Business Acceleration is designed to focus on solving the challenges of each printing segment. Creo solutions address, from the needs of commercial and publication printers, small to medium-sized commercial printers, on demand digital printers, packaging and newspaper printers, as well as creative professionals.

Among the more interesting developments are processless plates and Spotless printing, the latter of which Creo claims will enable spot colours to be reproduced from process sets.

Creo launched a pair of processless plates; a waterless polyester plate for direct imaging presses and a processless aluminium plate suitable for commercial offset printing. Creo says the new Clarus WL waterless polyester plate is affordable, easy-to-use and suitable for run lengths of up to 30,000 impressions. It is a drop-in solution for direct imaging presses

The Clarus PL plate is a processless plate that requires no gumming, processing or post-imaging treatment. The new plates are being imaged by the Trendsetter 800 Quantum CTP imaging device on the Creo stand. The Clarus PL plate is targeted for run lengths of up to 50,000 impressions. No release date has yet been announced though, and it is not likely in the immediate future.

Creo is launching Spotless printing, which it says will allow printers to dramatically reduce the use of special inks in their press room. According to Creo, Spotless printing enables printers to represent spot colours on press with process inks, making spot colour replacement easy and accurate. At drupa, Creo displayed samples of Spotless printing produced by Creo commercial printing and packaging customers in Europe and in North America.

New Spotless 4 software uses a conventional CMYK ink set to create process colour builds that accurately emulate spot colours, easily and reliably. There is automatic conversion of spot colours (originating in standard libraries or measured from physical samples) to process builds. It eases proofing difficulties by accurately presenting press colour at the proofing stage. It also allows printers to offer customers more colour options than before, designers can specify dozens of spot colors in a single file, increasing the impact of their printed materials.

Also new from Creo on the stand is a Magnus Very Large Format CTP, a new Prinergy Version 2.3 PDF prepress workflow, new Prinergy Evo, a more affordable PDF workflow solution for small commercial, packaging and newspaper printers, new Synapse UpFront 3.0 production planning software, new Synapse InSite 4.0 internet portal into prepress, and new Synapse Link version 2.0 which features new prepress event data tracking options by job part.

Other innovative approaches from Creo include the Creo Complete Solutions for small and medium size commercial printers: a family of full solutions that includes CTP, workflow, thermal plates, proofing and service, and brings together all of Creo’s leading technologies into very affordable, turnkey solutions that help the printer benefit quickly from moving to a computer-to-plate environment.

For packaging, Creo has launched Spotless printing at drupa, which it says will allow printers to dramatically reduce the use of special inks in their press room. According to Creo Spotless printing enables printers to represent spot colours on press with process inks, making spot colour replacement easy and accurate. At drupa Creo is displaying samples of Spotless printing produced by Creo commercial printing and packaging customers in Europe and in North America.

New Spotless 4 software uses a conventional CMYK ink set to create process colour builds that accurately emulate spot colours, easily and reliably. There is automatic conversion of spot colours (originating in standard libraries or measured from physical samples) to process builds. It eases proofing difficulties by accurately presenting press colour at the proofing stage. It allows printers to offer customers more colour options than before, designers can specify dozens of spot colours in a single file, increasing the impact of their printed materials.

Creo has also launched the new Mirus PN is a negative-working thermal plate ideal for packaging printers with both web and sheetfed presses. Creo says this high-resolution plate is robust on press and off and can be used with UV inks and washes for short runs without post-baking, or longer runs with post-baking. Staccato 10 qualified, Creo says it is ideal for high-quality, high-volume, and long run applications.

Creo says the new ThermoFlex Wide CTP device with its new sleeve imaging option addresses many of the challenges of irregular seam printing forms by enabling flexographic printers to image seamless photopolymer sleeves as well as digital plate-on-sleeve applications. This solution minimises sleeve manufacturing costs and cycle times, while increasing flexibility to address the needs of different substrates of any size or thickness.

The award-winning HyperFlex resolution enhancement software from Creo has received a boost to enhance printing resolution by improving the ability of flexographic plates to hold smaller dots and graphic elements.

Creo has adapted its core imaging technology to improve the speed, quality and cost-effectiveness of the gravure prepress process with the new Exactus thermal gravure system. The Exactus system combines two mature technologies: Creo Squarespot thermal laser imaging heads and the electrolytic copper removal process developed by Italy-based Acigraf Graphic Equipment. This gravure prepress system provides superior imaging quality, unparalleled process control and colour consistency at reduced cost. Creo reckons that Exactus will reduce the crossover point from offset to gravure from 900,000 to 90,000.

Finally Creo says Pandora 2.6, the new version of the popular step-and-repeat tool for folding carton and label manufacturers, dramatically reduces the time it takes to create layouts. This prepress production tool integrates with packaging workflows to form an end-to-end, cost-saving prepress environment.

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