TechNova VioGreen

When a print professional has to choose a plate technology, he has several alternatives. But , his choice is largely governed by the configuration of his pre-press and pressroom. Then there are factors like cost, quality, speed, after sales service, reliability of the vendor etc. Also, to add to the dilemma is the long debate on the relative merits of violet and thermal imaging technologies.

Today, the total consumption of violet CTP plate in India is significantly higher than thermal CTP plates. A major cross-section of the newspaper industry in India uses VioStar plates from TechNova. It has very high output per hour, which goes up to 300 plates per hour and run-lengths of over 2,50,000 copies routinely printed on newsprint on high-speed web offset presses.

Packaging printers also find VioStar significantly superior in terms of run-length, especially for UV ink printing and re-usability of the plate for repeat jobs.

A new breed of technocrats are seeking a green quotient. Simultaneously they are seeking to eliminate the complexities in the process. “Especially those who cater to multinational brands, such printers desire to be a green printer and demand green solutions from us,” says Shreerang Joshi of TechNova Imaging Systems.

 

TechNova’s Go Green mission

TechNova initiated the Go Green Mission. The Taljoa-based manufacturer introduced VioGreen, the chemistry-free violet CTP plates in 2010 for the newspaper industry. Today, the chemistry-free technology has been extended to cater to commercial as well as packaging segment. Joshi says, “After the success with VioGreen in the newspaper segment, it is currently undergoing beta site trials in the commercial and packaging print segments.”

Chemistry-free plate is one of the important innovations in recent times to simplify the platemaking process. It eliminates the process of plate development, which means that one of the main variables affecting image consistency is eliminated.

VioGreen is manufactured by TechNova in technical collaboration with Agfa. The chemistry-free plates by the Belgian manufacturer are used in advanced countries where environment consciousness is high. In India, TechNova’s VioGreen plates have been adopted by newspapers majors like Hindustan Times Group, Dainik Bhaskar, Rajasthan Patrika Group, Lokmat Group.

“VioGreen is a violet photopolymer digital plate that is imaged on a platesetter and then goes straight to the press after gumming. Elimination of the processing stage helps prevent plate failures and ensures consistent performance plate-after-plate. Regular cleaning of the processor and disposing of used developer is no longer required. The expensive plate processor itself is no longer needed,” adds Joshi.  

VioGreen plates can be imaged on any standard violet CTP platesetter. The range of violet platesetters offered by TechNova for the commercial printing segment include : VioStar FA8 and the Alinte Dual Laser series powered by FFEI and the VioStar N8 powered by ECRM. For the Newspaper segment, TechNova’s offerings include : Advantage N which is powered by Agfa; VioStar News EMSA powered by ECRM, VioStar KSSA powered by Krause and the Alinte VN 20 powered by FFEI.  The violet chem-free CTP plate processors which are recommended by TechNova are from Gunz & Jensen and Proteck Machinery.

Current users of conventional Violet CTP plates such as VioStar need virtually no additional investment to accept VioGreen plates.

Speaking about the economic viability of VioGreen, Joshi says, “It costs 15-20% more than the conventional digital plates. However, the increased cost of the product is more than offset by the lower cost-in-use due to elimination of water, processing chemistry, space savings, power savings, and reduction of plate failures. VioGreen also serves as a great marketing tool for printers, as it positions them as green printers who are preferred by multinational print buyers.”

 

Manufacturing, imaging and application

The manufacturing process is extremely sophisticated. All violet plates are manufactured using a special litho grade of aluminium for CTP plates. Joshi says, “The surface is finely grained, anodised and specially treated to provide consistent and durable hydrophillic properties to the plate. The coating consists of two complex layers to provide high sensitivity, high resolution, and durable image bonding.”

The plates are exposed in a violet laser CTP device. The existing low power violet lasers – 30 to 60 mW – will be sufficient to expose the plate – meaning no hardware re-investment is needed. Once the image is ‘written’ onto the plate all that remains is to remove the non-image area. This is done using a gumming unit to gum the plates and at the same time remove the non-image area.

Joshi says, “VioGreen plate behaves similar to VioStar, the conventional violet plate on the press. The processing stage during pre-press however, is eliminated. Printers installing a new CTP system do not need to buy a full-fledged processor. Instead, a simple gumming unit also known as clean-out unit is required.”

This means the printers currently using conventional VioStar plates can upgrade to VioGreen plates. All that is needed is an on-site modification to their existing processors that can be accomplished in a couple of hours. As mentioned above, they can continue to using their existing Violet CTP platesetters. Thus, their current investment in the existing Violet CTP system is fully protected and a fresh investment is not needed.

According to Joshi, the developer solution used with conventional violet plates is alkaline in nature, which makes it environmentally un-friendly.  The VioGreen Gumming solution (also known as the Cleanout solution) is PH neutral and environment friendly.

Speaking about the run-lengths, Joshi adds, “These depend on number of factors such as press conditions, paper, ink, fount, cleaners, blanket, press speed, image resolution, etc. Run-length experienced by newspaper printers on imported coldset web presses on good quality newsprint running at 50,000 to 75,000 impressions per hour is known to be 250,000 to 300,000 impressions per plate in four-colour pages. In the sheetfed commercial print segment, we have not yet come across run-lengths that are higher than the plate capability.”

High sensitivity of the plate coating allows the end-user to get high throughput even on a 60mw violet platesetter. Moreover, the elimination of the plate cancellations and remakes caused due to processing variables further enhances the productivity. Also, the inherent benefit of a Violet CTP system over thermal or UV CTP systems is that the construction of the platesetter is extremely simple, with near zero downtime for maintenance or breakdowns. These factors coupled with the simplicity of use, makes VioGreen a high productive CTP systems in use.

 

Specifications

Plate Type Negative-working, high speed violet laser plate

Coating Photopolymer

Substrate Electro-chemically grained and anodized

Gauge 0.28 mm

Spectral Sensitivity 405 nm Violet diode

Exposure On Stouffer 21 step wedge, 3 solid and 6 clear. On UGRA wedge, 2 solid and 5 clear

Resolution 1% to 99%, 200 lpi AM, 240 lpi Hybrid

Image colour Blue

Run-length Over 200,000 impressions under recommended press conditions

Contact Shreerang Joshi                shreerangj@technovaindia.com                +91 9930599929