John O’rourke

THE PAST decade of computer-to-plate development has brought an incredible revolution in printing. By streamlining workflows and eliminating unneeded and costly steps, CTP has allowed printing departments to save time and increase productivity, while improving the quality of the final printed piece. Despite these advantages, though, conventional CTP still relies on the extraneous and unnecessary steps and costs of processing the plate after imaging. Eliminating chemistry has a number of benefits. First and foremost is cost savings. Research by J Zarwan Partners (www.johnzarwan.com) shows that chemistry can cost up to 30 percent of the cost of the plate—and hidden costs can bring