grid kind of pattern on thermal

[rajeev]

I have come across a typical problem of which the attachment is about.I dont want to name the euipments and the plates used.Is there any similar experience do my friends had??
What could be the real cause?? Plate, plate setter or the processor.
Pls help
Rajeev.

 

[PerthWA]

Re: grid kind of pattern on thermal

Rajeev,,

Are you having problems with kodak thermal direct plates????

Burton

 

[gordo]

Re: grid kind of pattern on thermal

What halftone screening are you using?
Are you seeing the grid pattern on plate or on presswork?
Is the pattern on the yellow, cyan, magenta, or black plate?
Can you measure the size of the pattern?
Where does it appear? On an image that has a pattern? On a flat screen tint area?
What do you mean by: "typical problem"

thx, gordo

 

[rajeev]

Re: grid kind of pattern on thermal

In fact I tried to attach the photographs of the complaint mentioned.Due to some tech reasons I couldnt.the problem is as follows.
1. The grid pattern is happening on the same place on the plate.
2. It is observed on the side where the plate is getting punched in the plate setter.
3. it is not coming on the entire plate.
4.I observe this as dot loss in an oval shape in between which is visible to me as a grid.
4.Not visible in highlights and solids.

Rajeev

 

[pmonkey]

Re: grid kind of pattern on thermal

In our experience, when running stochastic screening, the laser focus settings are much more critical than when running conventional screening. We see a grid pattern over the entire plate when the laser is slightly out of focus.

If your problem is caused by laser focus settings, I doubt it would appear on just a small part of the plate.

More likely, it may be the punch is creating a ragged hole, or distorting the plate, which is causing that area of the plate to lift off the drum. This could move the surface of the plate to be out of the range of the laser's focus.

Common troubleshooting methods:

If you have another platesetter, try it on that machine.

Spin the plate around 180 degrees and re-image. If the problem is still in the same plate relative to the punch, it's probably not the plate material.

After exposure, manually catch the plate, turn it 90 degrees, and feed it through the plate processor. If the problem is still in the same spot on the plate relative to the punch, it's probably not the processor.