The Recovery Effect of CTP Technology in FM Screening

As CTP technology simplifies the process, it plays an important role in the recovery of FM screening technology. In addition to film, dust and registration problems have become factors that hinder the development of FM technology.

Due to the use of CTP technology, there is no need to consider too much film edge (thickness) or dust particles, smaller FM dots (usually in the offset 12 to 30 microns, flexo and newspaper printing to 70 microns) can be directly on the plate form. Another advantage of CTP technology is that a harder dot can be formed on the thermal plate to achieve better printing results. Particles composed of laser beams can form screened dots that are predictable in imaging and printing. Any edge of the dot formed by the unfixed layer of the residual plate will not form an irregular printing effect.

Creo Corp. strongly recommends using Turbo or SquareSpot screening technology to take a step forward in the quality of hard dot. This technique uses a higher resolution in the main scanning direction (the circumference of the exposure roller) than in the secondary scanning direction (direction above the roller) to improve the accuracy of the screen dot. Compared to conventional dot-based imaging (2,400 x 2,400 dpi) of the same size, screen dots composed of more particles can achieve higher resolution (9,600 x 2,400 dpi).

Heidelberg applied this technology to their CTF imaging machines a few years ago. Creo combines this precise network of dots, the company's Staccato screening technology and consulting services to enable FM screening technology to recover again. It advocates controlling on-machine profits, including reducing the amount of ink used, obtaining higher color stability, and making ink easier to reach balance.

Better printing process stability has gradually shifted the offset from the newspaper printing of 65 screen lines per inch to 100-110 lines per inch (40-44 lines per cm). In commercial offset printing, the number of screens is increased from 133 lpi (54 l/cm) to 175 lpi (70 l/cm), and very high quality printing requirements can reach 200 lpi (80 l/cm).

Under normal circumstances, adding text to the image will give better results, such as wine labels and maps. Using Screen's Spekta Screening Technology eliminates noticeable rose spots and moire, along with Screen Taiga and Trueflow, provides users with a unique PlateRite thermal imaging machine, which is a versatile, most suitable screening solution.

After the end of the screening war in the 1980s, the industry experienced a relatively quiet period. New technologies related to thermal CTP imaging technology can now produce clearer, more reproducible dot quality. Based on this, prepress customers are constantly looking for the best screening mode to get the maximum productivity in order to achieve the best reproduction effect in the easiest way.

In the process of printing and copying, outlets are undoubtedly the most important issue. The organic combination of AM and FM technologies will produce better results.