While the conversion to CTP (computer-to-plate) among UK printers is all but complete, there is still a small pocket of print houses – mainly small-format and some medium-format – that don’t have a platesetter. The reasons are varied: some have been waiting for processless plates to mature sufficiently to gather environmental benefits; others have simply not been able to afford the outlay.
There is also another band of printers that have made the leap to CTP using a polyester platesetter, and now want to step up to aluminium. For all these printers, Heidelberg has launched two new Suprasetters – the external-drum thermal A52 and A74 machines in B3 and B2 formats.
Non-expandable
The Suprasetters were launched at Drupa in 2004. In 2006, Heidelberg introduced the A-Class variant, dubbed ‘entry-level’ due to its lack of expandability. Along with the low price tag goes a single, non-expandable laser head, and a single-loading table rather than the dual-loader of the more productive Suprasetters.
The original A-Class model was the A105, a B1 machine that has, by Heidelberg’s own admission, not done particularly well in the UK. Only a handful have been installed in the two years it’s been available – it seems that B1 printers have already made their CTP investment and aren’t in the market for replacements or upgrades just yet. The plan is for the new B2 and B3 machines to help mop up some of the remaining available CTP customer base for Heidelberg.
After a decade of joint ventures with Creo and Screen, the two new machines expand Heidelberg’s own-manufactured platesetter offering. With the launch of the two A-Class models, Heidelberg’s thermal Topsetter range of platesetters (built under licence from Screen) is officially superseded. The Suprasetters will sit alongside Heidelberg’s violet Prosetters, “to give customers a choice,” says Heidelberg UK CTP product manager Guy Elliott.
Interestingly, the price of violet and thermal is almost identical. With just a £2,000 difference, it is a narrower gap than other manufacturers offering both laser types. “Violet is cheaper, and the process is faster, but handling is more awkward,” Elliott says, “we’re finding that our split between thermal and violet is about 85%-15% in favour of thermal.”
The A52 and A74 lack the temperature stabilisation unit that on the higher-spec Suprasetters filter cooled water around the drum to eliminate plate expansion under heat. However, on the smaller-format machines, mis-registration through plate expansion is much less of a problem. What these machines do have is a depth-of-focus feature that, when it encounters a slight variation in the surface of the plate, adjusts the laser’s focal length to compensate – so dots stay sharp throughout. In practice, those slight variations in plate surface height are usually due to dust or lint – the depth-of-focus feature helps to avoid these.
The laser head is a Heidelberg-built unit, and aims to handle diode failure without compromising production. In the event of diode failure, the head ‘intelligently’ looks to the left or right of the failed diode and pulls into service adjacent diodes to compensate. The pay-off, unfortunately, is that single diodes can’t be replaced – if a diode fails, the whole head is scrap, at a cost of around £3,000.
The good news is that customers who take out a Heidelberg service contract get all their heads replaced free of charge, and in any case the heads are said not to fail often. Including the original Suprasetters installed two years ago, only two laser heads have proved faulty so far in the UK.
Regularly-shaped dots
It’s noticeable that, while producing its Creo-licensed machines, Heidelberg made much fuss about regularly-shaped dots. Now it is producing its own platesetters, the hype has gone. “A square dot, a round dot; it doesn’t make a lot of difference,” says Elliott. “A first-generation dot is a first-generation dot and people understand that.”
Screening, of course, does make a difference, and Heidelberg hasn’t spared on its offerings here. The front-ends of the A52 and A74 support Heidelberg’s AM screening package, including the IS (Irrational Screening), together with hybrid screening and the new Satin, a stochastic screen. In practice, says Elliott, the IS screening “will be ideal for 90% of users 90% of the time – it’s excellent at 175 line screens”.
Both new A-Class machines are driven by Heidelberg’s Prinect MetaDimension RIP. For the A52, Heidelberg has developed the MetaDimension 52i, a mini MetaDimension without TIFF-B import/export or imposition. As imposition requirements are limited in the B3 market, Heidelberg has built a plug-in for Adobe Acrobat with limited imposition features taken from SignaStation. Users of the A74, however, must buy SignaStation to do imposition work. No workflow features are included with either front-end, but both RIPs are compatible with Heidelberg’s PrintReady workflow.
