The last step that takes place in the pre-press
department is creation of plates, for use on the press.
There's one plate for each printing ink,
and the way this job passes from imposition
to plate is that the data for that imposed flat is sent to the platesetter.
The plate is coated with photosensitive material that the
platesetter exposes with a laser, driven by that data.
And then the plate image is chemically developed, and
that process is automated.
And then, once it''s developed, that plate is baked in order
to stabilize the image so that it can hold up on press.
What use to be a very manual
labor intensive process is now completely automated.
The plates are exposed and developed and baked, all in one process.
It's a great time saver.
Here's a closer look at the image on the plate.
Now the blue is just so they can
tell which areas of the plate are exposed.
This isn't necessarily the plate that's going to
print the cyan ink or blue spot ink.
But this plate is ready and the next step is
to mount it on the press and run that job.