input to output, which is the key between secure and productive workflows.
Fujifilm's digital front-end system, Valiano, is a versatile RIP system that manages the various jobs required before output, and can handle a variety of input and output formats. It is designed for very smooth output management. Similarly, the workflow RIP's CelebraNTPLU is an extended version of RIP-processed page number data and the proof output function from the combination of the points. In the final delivery stage, a non-returnable workflow can be constructed.
Communication affecting the operation form
Recently, the most noticeable is the communications network. According to the application of communication, the forms of operations such as printing and plate making have been affected in various ways. Scitex's Vio can perform integrated services from improving application software to user support. Hardware, application software, and communication equipment are all available in full packages and no additional investment is required. Advertising companies, affixing companies, printing companies, etc., usually rely on digital data for information exchange. Once Vio's network is used, horizontal cooperation can be carried out.
Vio has three services. The job exchange service uses the job progress sheet to manage sending and receiving manuscripts. This greatly saves the man-hours required to manage operational data, eliminates the need for redundant semaphores on the communication lines, and delivers information to destinations at high speeds. This is a service that achieves a highly efficient workflow.
The remote hardware proofing service is to record the name of the PS printer in the printer's mode. After logging in to the center with the paper specification and color matching information (ICCProfile), it can be output to a remote location. A printing company that intends to output proofing to the other party needs only to access the center, select the other party's print information, and output it from the DTP software to the other party. The remote proofing software proofing service is based on the use of application software called RenderView. For high-resolution, high-resolution image data, it only needs to be accessed in the central database, and the Webbrowser on the monitor screen is used for high-speed display. An on-screen calibration can be achieved with the customer without the need for data transfer for correction.
WAMNET provides a reliable, secure, and high-speed communication network system by installing ServerNAD (Network Access Device), which is a communication system that uses UNIX system as the core, communication hardware and software required for communication. NAD, communication lines, software, etc. can all be rented without compensation, so the initial costs are completely unnecessary. In terms of services, the transmission speed of the NAD method is 400 megabytes per hour. If the NAD is not set, the transmission adapter is changed, and the Center Server method using the ATM line is 400 megabytes per hour. If four familiar customers use ISDN Lines, making it possible to use WAMNET to connect ISDN line services, up to 50-200 megabytes per hour, for the Internet that does not participate in WAMNET
For the user, there is also a connection service with Internet users who perform data transmission and reception.
The communication application software GTRAX was jointly developed by Fujifilm of Japan, Dainippon Screen, and NTT Communications. It is through the network to unify the digital machine, between the customer, the loading company, the plate printing company, provides the production environment which is not restricted by the distance and the time, in order to realize the production project's labor-saving and descending production cost. The process of planning-to-printing is linked organically with companies in order to achieve parallel publishing (relying on the Internet database, the production of printed materials, the entire process from planning to printing and publishing in parallel).
Eye-catching CTP thermal positive version
It is DTP that promotes digitalization of prepress projects. Afterwards, the digitization that continued into the printing process was CTP. There is no doubt about the rationalization of the printing process, not only shortening the preparation time in the printing process, but also increasing the productivity. The repayment period is equivalent to reducing the environmental burden. The CTP plate is roughly divided into three categories: banking supervisor, photosensitive resin, and heat-sensitive. Recently, however, manufacturers have devoted their efforts to developing a thermal positive plate.
There is now a first generation of thermal plates, the thermal plate version and the second generation thermal positive plate. The thermal drawing plate needs to be heat-treated and developed. Therefore, in addition to the preheating process, an incubator and an automatic developing machine must also be provided. In the case of a thermographic plate, no preheating prior to development is required. Shorten the corresponding working time, save the cost of buying a thermostat box in the thermal positive version, especially the Brillia LH-PI produced by Fuji Film Corporation combines multi-layer sand technology and high-precision CTP technology, performance is first-class, Features are adapted to the needs of the light room processing.
In addition, Kodak Polychrom's Electra 830 that can reproduce high-quality images was developed in response to the requirements of the CTP version. In Europe and the United States, 200 sets of Platesetters are used, and Japan is also officially sold. Agfa's Agfathermostar is a 1-99% reproducible dot network with 200 resolution. It has the same printability as an ordinary PS plate. Digital and analog plates can be combined on the press. With a resistance force of 150,000 sheets, it can obtain more than 1 million sheets of printing resistance by baking.
For the CTP version of the imaging machine, there have been many manufacturers to develop, such as Japan's Dainippon ScreenPlateLight Fujifilm's LuxelPlatesetter, Heidelberg's Trendsetter, Seitex's Lotem, AGFA's Galileo, Barco's Gerber/Crescent and so on.
Mitsubishi Paper Corp., on the other hand, advocates the addition of a selection system to the company's image-integration machine, which can then export the version of RealCTP from Bank of Communications. In addition, a new system capable of drastically reducing the working capital of thermal CTPs has been developed, such as the Kodak PolychromCTP plate development system manufactured by Kodak polychrome, and Mitsubishi Chemical's greatly improved LT-I, LT-G new development to improve the development stability. system.