After a year of field testing, Agfa Graphics is releasing its new chemistry-free direct-on-press Azura TE plates, now available in Australia and around the world. Agfa says the plates will help to shorten time to press and ‘drastically’ reduce waste for commercial sheetfed printers; as the plates are cleaned out on-press, the system does not require a processor, chemistry or water. This, it says, makes for a lower energy bill and less maintenance – with benefits to the printer’s wallet as well as the environment. Agfa is quick to stick up for the image quality of the plates, saying the Azura TE products behave similarly to traditionally processed and chemistry-free plates, and support up to 240 lines per inch with Sublima screening.
Onto the press: Agfa’s Azura TE plates
It says the plates clean out rapidly and immediately accept ink, resulting in sellable sheets after a few copies. Guy Desmet, head of prepress marketing with Agfa, says, “A direct-on-press plate is ready for use after exposing on the platesetter. “Azura TE shows an outstanding image contrast thanks to our patented Thermochromic Dye technology. That makes visual inspection easy and means that dot measurements or plate detection can be done with standard devices. “In addition, Azura TE has an excellent daylight stability, which comes in handy if the plates cannot be mounted on the press immediately.” Desmet says the plates are more stable than traditional products, as their R&D meant eliminating many variables inherent to conventionally processed plates. He says, “A one year field test period all over the globe taught us that Azura TE is compatible with all Agfa and non-Agfa platesetters, a wide range of founts, inks and press architectures. “Customers love the ease of use of Azura TE, the gain in system productivity and the quality on press.” Azura TE is based on the same ThermoFuseTM technology as its predecessors, working with a single-layer water-based coating, containing ink-accepting latex pearls which Agfa says are small enough to deliver razor-sharp highlight reproduction.
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