Four-up Platesetters Drive Market Surge

Significant continued growth in half-size presses is promoting a fertile market for four-up computer-to-plate (CTP) systems, with manufacturers unanimously enthusiastic about the sales and interest from mid-size to smaller offset shops converting to CTP.

According to Boston-based State Street Consultants, four-up metal CTP annual unit placements tripled from 1999 to 2003, rising from 10% of the total metal CTP placements to 27% during the period. Five vendors—Agfa, Creo, Heidelberg, Presstek, and Screen—are said to account for 75% of unit placements in 2003.

"Affordable four-up metal CTP has allowed for some penetration of the low end of the commercial print market," according to State Street. "Only 5% of printers with one to 19 employees have metal CTP. One-third of printers with 20 to 49 employees have metal CTP, while 56% of printers with 50 to 99 employees are so equipped. Finally, printers with more than 100 employees have a 95% penetration of CTP. Given the preponderance of smaller printers whose largest press is a four-up, the growth area for first-time buyers will remain in the four-up category for some time."

Currently, State Street's estimate for the mix of thermal vs. visible light for four-up metal CTP in 2003 is 50/50.

"The four-up platesetter market is growing big time," says Marc Johnson, product line marketing manager of off-press systems for Presstek, Inc. "CTP shipments today are primarily four-up devices."

Mark Vanover, North American director of marketing for Esko-Graphics, agrees, saying, "This is the most significant growth right now because the smaller commercial printer is an economic buyer, without the same buying leverage of a large commercial shop.

"For small shops, it's not how many plates they can produce, but how the product fits their needs. What's the capital investment? What do the plates cost? Since many shops are in transition, a lot have imagesetters that are five to seven years old. As a result, we foresee a big adoption rate there."

Analysts concur. Says Hal Hinderliter, director of the Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., "The eight-up CTP market is saturated, so manufacturers are trying to reach the four-up and even two-up marketplace, where the trend is to switch from polyester to affordable devices that image aluminum-based plates."

But the four-up platesetter market is not without controversy. Should a printer choose thermal or a violet laser? Processless and chemistry-free? Attendees at Graph Expo 2004 this month are weighing the merits of a slew of new products.

Here's a quick summary of what they can expect to see.

At Graph Expo, Agfa is unveiling Acento, a four-up thermal CTP imager that, like the four-up violet Palladio, brings the automation, quality, and reliability of thermal imaging to medium-size printers.

Acento features different levels of automation and speeds to fit customers' needs. For example, the 16-channel Acento E produces 10 plates per hour, while the 32-channel Acento S produces at twice that rate.

"A lot of our customers say they prefer thermal technology," reports Theo De Keersmaecker, Agfa's director of CTP for graphic enterprises. "It's our mission to provide quality products using the technologies that our customers are not only comfortable using, but can benefit from by using them. With Acento, we now offer both violet and thermal CTP systems."

At the Drupa 2004 show in Germany, Creo Inc. introduced a chemical-free option for its Lotem 400 thermal platesetter as well as its Trendsetter CTP devices. Without need for a plate processor, pre-bake oven, or the storage and disposal of chemicals, chemical-free platemaking can benefit printers producing small to medium-length print runs, especially where space is a premium.

This option is environmentally friendly as it eliminates the need for plate processing, baking, gumming, and the storage and disposal of toxic processing chemicals. Also, reducing steps saves time and increases process control, yielding consistent quality.

At Graph Expo, Esko-Graphics is unveiling its Espresso four-up computer-to-UV-plate device, which can image a variety of conventional presensitized plates in sizes from 12.8x19.1" to 25x29.3". At a fixed resolution of 2,400 dpi, sufficient for screen rulings up to 200-line, the platesetter can image up to 13 UV plates per hour in normal light conditions, depending on plate sensitivity. With high-sensitivity UV plates, it can expose up to 24 plates per hour in proper safelight conditions. In exposing negative plates, the Espresso device can further boost productivity by automatically skipping unexposed areas.

The system is to be commercially available in early 2005.

At Drupa, Esko-Graphics introduced its entry-level PlateDriver Compact, which features an internal drum design and uses a 40-mW violet laser, equally suited to expose silver and photopolymer plates. Violet silver-halide plates can yield 350,000 impressions; violet photopolymer plates, when baked, can provide more than a million impressions.

Esko-Graphics continues to market its PlateDriver 4 Semi, a mid-level four-up platesetter supporting all four-up presses.

Fujifilm is debuting its Saber Luxel V-6 violet laser platesetter. Like other Saber devices, it is fully upgradable from manual to semi-automatic to automatic, and handles a variety of plate sizes and gauges.

The Saber V-6 sports a variety of features: speedy production of up to 35 four-page plates per hour at 1,200 dpi; an internal drum for high-quality imaging; five-year violet laser warranty; optional internal punch; daylight, automated operation with capacity of up to 120 plates; and eight resolution options up to 3,657 dpi.

This month, Heidelberg USA is introducing its Suprasetter range, a new generation of thermal external-drum platesetters that includes the Suprasetter 74, which is available in a variety of speeds, punching options, and enhanced automation.

The Suprasetter 74 is offered in an S version (19 plates per hour) and an H version (30 plates per hour). Featured is an intelligent laser-diode-based security system that monitors performance to ensure stable production, says the company.

Mitsubishi Imaging (MPM) markets its four-up DotMate 7500 internal-drum platesetter, which can produce plates up to 24x29½". Say managers, this device optimizes the internal-drum concept by turning the format 90° compared to conventional practice. Output resolution can be set freely to any value from 1,200 to 3,600 dpi.

Presstek is premiering its Dimension Excel CTP, based on new ProFire Excel imaging technology, designed to image Presstek's process-free Applause plates and chemistry-free Anthem plates. With an output rate of up to 20 plates an hour, Dimension Excel utilizes daylight-safe, chemistry-free thermal imaging technology in which all chemical developer expenses are completely eliminated, including storage and disposal.

"We've been the leaders in processless platesetters," says Marc Johnson, "but now our competitors are coming out with process-free devices." The Dimension Excel platesetter, he says, will be commercially available right after Graph Expo.

Finally, Screen (USA) markets its PlateRite Ultima 32000Z, 32000S, and 16000 thermal plate recorders, which start with four-up thermal platesetters, as well as the company's 4100 and 4300 lines. Screen also has a number of OEMs, including Fujifilm, that market its devices under their own names.