Laser image-setters calmly face the CTP challenge

Since the drupa 2000 printing exhibition, "computer-making" and "digital printing" have become the focus of the printing industry and the mass media. Due to emerging computer-to-plate (CTP) and digital printing technologies, the use of imagesetters will be greatly impacted. Many people in the industry are concerned that with the development of CTP technology and digital presses, the scope of application of laser imagesetters will not be greatly reduced, or even the risk of disappearing? Especially for China, a big printing country with over 80,000 printing companies and more than 2 million employees, the changes in the application scope of laser imagesetters will have an important impact on China's national economy and printing-related industries. To this end, we have conducted extensive discussions on this issue with related industry players and manufacturers, and we believe that laser image-setters have broad development prospects and huge market applications in China.

According to information obtained from laser image machines manufacturers at home and abroad, laser imagesetters are still the main product management products of various printing machinery manufacturers. In the past few years, Agfa has introduced the SelectSet Avantra 44XT drum imagesetter with a width of 44.5 inches and can be used for large-format full-page imposition; it can also be seen in the market.

Ultre's 5400 and 580O stencil imagesetters can be used for the output of film or polyester plates; in addition to Stingray from ECRM
The 5200 film machine, with a width of 20.5 inches, can also output film or polyester plates; another product of the company, the 63O0 8-series imagesetter, is mainly used in the newspaper printing market.

Agfa’s electronic prepress system sales manager said: “Our company only sells photosetters in the United States more than all other companies including my company.” Prepress production manager at Heidelberg, Canada In response to this statement, he said: "The main part of my company's business is still on the photo machine."

Domestic laser image-setter production enterprises (for example, Changchun Guangji in the north, Hangzhou Kelei in the south, and Shanghai Institute of Institude in the south, etc.) have also intensified their scientific research and development, and strive to make the domestic laser image-setters also occupy a certain market share. The state has also increased its investment and support for laser imagesetters. It is reported that the scientific research and production of laser image-setters will become the key supporting project of the National "Tenth Five-Year Plan" and achieve rapid development.

The laser image-setter can compete with the CTP for its credit. In the whole process of production of the laser, the only reason that the film exists as an intermediate medium is the use of an image-setter to form a layout on the film, and then the film. Imaged on the plate after exposure. The CTP technology skips this step of filming, that is, it does not image directly on the plate through the imager output film. Direct imaging or direct printing technology goes one step further by sending the raster data directly to the printing device and forming an image on the paper.

CTP and direct printing technology will greatly reduce the cost of processing and disposal of film, chemicals, waste, and disposal, as well as time. Ten years ago, when these two kinds of technologies first appeared, it was rumors that news was about to be abolished. But such a thing did not happen, and it will not happen for a long time. In fact, there are many reasonable reasons for confirming the inevitable existence of film. All imagesetter manufacturers claim to continue to produce and develop films and imagesetters, come up with new models, and develop new technologies. “The film market is promising in the foreseeable future,” said ECRM’s imagery production manager.

Scitex's production manager (responsible for the production of platesetters, imagesetters, and digital front-end technologies) said: “When we introduced the latest CTP platesetter, we thought that the sales of imagesetters would decline, and in fact, its sales actually rose. It's up."

Photographic machines still play an important role with many printing companies. On the one hand, they are cheaper than the platesetter that outputs the requested size and format, and the consumables are also relatively inexpensive (because most copyrights use thermal plates, they are more expensive than conventional plates).

In addition, the film is more flexible. Even the film output from an l1-inch textsetter can be made into plates of any size to meet the needs of printers in print shops with questionable types of printing equipment, or to meet those requirements. Different printers provide the output center of the film. Film is a very easy part of the workflow and this process is familiar to almost every printing company.

CTP and digital printing systems have entered the sales market, and have brought certain influence on the development direction of the entire industry, but it has not achieved the desired results. From the perspective of the current market application, the market positioning of laser image-setters CTP and digital printers is not the same. CTP and digital printers are more optimistic about the prospects of personalized printing and short-run printing. Has not yet formed, did not form a strong market demand.

Those who intend to invest in CTP systems have realized that the most logical step should be to output full-page imposition of film. So many companies will first consider investing in 8 photosetters before entering the direct plate system.

Most film makers reported that the sales of imagesetters are relatively strong, especially the two- and four-page output devices, which are small-format, both drum and winch type. This situation should be partly attributed to the healthy economic structure of the past six years. There are more printing needs, and the prices of printing and prepress technology have been declining. According to the estimates of manufacturers, they will continue to decline. They predict that if the price of a product does not drop, new products with the same price must have more performance, otherwise it will cause a backlog of products.

In summary, these two trends have caused the photosetter's sales market to rise. Traditional film output also has a large market space.

All foreign manufacturers are asking whether the film will still exist in the next five years, and there will be disagreements about the next decade. Some manufacturers promise to still produce imagesetters in the next decade, and promise to still use films, but it is undeniable that there will be more direct print output. While other manufacturers have different opinions, they think that if the film is still talking about 10 years later, there will be problems. They think that copyright at that time will be easier to use and cheaper and more flexible. However, all manufacturers agree that in the next few years, sales will be faster, better, and more flexible, and the pursuit of high quality and low price is still the main trend.

ECRM announced that they will try to introduce more devices that can be imaged on film or plates. Poly printing plates are recognized in monochrome and two-color printing. In small-format printing, they will also be used for u-color printing. They can be used to meet the requirements of very short-lived printing and digital printing. The polyester version will be further developed, and other types of plates in different processes will also develop. In the next five years, it will be possible to see a hybrid device capable of outputting films, acid plates, and metal plates. When asked, it was predicted that in the coming year, photo opportunities will grow faster, produce higher-quality films and be easier to operate, and there will be significant price cuts – more cheaper or at the same price with more performance and more good quality.