Agfa Graphics announced at Ifra in Vienna earlier this month that it has sold its 2000th newspaper CtP system.
In addition, all Agfa CtP engines sold including the :Advantage and :Polaris CtP families, will include :Arkitex PowerWedge a new component created for Agfa's :Arkitex workflow system.
PowerWedge provides digital calibration to ensure proper laser quality during CtP production. Developed and patented by Agfa Graphics, PowerWedge has an optical system for analysing up to every plate used during a newspaper's production run.
:Arkitex PowerWedge brings digital inspection and standardisation to laser quality for newspapers that use polymer CtP plates. PowerWedge is exposed on every plate using variable laser power.
In conjunction with an optical system or the visual judgement of the operator, PowerWedge can help determine if any modifications or adjustments need to be made to the exposure laser being used with the CtP imaging system.
"Before :Arkitex PowerWedge, CtP operators had to do most of their laser checking and calibrating manually, which certainly did not save any time or money for the newspaper and did not always result in the best possible imaging quality," says Agfa Graphics' Andy Grant, worldwide newspaper segment manager.
"We developed and then patented PowerWedge to directly address that issue, and it has subsequently become one of the most important components of our :Arkitex newspaper workflow solution.
"PowerWedge can be placed on every production plate, assuring the fastest and most accurate digital calibration."
All Agfa CtP devices shipped since mid-2006 are PowerWedge-enabled, and it is included in all new installations. The new system is also being used with :Arkitex Afirma, Agfa's process control solution for newspaper production.
When PowerWedge identifies a bad plate, Afirma can help operators specifically identify the problem. From that point it can easily be determined if an adjustment with the imaging laser or plate would solve the problem, or if additional remote diagnosis needs to be made.
Among Agfa Graphics' recent sales successes in Asia are Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Berhad, one of Malaysia's most prominent newspaper publishers and printers, who recently purchased four :Polaris CtP systems and :Arkitex workflow. The switch from film to CtP will help the publisher, responsible for two dailies and two weeklies with a combined circulation of more than one million, save production costs amounting to approximately US$300,000 annually.
Meanwhile, Indian newspaper publisher, Jagati Publications, has purchased 11 :Advantage systems from Agfa Graphics, half the number of systems sold in all of India thus far in 2007.
