CTP Comes to Ole Miss
Offset is not going away at Ole Miss. The in-plant just added CTP, proofing and laminating gear.
June 2009 By Bob NeubauerAccording to IPG data, almost 22 percent of in-plants have an imagesetter. Until last month, one of them was the University of Mississippi, which has been churning out film with a Screen Katana for years. The main reason the shop stuck with it?
“It was paid for,” laughs Tony Seaman, director of Printing and Graphic Services at the Oxford, Miss., shop.
But after building up some money in its replacement fund, the 17-employee in-plant finally decided to move ahead into CTP.
“The time was right, the funds were available, so we went out on bid,” he says.
Last month, the in-plant installed a refurbished Screen PT R4000 platesetter, along with a Xitron Navigator GPS RIP and workflow and Harlequin’s TrapPro trapping software. For proofing, the shop added a Canon iPF 8100 44? wide-format printer. This, combined with a new Phoenix laminator, will allow the in-plant to start offering posters and banners, which Seaman sees as a lucrative new business.
Before adding the CTP unit, Seaman consulted with in-plants around the country, trying to decide whether or not to use processless plates. He heard that these plates might have a shorter shelf life and that the coating on processless plates gets into the ink train on the press, requiring more frequent cleaning.
“We ended up not going with a processless plate,” he reveals. Instead, the shop uses Agfa’s Azura plates, which require a gumming and rinse step. But the chemicals the shop previously used to make plates are now gone, and for this Seaman is very glad.
“We’re a lot more environmentally friendly,” he observes.
Plus, the in-plant no longer needs to store film from old jobs. Seaman plans to get rid of all of it.
The CTP unit, Seaman says, should have a return on investment time of about 21⁄2 years.
The new Xitron Navigator GPS RIP and workflow is a big improvement, Seaman adds. The shop can now make hot folders, which saves a lot of time. Plus, now the same RIPed file can be sent to both the proofer and the CTP; the job is essentially put on hold while the client approves the proof, and then the file is sent to the platesetter. The in-plant now has a PDF workflow and no longer has to make separated PostScript files.
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Designer's Prepress Companion
Computer-to-Plate Primer
PIA/GATF Guide to Troubleshooting for the Sheetfed Offset Press
Lean Printing: Pathway to Success
Pricing Wide Format Output
