The Elantrix H line will be available for plate widths of 85cm, 125cm, 150cm and 165cm and will process up to 40 plates per hour.

Elantrix H machines are aimed at printers using more than 20,000sqm of plates per year, and will replace the Autolith TP processor that launched in 2000.

"The Autolith has served us very well for five years, but as platesetters have got faster we needed a higher-volume machine
to run inline," said Agfa UK plate product manager Mike Loose.

East London large-format specialist Capital Print & Display installed a 165cm beta version of the deep-tank processor in June.

At the same time it fitted an Agfa Xcalibur platesetter, the first of its kind capable of imaging plates, for its KBA 205 press.

Capital general manager Rav Gill (pictured) said: "We've put the Elantrix through its paces and we're very happy with it. We've worked very closely with Agfa since the start of its development, and it's great to have the first one in the world."
He added that commercial production on the KBA 205 had now begun, and that the firm was due to start using UV curing on the press this week.

The second beta site is Merthyr Tydfil magazine printer Stephens & George, which has installed an 85cm version of the Elantrix H.

The Elantrix H machines join the Elantrix S, for mid-volume users, and the LDT (Low Demand Thermal) processor aimed at B2 printers with low plate usage.

Loose also revealed that Agfa has adapted one of two plate manufacturing lines at its Wiesbaden plant to produce plates wide enough for the KBA 205 press.

The line was widened last year from the previous maximum width of 150cm, the standard width for making plates, to 160cm, following KBA's announcement in 2003 that it would launch the super-wide 205 press at Drupa.

Story by Josh Brooks