Ningbo DSS Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd , https://www.dssking.com
The Drupa 2000 at the turn of the century is an authoritative world-class exposition in the printing world (Drupa is the abbreviation of the German printing “Druck†and the paper “Paperâ€). Compared with previous sessions, it is characterized by unprecedented scale, joint trends, digital leadership, and high technology. It shows the highest level of technology and products at the moment, representing the trend of the development of printing and publishing systems and the maturing of digital technologies.
In this exhibition, various new products such as paper, ink, plate, etc. were printed. One of the most worth mentioning is the CTP technology and media, which has become a hot topic since Drupa 85. CTP includes several meanings: Computer-to-plate, Computer-to-press, Computer to paper/print, Computer to proof. As far as CTP technology is concerned, if Drupa 95 is a wave, then Drupa 2000 will sweep the world. Among the 1900 exhibitors participating in this exhibition, nearly 70 exhibitors related to CTP, which has doubled from the previous session and is distributed in major exhibition halls, occupying an important position in the exhibition. Almost all of the world-renowned large companies of photosensitive materials and printed materials exhibited CTP technology and media, and some rising stars quietly squeezed into the ranks of CTP, and there are amazing actions. This was not expected before the show.
Among the CTP technologies exhibited this time, the main position is still the off-line direct plate making, which is characterized by the following aspects:
1. From business to newspaper printing, the speed of plate making continues to increase
In the past, the purpose of adopting CTP technology was to speed up the speed of plate making, reduce network loss, and improve the printing quality. However, some platemaking machines and plates could not meet the requirements of the newspaper industry. In addition to Agfa silver salt diffusion plate used in Europe for newspapers, the United States and other places are mainly used for commercial printing. However, since the development of this technology, due to the continuous improvement of plate-making machines and RIP, and the improvement of plate material sensitivity, it has been widely used in newspapers requiring rapid plate making in recent years. Many of China’s “Yangcheng Evening Newsâ€, “Beijing Dailyâ€, “Hubei Daily†and Shanghai’s “Xinmin Evening News†have introduced foreign plate makers and have reported. From this exhibition, it can be seen that a variety of equipment and plates have been applied to newspapers. For example, Agfa's Polaris 100 platesetter uses Agfa's Lithostar silver salt diffusion plate; Japan's Fuji P-9600 platesetter uses its own photosensitive resin plate LP-NN; Denmark's Purup-Eskofot DMX machine uses Mitsubishi Paper Polyester silver salt diffusion printing and Agfa-Dupont silverlith silver salt diffusion printing; US Kodak Polychrome thermal printing platemaking machine is equipped with homemade 830nm thermal printing plate; especially the chemical-free processing Diamondplater of Mitsubishi Chemical of Japan LT-N830nm high-speed thermal type plate is used for "The American Times", making 200 plates in an hour and so on.
2. The technology is further mature and the variety is increasing
Due to its unique high-sensitivity advantages, the plate-making machine of the CTP plate, as a mature technology, still occupies a large market share. It is widely used in commercial printing, newspaper and light printing, and the quality of color printing has been achieved. Very high level. Among them are Agfa-DuPont's aluminum-based Silverlith and Lithostar CTP, Mitsubishi Corporation's polyester-based CTP, Mitsubishi Paper's polyester base, and paper-based SDP and Silver Master CTP. Can be matched with a variety of models to produce high quality plates and color prints.
In addition, the thermal technology is steadily improving, although the development speed is not as fast as the original business speculation, but after Kodak PolyLight first introduced the 830nm thermal version, Agfa, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi Chemical and other large companies are also Thermal plates have been introduced for commercial printing and newspapers. Such as Agfa's Galileo Thermal S (1064nm) platemaking equipment and XGalileo VLF-Thermalstar P970 plates; LP-940H produced by SCREEL in the UK; LP-1310H thermal systems and LH-NI, LH-PI Plate; In addition, Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation introduced the MT-850 and XMT-1350X thermal platemaking equipment and the associated LT-1 (830nm) and LT-G (1064nm) thermal plates, with a resistance force of up to 1 million. India.
Since Drupa 95, due to the poor stability of the latent image, the photosensitive resin plate was almost eliminated from the CTP field. But this exhibition saw a very high level of photosensitive resin plate. Such as Agfa's improved high dot quality N-91 type photosensitive resin plate based on the original N-90 plate material. It is worth mentioning here that LP-NN plates for newspapers produced by Fujifilm, Japan, and plate-printing on Luxel P-9600 (YAG laser) equipment, as well as LP-NS photosensitive plates for commercial printing, The resolution can reach 2438dpi and the printing quality is quite high. The high-sensitivity photosensitive resin plate produced by Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation is also very attractive, in which the LA-S-type and LY-S-type plates can be directly exposed to 488nm and 532nm lasers in the HL-860X platesetter with a resolution of 200lpi. .
