DUSSELDORF, GERMANY, Jan. 17 - At DRUPA 2008, Kodak will unveil the fastest and most productive addition to its KODAK MAGNUS 800 Platesetter line: a device that can image up to 60 8-page plates per hour at the highest image quality available in the industry.

The KODAK MAGNUS 800Z QUANTUM Platesetter delivers faster throughput than any other device in the KODAK line, with the added advantage of a new, advanced thermal head that generates double the laser power of its MAGNUS platesetter predecessors. The new thermal head not only increases the speed of plate production, but it also provides broader imaging latitude and higher stability in case of plate sensitivity variations-making this one of the most reliable and cost effective platesetters on the market.

"The KODAK MAGNUS 800Z Platesetter provides a significant jump in productivity with superb image quality," said Doug Edwards, General Manager Prepress Solutions, Kodak's Graphic Communications Group, and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. "With the ability to produce 60 plates per hour, printers can process more jobs faster-and the high resistance to variation reduces waste and remakes, saving time and money for commercial printing operations." With greater process stability, the MAGNUS 800Z QUANTUM Platesetter can easily achieve 10-micron KODAK STACCATO Screening, advanced FM screening that brings more vibrant colors and extraordinary detail to projects that require an elevated level of accuracy and definition.

For a completely automated solution, users can add field proven MAGNUS 800 Platesetter options such as Single Cassette Unit or Multi Cassette Units that enable printers to have up to 500 plates online.

When used with KODAK THERMAL DIRECT Non Process Plates, the MAGNUS 800Z Platesetter produces plates at the rate of 35 per hour. 

"Large commercial and publication printers will benefit from the increase in productivity offered by the MAGNUS 800Z Platesetter," Edwards said. "Producing high definition plates at this speed reduces the time from approved digital proofs to the first press sheet, moving jobs from the workstation screen to the press more quickly and with greater image accuracy."  

Kodak Enters XLF Platemaking Market with New MAGNUS Platesetter

With the growth of the extremely wide format market and the proliferation of presses with formats as wide as 80 pages and beyond, Kodak also announces that the company will bring an XLF platesetter to the industry in the first quarter of 2008, as part of its KODAK MAGNUS Platesetter line.

The KODAK MAGNUS XLF 80 QUANTUM Platesetter supports extremely large formats up to 80 pages. Based on the market leading KODAK MAGNUS VLF QUANTUM Platesetter, which is the fastest fully automated, very large format platesetter on the market, the MAGNUS XLF 80 Platesetter offers all of the features that are critically important to wide format commercial printing operations, including high speeds of up to 48 plates per hour at resolutions of 2,400 dpi.  KODAK XLF Plates will be available for the KODAK MAGNUS XLF Device.

"The MAGNUS XLF QUANTUM Platesetter is the first of several devices that Kodak will offer the XLF market in the near future," said Edwards. "We plan to offer computer-to-plate devices that will support the emerging XLF market. We will continue to make exceptional productivity, reliability and superb image quality available to businesses that produce catalogs, magazines and other publications with run lengths in the tens of thousands, or even in the millions."

All KODAK MAGNUS QUANTUM platesetters feature award winning KODAK SQUARESPOT Imaging Technology, which delivers an image on press that is six times more resistant to process variation than competing technologies. KODAK SQUARESPOT Technology achieves this stability through its unique, high resolution laser imaging system, which delivers a fine swath of energy at 10,000 dpi. Combined with intelligent Dynamic Auto Focus, SQUARESPOT Technology produces an exceptionally accurate dot consistently and reliably, plate after plate.
The SQUARESPOT Thermal Imaging Head used in QUANTUM computer-to-plate (CTP) Devices provides tonal uniformity across the plate. Its ability to maintain imaging integrity despite normal plate variations ultimately extends the life span of chemistry, and results in a dot that is more durable on press.

Larger plates can offer printers significant cost savings for long print runs, noted Edwards, because fewer plates are required when a single plate can contain images for 80 pages and above. "With extremely wide format plates and KODAK SQUARESPOT Imaging Technology, commercial printers with XLF presses run plates with less variability from image to image and plate to plate," he said. "The result is streamlined efficiency, including less waste, fewer remakes and shorter makeready time-all of which add up to cost savings."