The application of CTP has been in China for four years. Although CTP has many advantages, it is not satisfactory in terms of popularity and use. I personally think that there are the following reasons:
1. Many printing companies don't know much about the digital process and cannot bless the pros and cons of various processes.
2. The price of CTP plates is higher than traditional plates. Although there are domestic CTP applications, the quality is not very stable.
3. The popularity of digital proofing and the recognition of customers and the unification of color management cannot be compared with traditional proofing in terms of price and quantity.
Here I would like to give you a third party or stand on the user's behalf to talk about the precautions of choosing a digital printing process.
Many people are talking about the CTP system. In fact, they are talking about the digital prepress process. In the digital process, the three parts of the program are the input compatibility of the file, the flexibility of the processing process, and the support of multiple devices in the output part.

First, file input compatibility

In fact, the previous process was to put this part in the document processing, but in the current popular PDF process, document processing was advanced, especially in the networked production process, in order to shorten the distance with customers, the importance of this part Reflected. In fact, the Create of the AGFA process and the Synapse of Prinergy belong to the file input (file processing) capability, and in this part also need to include the Peflight, word processing functions (functions that should also be available on the RIP side).
The requirements process must be able to accept and process:
1, EPS, TIFF/IT-PI, CT/LW, DCS, this is the function that should be in the old version RIP;
2, the standard Postscript level1, Postscript level2, Postscript level3 file (the performance of its function appears in the processing);
3, standard PDF files, must be able to correctly handle PDF1.2, PDF1.3, PDF1.4 must be able to handle the transparent effect;
4, but also for some program generated non-standard PS file solution is also an important option. The performance of its function appears in the processing;
5, Copydot file format support, although the Copudot scanner is expensive, but to achieve the necessary support for the full digital process (CTP).
6, CEPS conversion, this is a compatibility function, it will convert the file format in other processes to the current process to ensure the integrity of the digital process.

Second, the process

This part can be said to be the core of the entire process. It can be said that its success is related to the application of the entire digital process. The process must implement:
1, Postscript compatibility Postscript is the common language of the printing industry, it has developed to the third edition now, the digitized flow must deal with Postscript level1, Postscript level2, Postscript level3 three versions of the file, most desktop application software It is directly related to whether RIP can explain the layout of various software productions, whether errors will appear in the output, etc.
2. The PDF compatibility PDF is a portable document format, which is a public and practical standard for the distribution of electronic documents around the world. Adobe PDF is a universal file format that can save all fonts, formats, colors, and graphics of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create the document. With these advantages, the PDF file format was slowly adopted by the printing industry as an industry standard following the PS file format. So the process must be compatible with the PDF1.2, PDF1.3 and PDF1.4 formats, in particular to support some new file effects, such as: transparent files.
3. Explain the speed of interpretation is directly related to the efficiency of production. It can measure the production capacity of the process. This index is often affected by workstations (servers), such as the operating system's stability to read the CPU speed, the number of CPUs, and the speed of the network.
4, text support for English. Need to have the function of managing words in the process, because in English, there is a font with the same name, but the effect and version are not the same, which requires the process to have this function to manage the fonts, to avoid text errors; support text for our country It is a minimum necessary condition, but some processes say PS L3's flow, but the Chinese character support for CID is not very good. Especially in the current PDF flow, the complete solution for Chinese fonts has not yet appeared.
5. Operational Interfaces and Functions The functions of digital processes are now very powerful, so their functional structure and operational flexibility play a decisive role in the actual production efficiency.
6. The preview function can be used to check the layout of the explanation to avoid mistakes and reduce waste, because in most cases it is previewed first, and the preview function has become an essential function.
7. Imposition output function In the CTP process, this function can more effectively use film to improve work efficiency. Because the film width of the imagesetter is fixed, and the layout of the output is truly ever-changing, it is often the case that very small films are used to output very small layouts, especially for large format imagesetters. The waste of the film and the RIP of the imposition output function avoid unnecessary waste. However, in the CTP process, the imposition output function supports layout output.
8, trapping in the process with the corresponding trapping software together, can solve the problem of color printing inaccurate. In some processes, there is a trap function, but in some processes, another software process is performed before entering the process to complete trapping.
9. In the digitization process, the imposition version is usually combined with some imposition software. According to the requirements of the printed matter, the individual page group is made into a large version and then published. The most common layout software in the process is Pre Ps and Art Pro. Pre PS is mainly used for book imposition, while Art Pro is mainly used for packaging imposition.
10, online modification or called the last minute to modify, and sometimes have to modify a page before publishing, in order to avoid re-RIP deal with the entire large version, require the detachment to modify the page handling. In this aspect, some processes only modify the files after RIP, and do not do RIP to this page, but some processes need to change a single page in the source program, and then RIP this page to replace the original page.
11. RIP once, output the same data after being processed by RIP multiple times, can be used for pre-print proofing and final product output at the same time, and require RIP to output different resolutions according to different output devices, ie digital pre-press proofing, Laser proofing, imposition proofing and final product output use the same RIP to ensure that the proofs are consistent with the final product.
12. A wide range of equipment supports mainstream output devices, providing more flexibility and options for configuring the system and maximizing the use of the functions provided by the system.

Third, the output part

This section includes digital proofing, imposition proofing output, remote proofing, plate output, film output, CIP3 or CIP4 data file output, production system data generation (ERP, PIS), and more.
1. The digital proofing digital proofing program plays an important role in the whole process. The most important thing to look at in digital proofing is to see whether the speed is fast, whether the repeatability is good, whether to save raw materials, and whether it can perform better. The color control, especially in the remote proofing and CTP output color management of the matching and output consistency.
2, imposition proofing output This function is to check whether the large version of the fight is the result of the need.
3. The emergence of remote proofing global business activities. The customers are distributed all over the world. Therefore, the emergence of this function can meet the requirements of customers. There are two forms of expression for this function: one is remote screen proofing, and the other is On the Internet, the printing company's server looks at the proof, and can observe the dot density on the above, and can also put comments and some information on it. The printing company knows the requirements of the customer. The other way is to use a color-managed printer to make proofs of the same color as the printing company.
4, printing plate output, film output digital process can support film output and plate output, for manufacturers just using digital processes, the first output of the large version of the film is a better choice, because when the output of the large version of the film, you can Familiar with some processes, if there is a problem, there is no way to solve the problem, use the method to fix the film to solve, to avoid some unnecessary losses, so familiar with the use of CTP, film output machine can be used as a CTP backup machine program.
5. The output of CIP3 or CIP4 data file, CIP3 or CIP4, as a digitized process, provides a basis for the comparison of the efficiency of subsequent processes.
6. Production System Data Generation (EPR, PIS) In some processes, the generation of production system data is regarded as a trend, which provides data sharing resources for the production management system.
These are the views I have accumulated over the years on the use of experience and the digital process. What do you think about my views differ? Welcome to contact me. E-mail:

Wen/Hu Weimin Source: Printed Today