3. High-tech emerges endlessly and new ideas attract attention
In the exhibition, it is the display of new technologies and new ideas that are very attractive to the audience. One of the most representative is the two inventions of Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, one is a non-silver resin version of the purple laser, photosensitive wavelength of 400-430nm, sensitivity up to 10μJ/cm2, close to the silver salt version, can be operated under the yellow light It is characterized by a layer of surface film that is washed and exposed after exposure. Although the plate-making machine on the spot is small, it takes 5 minutes to make a plate. At present, the device has not yet formed a commodity, but it does embody a new idea. They claim to be the world’s first “The Worlds First Non Silver, Photopolymer Type, Violet Laser CTP Plateâ€. The second is the high-sensitivity LT-N thermal plate without chemical treatment. The sensitivity is 50mJ/cm2. The plate-making machine used is much smaller than the conventional thermal plate-making machine. They are also called the world's first "The Worlds First." Negative-Working No Pre-heat, High Speed ​​Thermal CTP Plate.
In addition, there are two inventions related to silver plates, all seen from the booth of Agfa. One is the direct imaging of the Agfa Mistral Thermal Plate in a 1064nm infrared laser plate-making machine “Golileo Talant†through a special physical dissolution process and a special ablation control system. It is insensitive to visible light. However, the speed is relatively slow and no products have yet been formed. Another notable thing is the violet laser silver halide CTP plate. It is a high-speed aluminum-silver-based CTP material called "Lithostar Ultra". It passes through the Galileo violet laser (400nm) (Galileo VS for short). ) The system plate can also be operated under natural light and yellow light. In addition, it is said that Purop-Eskofot in Denmark also has a similar violet laser CTP system.
It is worth mentioning that Basid\sprint, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyo Ink of Japan, invented the UV CTP. It can expose ordinary PS plates (such as Agfa N61, Fujifilm FNS-E, etc.) directly through ultraviolet light reflected by a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) composed of 800,000 small lenses. The device has dual UV head UV-Setter 1116 and single UV head UV-Setter 710. Although the price of the machine is still relatively expensive, and it is difficult for the average manufacturer to accept. However, this invention has its uniqueness and opens up a new path for the ordinary PS version. It can be said that it is a challenge to the future.
4. Cross-border and cross-enterprise joint trends
This is a feature of the current transition period in the international printing industry. After Drupa 95, each CTP developer developed from a stand-alone development and soon transitioned to joint development. For example, there was a joint venture between Agfa and DuPont, Kodak and Polystar in the early stage, and Kodak in collaboration with Creo and Heidelberg. Develop thermal technology and other forms. At present, reorganization takes place according to changes in the situation and newer products are developed. One of the most successful is the cooperation of Komori-CrioScitex-Kodak Polychrome. In the Komori four-color printing press, a plate-making machine using the Creoson angel thermal head was attached (Crio and Se Angel announced in January 2000), and then the Kodak Polychrome light-sensitive plate was used directly. After the publication of the material, prints of very high quality are printed. This new technology was only made known to the world a few days before the exhibition, and the visitors were greatly amazed.
In short, through this exhibition you can see the gap between domestic and international: the overall level of comprehensiveness is not high; the innovative thinking is not enough; the change of the open concept can not keep up with the development of the situation; from the country to the company's investment in the early development and research Less intensity and so on.
At present, the trend of digital printing in China is unstoppable, and CTP technology and materials are indispensable. This aspect has reached a consensus in all aspects. Of course, as far as CTP media is concerned, on the one hand, it is necessary to track the international advanced level, enhance the sense of innovation, and develop high-tech with its own intellectual property rights; on the other hand, it must also meet the domestic situation and continue to develop. More mature technology, realize the internationalization of plates as soon as possible
This year we were fortunate to have visited the Drupa 2000 exhibition and have benefited from the large and medium-sized companies with advanced standards such as Heidelberg. The expo's exhibition content and new technology are not read and digested in a short time. My work in the country is mainly printed materials, and I mainly use the CTP plate material research to deeply feel the gap with the international community and the burden on my shoulders. In this case, only the shallow experience is summarized, and the details are gradually written.