Page 36 - Print21 March-April 2020

Production
Process free platesetting
The environmental benefits of going process free for plates are clear, and says Laurel Brunner, the performance levels continue to improve.
properties of a printing plate’s underlying aluminium, and of coating recipes.
The combination of how plate surface, coatings, and inks behave during development and on press will continue to improve and over time advances such as IAD will spread the appeal and viability of process free plates. They are already relevant for most commercial printers and will become relevant for all of them. This includes companies where very long run work dominates or where new UV presses are installed.
From an environmental impact perspective, going process free should be a no-brainer. It streamlines production, eliminates processing chemistries and water, and so saves money and cuts environmental impact.
It seems the market is coming round to processless plates, sales are rising sharply and are at least double what they were a decade ago, and that was when there were far more offset plates being produced.
Developments continue apace,
in addition to the new Fujifilm Superia ZE, last year Agfa launched the new Adamas plate which it says offers all the benefits of chemistry- free, but, according to Agfa, has added robustness, while Kodak unveiled its new Sonora X plate, which it says offers longer run lengths, faster imaging and more robust handling capabilities than other process-free plates.
Process free platesetting is the next step in cutting processing steps from print production lines and making them more
environmentally sustainable. Going process free does away with the plate processor, chemicals, disposal concerns, and, of course, the manpower and time involved in prepress.
The main developers of process free plates are Agfa, Kodak, and Fujifilm; the latter of which has recently announced a new addition to the options available on the market. New developments in
this area are relatively few and far between, and Fujifilm has high hopes for its Superia ZE process free plate. For its latest iteration of the Pro-T plate launched in 2006, Fujfilm has developed a new coating technology. Interface Adherence and De-bonding (IAD) technology is an undercoat on the anodised plate that optimises plate development, even with low ink conditions. Its Superia ZE competes with Kodak’s Sonora and Agfa’s Azura and Eclipse lines.
For printers to make the switch to process free printing, the plate technologies must provide the
36 Print21 MARCH/APRIL 2020
right price-performance ratio. Performance concerns have been one of the biggest barriers to adoption of this technology even
in printing plants where shorter runs, say 50,000 impressions, are the norm. Run length constraints are an obvious barrier, but there have been other problems such as latent image visibility, contrast, safelight handling, scratch resistance, efficiency of plate development on press, makeready times, and performance with different inks. And then there is
cost which, until these plates hit
a point where manufacturers can benefit from economies of scale, remains higher than for plates which require processing. The savings
in time, materials and energy should, however, make up for price differentials. People are after all quite an expensive resource.
Process free plate technology
is reaching a level of maturity. However, there is a constant trade-off between handling, getting the plate to develop quickly and consistently, and ensuring
ink receptivity. We expect to see further refinements in the surface morphology and mechanical
“Process free plate technology is reaching a level of maturity, however there is a constant trade-off between handling, getting the plate to develop quickly and consistently, and ensuring ink receptivity.”
The upcoming drupa in June
will almost certainly see further processless developments from
the big three. There may also
be left-of-centre plates such as uncoated aluminium products, for which patents have already been lodged. And then, of course, the elephant in the room as far as plates are concerned is inkjet sheetfed printing, which needs no plates. Already available from the likes
of Fujifilm, Konica Minolta and Heidelberg no-one really knows whether inkjet sheetfed will be
a fringe player or whether it will eventually supersede offset. 21