Said to be the first of its kind in Australia, the system (pictured) comprises the violet chemistry-free (VCF) Advantage N-SA platesetter, a VCF85 clean-out unit, and an Arkitex Essentials workflow. The system runs Agfa’s N92-VCF chemistry-free plate.

Times managing editor Michael Ellis said: “We made the decision to expand our press line with two Goss towers and then needed to look at our plate-making. The Agfa machine, the after sales service and the chemical free plates were the perfect match for us.”

The publisher deployed the Arkitex software before installing the platesetter so staff would have time to adjust from the manual workflow procedure. Production manager Ian Shaw said the process was “relatively pain-free”.

Agfa Oceania newspaper manager Steve Marshall said: “Beyond the savings and environmental benefits, violet chemistry-free offers a far more consistent plate by removing all the processing variables of plate-making.”

“The N92-VCF plates produce an exceptionally strong image contrast and there’s absolutely no on-press contamination,” added Marshall.

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