CTP Make an Informed Decision

If, however, your work regularly involves long press runs, corrosive press chemistries (like UV inks) or very high quality images (300-line screens or high-res FM imaging), you'll still need to work with aluminum plates.

Three Coatings

There are three coating (emulsion) types used on CTP plates:

• Silver Halide: This is the same emulsion traditionally used in both photography and in the film and plates for commercial printing. These emulsions are imaged with visible light (from red through the newer violet devices). This plate chemistry is quite sensitive (for fast imaging and low energy use) and capable of excellent image quality. The downside? The plates must be handled under safe lights, and the processing/development of these plates involves environmentally hostile chemistry.