CTP Make an Informed Decision

3. Watch for other technologies—the electrophotographic process used by Xanté and the modified ink-jet mechanisms used by JetPlate and Glunz & Jensen, for example—to gain a strong foothold in small to mid-size shops (see sidebar).

4. Look for "processless" to mean just that—no gumming, washing or other tasks after the plates come out of the platesetter. Plates like Presstek's Anthem and Freedom (which require only a water wash) and Applause (no post-imaging processes at all) are leading the way. Presstek/A.B.Dick's two-up Vector TX52 compact platesetter images and then washes Freedom plates inside the platesetter, so they're ready to hang on the press right out of the unit. Another leader is Kodak's Thermal Direct plate, which is also image-then-mount; the non-image areas of the plate wash off in the fountain solution as the press starts up.