Alan Bucknambucknam@mastodon.social
Nov 11, 2026, 11:11 PM@glennf finishes developing on press? That is wild. Does the ink harden the plate up or something? Crazy.
Replies
Nov 11, 2026, 11:20 PM@bucknam No, it’s wild. Previously, they had to do a chemical path to finish the cycle. Now, it comes out dry, goes on press, and something in the ink activates the final stage—about 15 sheets in, it’s ready. (Make ready is usually ~500 sheets.)
- Alan Bucknambucknam@mastodon.socialNov 11, 2026, 11:26 PM
@glennf that’s pretty cool. Anything that cuts down makeready time and expense is great.
Monty Hayter 🇨🇦montyhayter@mstdn.socialNov 12, 2026, 1:11 AM@glennf @bucknam Back around the turn of the century, in another lifetime, I was part of the firmware team for Creo’s direct imaging project that mounted platesetter engines directly to a press (initially a Heidelberg SM74).
Very nice, 0 registration needed since everything was imaged in place. Also very expensive (since you need an image engine for each colour) and cumbersome — the presses were, after all, not designed for this.
- Nov 12, 2026, 1:12 AM
@montyhayter @bucknam clever idea!