Violet CtP for newspaper?

[gordo]

I'd like to hear from anyone having experience with violet CtP in a newspaper environment. Any issues? What about processless violet? FM screeing capability?

Thanks!

Gordo

 

[gordo]

No one?
What about violet CtP experience in general. Issues? What to watch for etc.

Gordo

 

[dabob]

Gordo . . . been using Heidelberg Violet for about 6 years now . . . no big issues other than my plate room guy looking kinda like a smurf every 5 -6 weeks . . . gotta keep the processor clean . . . other than that just a few part failures - nothing unexpected

bob

 

[maxon]

Gordo, do you mean violet photopolymer ?

 

[gordo]

Gordo, do you mean violet photopolymer ?

I assume that's the standard these days. Yes?

best, gordo

 

[VladCanada]

Toronto - KTWeb Printing (Korea Times) use Photopolymer chemfree and AGFA Advantage (Punch Graphics, last model). Main headache - Agfa processors, neither plates nor CTP.
Manitoba - Winnipeg Sun and Brandon Sun: 2AGFA Galileos and 2 AGFA Advantages for 8 years but I have no contacts with them anymore.
Windsor Sun, Toronto Sun use photopolymer plates and AGFA Advantages.
All newspapers are on the service contracts, so... no complaints and help scream at printplanet.

 

[Armya Inc]

Working for years on Violet Plate setters, I have found that Violet Lasers are stable and quality Plates can be obtained as a result of the Laser Diode Technology. Stable lasers!! Fore-sure, there is always mechanical and electronics problems associated with any systems, but customers are happy with owning these systems.
Silver halide Processor needs more attention and maintenance, it also uses 2 chemistries(Developer and Finisher) instead of one, but Polymer plate processor needs less attention. Definitly, Silver Halide Plates are more expensive compare to polymer plates, and Agfa is the only supplier of these types of the plate. The cost of expensive silver halide plates in the recent years, and lack of wide supplies of these plates made owners to think twice about upgrading the Plate setters from 5MW to 60MW and switch to Polymer plates which can be widely found in the market. In my personal opinion, No plates can compete with silver halide plates. The best quality obtained with these kind of plates, but the price of plates and chemistries as well as chemistry usage are high.
It is economical to use polymer plates and Lasers with 60MW Power in the Newspaper Industry. The production cost,maintenance and downtime is lower using polymer plates and violet systems.

Hope this will help!

 

[Sev]

No one?
What about violet CtP experience in general. Issues? What to watch for etc.

Gordo

We started using violet Agfa LAPV silver plates in 2004. We were able to get our plate curves in place in a very short amount of time. We did have a few issues with blinding on press when we first starting using violet plates, but it turned out to be a bad batch of chemistry from Agfa, who quickly replaced the chemistry for us. After that, we never had any problems on press. The quality was very good, and the press operators loved the plates. The biggest downside is the messy job of keeping the plate processor clean. It was cleaned every 4 weeks, and took several hours, and we always ended as purple prepress people. A few years ago it got very difficult to get the LAPV plates from our supplier. We had to make a choice to either use a different vendor, or change plates. We went with our same vendor, and switched to Kodak Thermal Direct plates, which does not require a processor. It took quite a while to get our plate curves set the way that we wanted, since we cant read the plates with our densitometer. However once we got the plate curves in place, the plates printed much better than the silver plates. We have been very happy with the switch, and are no longer purple prepress people.
Hope this helps some.

-Sev

 

[gordo]

@sev
So you switched from violet to thermal? Why didn't you stay with violet and simply change plate vendor?

Gordo

 

[Sev]

@sev
So you switched from violet to thermal? Why didn't you stay with violet and simply change plate vendor?

Gordo

We have been loyal to our current vendor for over 25 years. This goes for graphic supplies, and equipment. We also feel that thermal is much cleaner, and less hostile on the environment, than violet silver based plates and chemistry. The vendor for the Agfa plates is not locally based, which makes it difficult to do business, especially if we need a product the same day. Once we went to thermal, we found that we have a much wider printing latitude on press. In the same step, we also installed a new proofing system, and had proofs profiled to the press with the thermal plates. The matching of the proofs to the final printed product is much closer than we were before. So overall, the outcome of the change of plates and proofing in our opinion is superior.

-Sev

 

[cjwworld]

We are a mainly Newspaper Printer and have a commercial Customers and we have a violet ECRM Mako with Proteck 70 inline Processor. We use Southern Litho Violets plates. We did do a colortone press match to the workflow. We use Presteligence Imposition Workflow. It also uses InkMiser plugin.

 

[gordo]

We are a mainly Newspaper Printer and have a commercial Customers and we have a violet ECRM Mako with Proteck 70 inline Processor. We use Southern Litho Violets plates. We did do a colortone press match to the workflow. We use Presteligence Imposition Workflow. It also uses InkMiser plugin.

That's what you have...but what is your experience?

gordo

 

[dpig69]

Violet can be an excellent fit for the newspaper industry IMO. We had previously used old Galileo CTP with AGFA LAP-V silver plates. We had many of the issues already mentioned, messy processor, chemical issues, expensive and unreliable plate supply. Sure the quality is great, but the quality was overkill for our older newspaper-class press equipment.

We switched to AGFA Advantage CTP with AGFA VCF "chem free" plates. The processors only use gum chemical, a pre-heat section replaces developer chemical. There is no replenishment so the only chemical that is "used" is the gum coating that goes out with the plate, and the gum doesn't oxidize or anything like that, it behaves more like plain water. The processors do need to be cleaned but its soooo much easier and cleaner than the old silver plate processor, and no sludge at the bottom of the tank to deal with. Also the processor doesn't use any water so there is no need for a water connection, floor drain or sump pump. So far the VCF plate supply from AGFA has been reliable, I have not yet received a single bad plate. No problems with the press when switching from Lap-V to VCF plates except the VCF plates scratch easier.

Another nice thing about Violet systems is the overall cost/speed ratio. With Violet you can double the speed by reducing the resolution by half, so we can get the plates out fast for the 1200dpi newsprint jobs, but still use a higher resolution for the heat-set glossy jobs. My understanding is that to get a fast thermal system at a reasonable cost, a dedicated 1200dpi CTP machine is required which might be restrictive. Although it should be noted that I have never worked with a thermal CTP system.

 

[cjwworld]

That's what you have...but what is your experience?

gordo

Oh. The CTP device is excellent and does a good job, no trouble with it. CTP device repeatability is excellent. The processor is another story, had trouble with it. Sensors that was supposed to signal low developer level was defective right from the beginning. Thus when a fitting leaked, it burned up all the plastic guides and had to be redone and cleaned at every joint.

As far as the plates, its runs real good and clean. We do not have very big runs so I do not know the longevity of them but we had no issues with the plates. The workflow is simple and works well, with the new recent upgrade, the fan-out sets is working well for our fan-outs