Want to reduce your pollution footprint while speeding up plate production? Chemistry-free or processless plates can do just that.

By Bob Atkinson

The Technologies Used

The vast majority of eco-friendly plates are thermally imaged, and there are a couple of variations on this technology. Thermal ablation, as used in Presstek’s Anthem Pro metal plates, requires a high-power thermal laser or laser diode array that literally blasts away non-image portions of the plate coating. This approach requires an internal vacuum system to remove the debris before it settles on the optics. The plates require a simple water wash to remove any residue.