Imagesetters and beyond: CTP options for quick printers

Image  |  americanprinter.com | Jan 1, 2001

Much has been written about new CTP options for midsize and larger commercial printers. But what if you're a smaller printer and can't justify investing in a thermal, violet or UV platesetter? What if a digital press doesn't figure into your plans?Not to worry - there's a CTP solution for you, too.

St Ives

proof positive In our industry you are only as good as the finished product. In short, your success is our success.

glossary k

Kerning: The narrowing of space between two letters so that they become closer and take up less space on the page. Key Plate: The printing plate that is used as a guide for the other plates in the color printing process; it usually has the most detail. Keying: The use of symbols, usually letters,

glossary t

Thermography: A printing process whereby slow drying ink is applied to paper and while the ink is still wet, it is lightly dusted with a resinous powder. The paper then passes through a heat chamber where the powder melts and fuses with the ink to produce a raised surface.

glossary i

Impression: Product resulting from one cycle of printing machine. The pressure of the image carrier, whether it be the type, plate or blanket, when it contacts the paper.

A young osprey on its Chesapeake Bay nest | EPA History | US EPA

Visitors to many of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife national refuges this summer will find that populations of such relatively rare birds as the bald eagle, the brown pelican, the osprey and the peregrine falcon are now increasing.

glossary p

Photoengraving: Making printing plates by exposure of line and halftone negatives on sensitized metal, converting the image into an acid resist, and etching the print to the relief required for letterpress printing.

glossary b

Background: That portion of a photograph or line art drawing that appears furthest from the eye; the surface upon which the main image is superimposed.

glossary o

Offset: The most commonly used printing method, whereby the printed material does not receive the ink directly from the printing plate but from an intermediary cylinder called a blanket which receives the ink from the plate and transfers it to the paper.