Pre-Press Workflow
At Signature Offset, we employ the technology of Esko Artwork for our pre-press
workflow.
NexusRIP™ is the RIPping and screening engine of Nexus. NexusRIP is a high-end
RIP workflow solution including in-RIP trapping, proofing, page-independent imposition,
screening, and output to our state of the art Screen Platesetters.
Running on Mac OS X, Odystar is extremely robust and open to all pre-press and publishing
environments. Odystar is a highly automated pre-press workflow solution based on
PDF 1.6 as its native data format and on JDF as the job ticket format.
Odystar offers a complete range of pre-press tools, from preflight, certification and automated document correction all the way to advanced trapping, imposition, proofing, printing and screening to plate.
Computer to Plate
We utilize Computer to Plate technology to produce all of our printing plates. This process eliminates the film and developing systems from prior years. Computer to Plate is better in many ways.
First, we have eliminated the chemicals (which are high in VOC's) used to develop the film. These films also used silver as a material component. The process of transferring the image from the film onto the printing plate could leave room for errors and mis-registration of the image.The result is an image likened to photocopying an image a few times. The quality and integrity of the image is compromised each time the image is transferred from one medium to another.
With the development of Computer to Plate (CtP) the margin of error for mis-registration is practically eliminated. The images are registered by the computer and burned directly to the plate, allowing for precise screen angles and LPI's.
Secondly, we use a PlateRite 6600 for our CtP processes. It allows for orginal imaging direct from the digital file. One of the features of the PlateRite 6600 is the Automatic Inline Punch which provides perfect plate registration.
Finally, thermal plates are Signature Offset's plate of choice. The sharp, hard edged dot from thermal plates ensure the highest quality possible from our presses. Standard CtP plates can have soft-edged dots and are prone to exposure and development variation. Thermal plates are a true digital plate. With thermal plates nothing is imaged until the laser reaches the specific temperature which raises the image on the plate.