Processless plates
The A52 and A74 can handle processless plates. In fact, of the current UK installations, Elliott says three-quarters are running processless plates, either Fuji’s Brillia Pro-T or Heidelberg’s own Agfa-rebranded processless plate, Saphira. Both can be run at the platesetters’ top output speed. Agfa’s Azura, which makes higher energy demands of the laser, has to be run 25% slower. The A52 and A74 have also been “plate future-proofed”, with Heidelberg building in a debris extraction unit. “They can cope with any new processless plates that may generate slight ablative debris,” Elliott says.
Thoughtfully, in a machine designed for smaller-format printers’ factories, where space is often tight, Heidelberg has paid attention to the footprint of the models. At just 1.2x1.7m it’s compact for a manual model. The automatic plate loader, which is mounted on the top, adds just 50cm to the depth.
The loader is another feature that is limited in its capability. They can handle up to 50 plates (although interleaving is automatically removed) and have a single-loading table that unloads one plate before loading the next. An internal punch is fitted as standard, and Heidelberg has included its new design of clamping bar, which takes just 6mm of the plate edge rather than the 15mm on previous models.
Heidelberg’s bums-on-small-format-seats strategy is working already. Since the A52 and A74 were launched in October last year, an average of four a month have been sold, taking the installation base to nearly 20 machines. “The components in them are all tried and tested, and people are confident in them,” Elliott says.
SPECIFICATIONS
Speed
• 17 B3 plates per hour (Fuji/Heidelberg plates)
Max plate size
• Suprasetter A52: 670x525mm
• Suprasetter A74: 670x750mm
Resolution
• 2,400dpi fixed
Laser upgradeability
• none
Price
• Suprasetter A52 manual loading: £55,000
• A52 automatic loading: £65,000
• A74 manual loading with Signastation: £65,000
• A74 automatic loading with Signastation: £80,000
Contact
• Heidelberg UK 020 8490 3500 www.heidelberg.com
THE ALTERNATIVES
Kodak Magnus 200/400
The Magnus uses Kodak’s Thermal Direct non-process plates. It doesn’t need any post-image processing at all but can use other brands of processless plates. It also comes with Kodak’s Prinergy workflow.
Speed
• 200: 19-25 plates per hour
• 400: 16-21 plates per hour
Max plate size
• 200: 404x540mm
• 400: 680x750mm
Resolution
• 1,200-3,048dpi
Laser upgradeability
• yes
Price
• not supplied
Contact
• Kodak GCG 01923 233366 www.kodak.com
Agfa Acento II
Driven by Apogee Light workflow, the Acento is a B2 machine, and uses Agfa’s own Azura plates which are chemistry-free but not processless, requiring a water wash-out that bumps up the footprint. Automatic loading is optional.
Speed
• 20 B2 plates per hour
Max plate size
• 830x660mm
Resolution
• 1,200-4,000dpi
Laser upgradeability
• none
Price
• from £65,000
Contact
• Agfa UK 020 8231 4929 www.agfa.com/uk
Fuji Luxel T-6300
Launched at Ipex last year, the T-6300 is an entry-level B2 machine that can use regular CTP plates as well as Fuji’s own Brillia Pro-T processless. Loading scores over the Suprasetter by offering single- or multi-cassette loading options. Driven by Fuji’s Open workflow, laser output can be doubled.
Speed
• 11 B2 plates per hour
Max plate size
• 830x660mm
Resolution
• 1,200-4,000dpi
Laser upgradeability
• yes
Price
• from £55,000
Contact
• Fujifilm Graphic Systems 01234 245245 www.fuji.co.uk
Screen PlateRite 4300E
Screen isn’t in the B3 bracket, and the 4300E is a four-up machine. Lasers can be doubled, which gives 21 plates per hour output. Driven by Trueflow, it has single or multiple auto-load options, with the cassette holding up to 100 plates.
Speed
• 11 B2 plates per hour
Max plate size
• 830x660mm
Resolution
• 2,540dpi max
Laser upgradeability
• yes
Price
• from £70,000
Contact
Screen UK 01908 848500 www.screen.co.uk
