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Since then, Dentsply's five-employee shop has been outputting polyester plates directly from its Power Macs. The plates are then sent to an A.B.Dick 9850 press for printing runs that average 200 to 1,000 impressions.

West Virginia University Printing Services has made metal plates in-house for years, but was looking for a faster and cheaper way to image plates for its smaller offset presses. Last year the shop added a Xanté Platemaker 3, and it has been outputting polyester plates ever since for runs of up to 15,000—with no image deterioration. But the most important advantage the shop has gained has been in time, says Joyce McMinn, supervisor of prepress and imaging.