Pre-Press - Computer-to-plate

An upgraded computer-to-plate system at Securian Financial Group's in-plant has productivity soaring at the St. Paul, Minn.-based operation.

50 YEARS ago, when the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate sought to raise funds to build a shrine, the beneficent Catholic organization relied on a priest to hand-write and mail letters soliciting donations. A one-man in-house printing and direct-mail operation, Father Edwin Guild was instrumental in the creation of Our Lady of the Snows, among North America's largest outdoor shrines—while incidentally founding what would become a fully staffed, full-service in-plant facility.

WITH MORE than 1,000 exhibitors expected from more than 40 countries, IPEX 2010 is the British version of Drupa.

After getting by for the past couple of decades with minimal investment, Ashland University Printing Services has carried out some major equipment upgrades, allowing the shop to bring a significant amount of printing back in-house. About a year and a half ago, the Ashland, Ohio-based university invested in a new four-color Heidelberg Speedmaster 52, along with a Heidelberg Suprasetter computer-to-plate device with Prinect workflow. At the same time, the shop replaced its aging Baum folder with a 20˝ Stahl folder from Heidelberg. 

LOCATED ABOUT four miles from the state capitol building in Santa Fe, N.M., the state's Printing & Graphic Services operation has been serving New Mexico for a quarter century. For most of that time, the shop has focused on black-and-white reproduction of business cards, letterhead and forms. High-quality color work, however, was eluding it, and as the demand for this work increased, the in-plant found itself losing business.

Central Michigan University Printing Services has installed a Fuji Javelin 8300 thermal CTP system running Fuji Brillia and Ecomaxx-T processless thermal plates.

Roundup of innovative CTP & small press installations.

Like bowls of porridge, rocking chairs and ursine beds, various CTP systems may or may not fit the needs and suit the taste of a particular prospective user. Fortunately, Gordon Rivera found a platemaker that was just right for Allan Hancock College’s in-plant.

Doug Fenske’s decision to replace the CTP unit in his in-plant might be characterized as an “It’s not you, it’s me” break-up. Fenske, the director of printing and photocopy services for Minnesota State University, didn’t detest, dislike or even distrust the five-year-old ECRM Mako2 violet laser system.

CHEMISTRY DEFINITELY has its place: in science fairs, laboratories and love. However, more and more in-plants are displacing chemistry in favor of greener, cleaner workflows. Platemaking is one of the areas getting the enviro-overhaul. Here, five in-plants recount their transitions to chemistry-free computer-to-plate (CTP). And despite our best efforts to document the bad along with the good, these in-plants claim to have had very few reservations—and even fewer regrets.