Scottish Media Group (SMG), which publishes The Herald, is investing in Agfa CTP technology for its new print plant in Cambuslang.

Agfa will supply two Polaris 150 platesetters, the Intellinet production management system, two Agfa plate processors and a Sherpa 2 digital proofer.

The system will be delivered next month, but it will not go into full production until next April, when each Polaris will be able to output over 150 plates per hour.

Although CTP promises advances in speed, simplicity and flexibility, it is still not an entirely tried and tested technology, said SMG Publishing chief executive Des Hudson.

SMG will run its existing analogue systems and CTP concurrently for a transition period, leading up to April.

Although SMG has used Agfa technology since 1989, the company also evaluated Kodak Polychrome Graphics rival CTP system, which uses thermal imaging rather than the Agfa N91 photopolymer plates used in the Polaris.

Kodak claims lower lifetime usage operating costs and downtime for its technology, but we felt it is not as tried and tested as Agfas, said Hudson.

He also said that while CTP offered many efficiencies, the Agfa N91 plates cost more than the traditional analogue film and plates they will replace.

Agfa UKs director of graphics system, Laurence Roberts, acknowledged that that CTP is not going to save material costs, although he predicted that they will come down.

CTP is still in its early days, and its not a universal panacea. However, editors love the later deadlines, and production likes the efficiency and workflow gains, he said.

Story by Paul Nesbitt