Agfa launches SPIR@L, its latest patented screening technology that replaces traditional dots with alternative shapes to increase quality and reduce production cost. It’s the latest addition to Agfa’s ECO³ program, which focuses on economy, ecology and extra convenience.

SPIR@L – the screening innovation for heat-set and cold-set

SPIR@L is Agfa’s latest patented screening technology. Applicable to both commercial and newspaper printing, it makes it possible to hold dots from press to paper ranging from 1 to 99% without any additional effort, guaranteeing vibrant colors and sharp images. Due to the shape of the screen, print artifacts such as image slur or smaller CtP imaging artifacts become invisible. As confirmed by several early adopters, this new screen avoids color contamination in the blue color range, yielding a higher quality reproduction. Due to the nature of the dot shape, the ink layer is reduced, which positively impacts drying time or energy consumption.

“The concept behind SPIR@L is simple but brilliant,” explains Erik Peeters, market manager commercial print at Agfa. “We replaced the traditional dot used in printing with a more efficient spiral shape. That way, print jobs require less ink to fill in the exact same space, resulting in a crystal-clear image and a higher press efficiency every time.”

SPIR@L requires no hardware additions to existing press and workflow setups.

Agfa’s ECO³ program

SPIR@L is a crucial element of Agfa’s ECO3 program. In designing and creating solutions based on hardware, software and consumables, Agfa focuses on ecology, economy, and extra convenience (ECO³) to make prepress and printing operations cleaner, more cost-effective and easier to manage and maintain.

“SPIR@L adheres to Agfa’s ECO³ philosophy by improving quality and saving our customers time and money”, says Guy Desmet, Head of Marketing Offset Solutions at Agfa.