Talking about the Application of Digital Pattern Making in Printing Color Separation (2)

Second, the plate-making method directly on the plate imaging

This is done by the computer's layout and rasterization, rasterizing the layout information, and directly copying the dot matrix to the film and screen plate material through various imaging technologies such as laser, inkjet, and wax injection. This kind of new technology that directly forms a printable plate by computer processing is called computer-to-plate (CTP).

CTP was first introduced in the beginning of 1990. It was limited to the technical conditions at that time and could only handle black-and-white format files. Compared with computer laser photocopying technology of the same period, CTP has a narrow scope of application. With the development and maturity of computers and laser imaging systems, by 1995, color CTP technology could directly digitize images on films, screens, and other materials, further promoting the use of CTP platemaking technology for screen printing.

The use of CTP plate making technology greatly simplifies the entire process flow by simply passing through: graphic typesetting, direct plate making and printing. Compared with the traditional printing process, the photographing output film, a film, a film fixing, a film cleaning, a film drying, and a printing process are omitted. It has the advantages of fast, accurate, stable, repeatable, concise, and easy to control without any film.

Due to the superiority of the CTP platemaking technology, the attention of the screen printing industry has arisen, resulting in a variety of CTP platemaking systems. Representative products include the Swiss company Luscher JetScreen and the TRD direct plate-making system, which has comprehensively reformed the screen-making technology to form a light-blocking wax black ink image layer that functions as a mask directly on the photosensitive resin by means of ink jet printing. After full-page exposure, the wax black ink image and the unsensitized photosensitive layer are removed by hot water washing to produce a high-quality image with a web size of 3m×7m, a resolution of 75 lines/inch, and a repeatability of 0.02mm. . Due to the elimination of many tedious processes in traditional platemaking production, saving production time, accelerating production schedules, reducing plate making costs, and producing large-format images, it is favored by the advertising industry. This is a direct plate making technology for screen printing. It uses laser scanning to expose the screen stencil coated with special photoresist, and then rinses and develops the plate.

Third, the impact of digital platemaking technology on screen printing

The emergence and development of digital plate making technology led to a fundamental change in screen printing plates, completely out of the traditional, backward, low quality, slow simulation methods, and entered the new digital era, just like other printing methods. Staying at about 30 lines, the general product with low quality and thick lines was upgraded to a height that can print large-format, high-precision, fine cable, exquisite, and high-quality prints. In particular, the use of uniform dot size, color depth reflected by the degree of dot density network --- FM network plate-making, has fundamentally solved the problem that has been plagued with screen printing development of the image of the "mom pattern", and further promote the network. The printing printing takes off.

Digital plate making is not only a reform of plain printing, embossing, and gravure plate making, but also a major revolution in screen printing plate making technology. It is the key to improving the quality of screen printing, and it is bound to play an important role in screen printing.

At present, the domestic representative product is the "TRD Separation Plate Making and Proofing System" of the Beijing New Technology Research Institute. The technology was successfully developed and put into use in 1999. Now it has more than 200 customers, and there is a vast market for printing, printing and dyeing bases throughout the country and most of Southeast Asia. And continue to expand in this area to develop new products.