Gordon's Plate Linearization Redundancy article

Hi Gordon,
I have a comment in regards to your article in Printaction.
I will create a possible scenario: If I have 6 presses all G7 and calibrated for 4 different stocks I could have 96 different curves, if I am not mistaken. I decide to change plate suppliers. I am not linearizing my plates, how much work is now involved? If I am linearized I only have to change one curve, not 96.
Just a thought.
 
once you get a new plate, you calibrate the exposure on your CTP just set it to expose the 50% screen the same way it was exposing it on the older plate(which is simple) and you wouldn't have to create any curves... for example I use to different CTPs. Both yield a 48% for a 50% screen, i just make sure they are stable, and the exposure of my plates is clean. If I get a different plate, I make sure I get the same results...
 
One can imagine all kinds of unusual scenarios - but that is not the point. The point is that the printshop needs to think the issue through for their specific situation and not just do something because it "feels" right .

If that thinking through is done, then, for the vast majority of shops, a one curve workflow makes the most sense. For a small minority of shops a two curve workflow might make more sense.

best, gordon p

PS I haven't seen the final version of the article - so I don't know if any meaning got lost in the editing process.
 
Hi Gordon,
I have a comment in regards to your article in Printaction.
I will create a possible scenario: If I have 6 presses all G7 and calibrated for 4 different stocks I could have 96 different curves, if I am not mistaken. I decide to change plate suppliers. I am not linearizing my plates, how much work is now involved? If I am linearized I only have to change one curve, not 96.
Just a thought.

In the real workplace the similar presses can share the same curves on some stocks, even to the point that you have a curve for a certain stock that you apply to all of your presses when running that particular stock. After you run your P2P patches on each stock and examine them you will be able to make a decision on which stock / press combinations can be shared with little detrimental loss.

If you are changing a factor such as the inks that you use, you will be recalibrating each curve that you have. As mazengh points out, the plate material change by itself can be compensated for.
 
IMHO the statement 'just ensure that CTP is imaging correct at 50%' is way to simplistic.
Experience has shown me that plates do not image in a linear fashion. We have just switched plates and the CtP device was calibrated to image the 50% correctly. However, when checking the dot on a linear plate, we found that the highlight dots were way off linear, with the 5% imaging 9% and the 10% dot imaging 13% then from approx 30% upwards the plates imaged 'correctly'.
In this scenario we felt that linearising the plate was essential to bring the plate back to a stable starting point. this way we have been able to overlay our existing press curves on top of the linearisation.
 

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