Mortsel, Belgium – Drupa – 18 February 2004 – Agfa announced the addition of a new 4-up thermal CtP imager to its product portfolio. Following in the footsteps of its successful violet cousin, the 4-up :Palladio, :Acento brings the full automation, quality and reliability of thermal imaging to medium size printers looking for a thermal option. :Acento comes in a variety of configurations, each featuring different levels of automation and speeds, depending on the customer’s needs. For example, the :Acento E, a 16-channel platesetter, produces 10 plates per hour, while the :Acento S, a 32-channel platesetter, produces 20 plates per hour. There are also three plate loaders available. The :Acento L-300 plateloader keeps 300 plates online in three cassettes (including slipsheet removal); the :Acento L-100 plateloader keeps 100 plates online in a single cassette (including slipsheet removal); and the :Acento L-50 plateloader with manual slipsheet removal keeps 50 plates online. The :Acento joins the other thermal systems in Agfa’s product portfolio, the :Xcalibur 45 and :Xcalibur VLF systems. The :Acento’s small footprint and compact design makes it ideal for organizations with limited floor space. “In talking to our customers, we learned that a significant number of them prefer thermal technology for their graphic enterprises. At Agfa, it is our mission to provide quality products using the technologies that our customers are not only comfortable using, but can benefit from by using them. The 4-up :Acento expands our product offering in the thermal imaging area,” Theo De Keersmaecker, Agfa’s director of CtP. “In the 4-up market also, our offering is now complete with both violet and thermal CtP systems.” The :Acento also features an optional inline punch for major press configurations. :Acento is optimised for :Thermostar plates, :ApogeeX workflow and is capable of :Sublima screening at 240 lpi.