Business cards for a national newspaper and labels for whisky bottles are printed from plates produced on a Glunz & Jensen PlateWriter 2000.

Editorial and advertising staff at the UK's top Berliner format newspaper hand out business cards produced by Blueprint and Design.

Founded in 1976 the London company also prints labels using Glunz & Jensen plates for luxury bottles of malt whisky sold by a fine wine and spirits merchant.

"We have owned the PlateWriter 2000 since mid-2010 (purchased through Fingerprint Digital in Suffolk) and are delighted with it," says Mac Operator Dave Morgan, who has produced more than 1,000 plates on it.

"We were looking to upgrade. It's a brilliant new way of platemaking, miles better than the previous convoluted process. Since we installed it there have been no issues, it's easy to clean and ideal to use. The biggest advantage for me is that I'm able to produce plates in the same room as the printing rather than being locked away in a darkroom for five hours a week.

"I recommend the Platewriter because it does away with the old light sensitive plates. I can't emphasise enough how wonderful it is to see what you're doing. It was definitely worth making the investment."

Since installing the PlateWriter, Blueprint and Design now has extra space not just because of the machine's small footprint but also the fact that "we no longer have to store chemicals as there's
just one bottle of fix".

He says: "Our plates are mainly for business cards and letterheads, four-colour work and occasional NCR sets, SRA3 size. On average they are used for 1,000 sheet runs and re-used once.

"The Glunz & Jensen has helped get more business, too," Mr Morgan reveals, adding that this is down to its reliability. "It's loads more reliable. When you put a job on it you know it will produce it. Before, there was always that element of doubt that something would go wrong. Also, there is a definite improvement in tones and halftones and an even cleaner image than on the old system."

The Glunz & Jensen PlateWriter 2000 at Blueprint and Design works in conjunction with a four-colour Heidelberg litho press.