Adding to its line-up of environmentally-sensitive plate systems for commercial printers, Agfa will launch a new four-up violet "chemistry-free" computer-to-plate (CtP) system, designed for small- to mid-size shops.
The package includes an :Avalon V4 CtP engine (36 plates/hour at 1,200 dpi with 175 lpi), :Azura V (violet) chem-free plates and a dedicated clean-out unit (:VCF85). The company adds that existing photopolymer processors can be adapted and used as clean-out units.
"Our new violet chemistry-free CtP solution is based on Agfa’s own photopolymer technology, proven in newspaper production. We wanted to bring the extraordinary success we had with this technology to the commercial printer," said Marc Op de Beeck, Agfa Graphics’ senior vice president of marketing and sales, in a statement.
Reducing steps from imaging to mounting on press, the solution can help eliminate plate production errors, reduce waste and water usage, and lower maintenance requirements.
The :Azura V plates, like the company’s Azura plates for thermal imagers, are cleaned out with gum.
The :Avalon V4 unit is available both in a semi-automatic and a fully automatic—daylight working—configuration.
The company suggests the new system is well suited for commercial printers that use up to 100,000-sq.-ft./year of plates on smaller presses (4-up) with jobs of 150 lpi to 200 lpi.
Agfa says the system will be available in the third quarter of 2010.
