XANTÉ Corp.

Join Editor Bob Neubauer as he drives around Montgomery County, PA, visiting in-plants and vendor open houses.

Drupa will begin in less than two weeks. IPG Editor Bob Neubauer will be there, in Düsseldorf, Germany, checking out all the latest technologies. To give you a peek at what’s ahead, here are just a couple of the latest pre-Drupa announcements: • ECRM will feature three new platesetters: MAKO 2x, a 2-page platesetter offering a full resolution range of 1200 to 3556 dpi; MAKO 4x, using next-generation optical technology that, with ECRM e-circuitry, delivers high quality imaging; MAKO 8x, an 8-page device that covers all formats for 2, 4, 6 and 8-page signatures with resolutions from 1800 dpi to 3556 dpi. ECRM

ONE OF THE smartest things an in-plant can do to reduce production time and environmental impact is to go computer-to-plate (CTP), eliminating the entire film imaging and developing stage and all of the toxic waste issues involved. The quality, speed and efficiency improvements of CTP make it an excellent business decision for almost any shop. Many have already done just that, and are now ready for the next step up: low-process/chemistry-free or no-process plates. Going green has been a big story in the print business for the past decade, and chemistry-free plates are the next wave. “Non-process plate technology will improve to meet

Heidelberg Suprasetter 145, Suprasetter 162 and Suprasetter 190: Heidelberg is adding large-format models to its Suprasetter range to coincide with Drupa 2008. The new systems are used in conjunction with the Speedmaster XL 145 and XL 162, and the Suprasetter 190 can also supply plates for other presses, up to a sheet width of 74.8˝. The platesetters are available with throughput speeds of up to 35 plates per hour (pph), with a resolution of either 2,540 or 2,400 dots per inch (dpi) as required. The six cassettes of the plate loading unit enable up to 600 plates in as many as six different formats

FOR YEARS, I dreamed about becoming a publisher. I actually set out in 1989 on the path to becoming a printer just so I could be a publisher. If it hadn’t been for that desire, I probably would never have become a printer. You see, I am a fiction writer, and printing just naturally seemed to be the right path for me. Recently, I made the move from pressroom foreman to assistant superintendent of printing at Southern Illinois University, in Carbondale, Ill. The daily grind of inking up plates and printing was replaced with scheduling, pricing and the assorted before-and-after stuff we all do

Mobile, Ala.-based Xanté Corp. plans to acquire both RIPit Imaging Systems, of Sacramento, and Exxtra Imaging Systems, of Hauppauge, N.Y. The companies have agreed on financial terms of both acquisitions, funds from Xanté are in escrow and the transactions should be completed within one week. The buy will greatly expand Xanté’s product offerings, giving it one of the most complete line of prepress products and software solutions in the industry. RIPit provides software RIPs for prepress and graphic imaging markets, while Exxtra develops and produces metal, polyester and film computer-to-plate imaging equipment. “Xanté is constantly developing new technologies for future expansion and growth,” says

SOMETIMES IT seems I’m chained to this desk, “observing” the industry through e-mails and Web sites. So I like to break away now and then to see for myself what’s happening in the world’s in-plants. Recently I caught a train up to New York to do just that. On a frigid winter day I walked through a sea of scarves and hats to the United Nations’ headquarters to visit one of the largest in-plants out there. Paul Kazarov, chief of the Publishing Section, took me for a walk through the U.N.’s vast underground in-plant, filled with just about every type of printing and binding

A new Xanté PlateMaker5 is making life easier for Mario De Leon and his team at John Jay College in New York City. Gone is the smell of processing chemicals in this five-employee in-plant, since the new platesetter is chemistry free. IPG Editor Bob Neubauer visited this 10th Avenue in-plant recently and talked with acting manager De Leon about the shop’s transition to a computer-to-plate workflow. Plates from the PlateMaker5 are used on the in-plant’s one-color Itek 9510 and Hamada 600 presses, and De Leon reports improved quality and speed on its forms, letterhead and envelopes as a result. The PlateMaker5, he said, has

Agfa The Acento II four-up CtP system brings thermal plate imaging in two versions: the Acento II E model and the high-productivity :Acento II S. Acento II images all thermal digital plates sensitized for 830 nm lasers, including Agfa’s :Thermostar Plus, the new :Energy range of plates, as well as chemistry-free :Azura and developer-free :Amigo. The Avalon family of thermal plate­setters offers increased convenience, reliability and functionality and features Agfa’s new Avalon HD Imaging Head. The Avalon comes in five basic configurations with throughputs ranging from 10 plates per hour (pph) for the LE model to 40 pph for the XXT model. The