The four misunderstandings of thermal CTP

At present, there are two main types of CTP technology: thermal and photo-sensitive. The debate over the future of thermal CTP and purple laser CTP has not stopped.

In an article published in the American Printer magazine, it was pointed out that many people currently regard thermal as an expensive technology designed for high-volume prints. In fact, this is a misunderstanding of thermal CTP.

Misunderstandings: Thermal CTP is expensive

Purple laser imaging has been described as the most economical method of making digital plates. The article points out that this is based only on the price of the violet laser CTP, and does not consider the total cost actually paid by the user. Just as a car bought for a low price of $1,000 doesn't guarantee that future expenses (such as gasoline, repairs, etc.) will be very low. It is not reasonable to choose CTP based on the price of hardware alone. Thermal CTP can reduce many processing costs and reduce the overall cost of printing. For example, the thermal CTP laser diode is 100 times cheaper than the cheapest visible laser source. The thermal CTP does not require a safety light or a dark room, which can reduce facility costs and improve the working environment. In addition, the storage of the thermal plate is also more reliable than some visible CTP plates, which can save the cost of reprinting the job. Compared with the silver salt CTP plate processing device, the thermal plate processing device requires less maintenance, the thermal diode has a longer service life than the visible laser, and the loss caused by the interruption of production due to the replacement of the laser is also small.

Misunderstanding 2: There are fewer thermal plate suppliers, and the plates are expensive

In fact, there are more suppliers of thermal versions on the market than suppliers of the violet version. There are only three or four manufacturers in the violet laser version, and there are as many as 28 heat-sensitive manufacturers. We have reason to believe that due to the large number of manufacturers, the price of thermal plates will continue to decline.

Misunderstanding 3: Thermal CTP is only used for long-print printing

Violet lasers are targeted at print shops with less printing, but this does not mean that thermal CTPs are not suitable for such markets. Small printing houses lack complete testing methods, most of them need to imitate the purchase of CTP by some large units, and it is difficult to make their own decision to choose CTP. They can either choose the violet laser CTP (because it is described as almost as good as the heat) or choose a thermal CTP. Some surveys have shown that more than 10% of CTPs have been idled in installed CTPs. Considering that most CTP equipments have been installed for less than five years, it is shocking that 10% of CTPs are idle. Obviously, some printing plants purchase CTP systems that are outdated, have poor performance, or are expensive to run, and are difficult to play a role in production, and there is no value for remarketing. The thermal CTP system has the advantages of being scalable and easy to resell. Relevant data show that sales of thermal CTP plates are more than 50% higher than that of visible light plates, and sales ratio of thermal CTP to violet laser CTP is 3:1.

Misunderstanding 4: Purple laser CTP and thermal CTP quality

The thermal square dot technology allows FM random screening in a production environment. Random screening has many advantages. The most interesting thing is that the color of random screen printing is rarely affected by the paper tone, which means that less bleached paper can be used with recycled paper or cheap paper and board printing. . The spot diameter of the thermal CTP can be as small as 10 μm, allowing printing of extremely high-quality fine prints. The thermal CTP provides superior process control and speeds up print preparation without having to make excessive adjustments to the press. In general, the thermal CTP can provide stable quality, bright colors, and clear dots. For printers who want to increase productivity and win in fierce competition, thermal CTP is indeed your wise choice.

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Source: Digital Printing