First 30mW Violet Photopolymer Plate Installation runs with Escher-Grad's Cobalt-8 at Martin Litho in Tampa Florida August 7, 2002 -- The recent installation of a Cobalt-8 violet CTP system at Martin Litho has made them the first commercial color printer to run 30mW photopolymer violet plates. Designed to integrate into any prepress workflow, the Cobalt-8 slipped seamlessly into Martin Litho's existing prepress operations that are driven by a full-blown Agfa Apogee workflow. Now in full production, the Cobalt-8 is producing plates for four press lines running on multiple shifts. "Continuing Escher-Grad's tradition of violet CTP firsts, the Cobalt-8 at Martin Litho was the world's first 8-up commercial shop to benefit from the unique qualities of violet-photopolymer plates," said Keith Fisher, Director of Business Development for Escher-Grad Technologies. "The new generation violet-photopolymer plates can be UV-cured for run lengths that match or exceed thermal plates, work in very harsh pressroom environments (including UV ink/dryers) and require far less being spent on the CTP device, processing and ovens. Martin Litho's commitment to leading-edge technology has, once again, placed it at the forefront of the industry and we are proud to have been part of their success with the Cobalt-8." The Cobalt series of platesetters are the only ones capable of running both silver-halide and photopolymer plates making them the most flexible platesetters on the market. DiamondPlate LV-1 plates from Lastra/Western Lithotech, launched at Print01 in October 2001, are presently the only commercially available 30mW plates however Fuji has announced a commercial release of their Brillia LP-NV plates by September 2002. "The combination of the Lastra/Western Lithotech DiamondPlate LV-1 and Cobalt-8 offers the industry state-of-the-art CTP technology," said Kathy May, US/International Marketing Director, Western Lithotech. "The DiamondPlate LV-1 was the world's first violet laser imaged photopolymer 410 nm plate that does not contain any silver. It has proven to be an excellent choice for all the short and long run needs of commercial printers, like Martin Litho, who demand maximum productivity at a dot resolution of 1 to 99 percent."