Page 21 - Print 21 magazine Jul-Aug 2021

Sustainable Print
than ever before. According to Fujifilm almost any commercial printer, apart from those focused on very long run work, will stand to benefit from its cost-saving and environmental credentials as it streamlines production
and eliminates processor water, chemistry, gum and other waste.
In developing Superia ZE, Fujifilm R&D scientists were striving for the optimum combination of ultra-high quality, versatility, run length, robust handling, and of course, latent image visibility. But achieving the fastest possible press start-up was also critical to help printers optimise the utilisation of their offset presses.
The main challenge they faced was in managing the trade-off between better ink receptivity (which requires hydrophobic properties) and rapid on-press development (which requires hydrophilic properties). Drawing on
a thirteen-year legacy of processless plate technology development, Fujifilm engineers created a new Interface Adherence & De-bonding
Processless: Agfa Eclipse, Fujifilm Superia, and Kodak Sonora
(IAD) technology to deliver on-press development performance even under low ink conditions. This new IAD technology has been used in a new undercoat layer in Superia ZE, sitting on top of a new anodised plate grain structure. Finally, a new initiation system has been developed using a new coating recipe.
Fujifilm says the combination of these technologies mean Superia ZE features the best combination of quality, latent image visibility, run length, versatility and on-press development performance on the market.
Agfa Eclipse
The Agfa Eclipse eliminates the need for a processor/clean-out unit which reduces printers’ capex and prepress costs. The non-image area is washed away on the press – Agfa says Eclipse is based on proprietary technology that results in distinctive clean-out behavior.
Eclipse consists of a scratch- resistant aluminium substrate,
a photolayer, and a protective overcoat. The plate goes through different steps during the printing process: Dampening is where the fountain solution makes the overcoat swell. Most of the overcoat and photolayer remain on the plate for now.
The inking is where the plate is covered with ink. There is almost no difference between image and non- image parts, which indicates that the coating is still on the plate. It doesn’t dissolve into the ink.
It is only in the font solution that the remaining coating is removed from the plate. It gets transferred to the blanket, and finally to the paper. The press stays clean.
Washing away the non-image area does not take extra time, as it occurs simultaneously with the (mostly) automated startup of the printing press and the actual printing.
Eclipse can be used on any offset press – there are no restrictions or limitations. The product’s focus is the commercial sheetfed market.
Agfa says its process-free plates deliver the same high quality as its conventional printing plates.
No clean-out unit or processor only saves a minute per plate, so that’s not the big gain. Agfa’s clean- out units for its chem-free plates only need one hour of maintenance every couple of months or so. So while theoretically this saves some time, that is not the main factor to move to process-free.
Kodak Sonora
With the Kodak Sonora plate,
after the plate is mounted on press during the normal pre-dampening process, the fountain solution swells the coating on the plate. When
the inking rollers are engaged, the non-image area coating is stripped from the plate by the tack and shear of the ink. This process is physical, rather than chemical, ensuring a wide latitude for press chemistry and press setup conditions.
As the paper feed is engaged,
the coating is carried away with
the ink on the substrate. Typically, within the first few sheets, the ink has carried away all the coating. Therefore, makeready time is usually much shorter than with a traditional processed and gummed plate, and there is less waste on press.
Sonora Plates can be used on any offset press, and there are 5,000 printers worldwide successfully using them on all types of presses.
Kodak says there are differences with conventional plates, but only positive ones. Eliminating processing also eliminates the variability associated with processing, such as from ageing chemistry, and plate defects caused by the plate processor. It says that fewer plate remakes are needed with Sonora plates compared with conventional plates, and that printers can rely on the quality and stability of the plates going to the pressroom.
Kodak says the return on investment for Sonora plates is fast, with significant savings occurring in the pressroom where printers have the highest costs. Printers save time, paper, and ink by improving efficiencies, and reducing waste due to processing errors.
In the pressroom, printers also save money by not having to run and maintain a processor. It says the modest premium on the plate cost for Sonora plates is dwarfed by the savings on press and in the pressroom.
Kodak says its local business cases reflect cost savings of anywhere between five per cent and 15 per cent of total plate cos,t depending on the size of the account and number of processors involved.
Australian and New Zealand Sonora plate customers include commercial offset, newspapers, heatset web, metal decorating, business forms, UV applications, and folding cartons – virtually all offset print applications. 21
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