BOSTON -- October 10, 2003 -- Creo Inc. is pleased to announce new developments to the Prinergy Powerpack(tmm) packaging workflow and the ThermoFlex family of computer-to-plate (CTP) devices. These improvements are designed to make flexographic packaging trade shops and converters more successful. New Flexographic Image Enhancement Technology... The latest addition to the specialized flexo technologies available in Prinergy Powerpack is DigiCap(tm) digital plate capping, which improves print quality in solid areas. "Plate capping" is a traditional technique in which the plate surface is slightly textured to improve ink coverage. While effective, it is a slow, costly and impractical as a general solution. DigiCap simulates the plate capping effect digitally by applying a pattern of small reverse dots in the surface of the plate. This minimizes visual artifacts, and in some cases reduces dot gain while increasing solid ink densities. From a prepress efficiency perspective, DigiCap is a simple, effective solution. It can be applied to any file, without investing additional time or effort. Solids and midtones are improved, and line art and process color are improved. Even archived 1-bit TIFF files can be processed with DigiCap. How DigiCap Works... The surface of the photopolymer plate is smooth like the surface of a glass table. When ink is deposited on the surface of the plate, it cannot maintain a uniform thickness and bleeds into the non-imaged areas. Therefore to completely cover the substrate with ink, the printer must add impression (squeeze) between the plate and print substrate to compensate for the uneven amount of ink on the plate. This process leads to several problems in the appearance of the images: uneven density in the solids, excessive dot gain and slur. DigiCap technology applies small reverse dots to the surface of the plate, which helps to minimize visual artifacts, and in some cases reduces dot gain while increasing solid ink densities. By applying a tint to the solids, the 'white' reverse areas in the print are reduced in size, which increases ink density and improves the visual appearance. This is very apparent near or around reverse copy as the application of a tint in the solid eliminates the noticeable darker keyline that forms around the reverses.