Technical Information

Upgrading your computer-to-plate (CTP) equipment is a significant investment. However, such an upgrade can open your business to a world of new opportunities. In a fast-paced industry like printing, equipment replacement is often a last resort. Computer-to-plate (CTP) equipment is no exception. Profit margins are shrinking, and technological and business trends are changing rapidly. By proactively upgrading to the latest CTP model, you can stay ahead of the curve, seize new business opportunities, and, importantly, save money.

Three Key Reasons to Replace Your CTP Equipment

1. Aging Equipment

If you haven't upgraded your CTP equipment in the past 7-10 years, you're likely facing capacity constraints. While your current equipment may still function, the increasing speed of printing often outpaces its ability to produce plates to meet output demands.

Kodak CTP is known for its quality, durability, and reliability, but any CTP equipment is a complex system. Older equipment becomes less reliable and more prone to problems. After years of use, components from the engine to the thermal heads, lasers, sensors, and automated controllers can all degrade. After 10 years of use, sourcing spare parts for your direct imaging device will also become increasingly difficult.

Older machines also present other risks. Security is a concern for businesses of all types and sizes, and keeping up with new operating systems and security patches is more important than ever. Outdated CTP equipment can create vulnerabilities and pose serious security threats, putting customer data, your reputation, and even your business at risk.

2. Your Business Heavily Relies on Offset Printing; New Equipment is Key to Growth

Offset printing offers long runs and excellent quality and efficiency. However, it also demands high-quality plates. As an offset printer, you may process tens of thousands of plates annually—a high throughput demand that older, manual CTP equipment struggles to meet.

Your existing CTP equipment may get the job done, but does it empower your business to thrive in a world of opportunity? With the latest CTP equipment, the platemaking process is fully automated, highly streamlined, and requires minimal manual intervention for plate loading, imaging, or sorting. You can deliver more plates to the pressroom faster, fully meeting business output and quality goals for plate volume and variety. New equipment reduces labor and energy costs, minimizes waste, and enhances cybersecurity for offset printing businesses.

New equipment can also help you stay ahead of evolving industry trends. For example, with the rise of personalized printing, many print customers want solutions that support frequent design changes. As this trend intensifies, the ability of offset printers to leverage advanced CTP solutions to increase efficiency becomes even more critical. Every offset business wants to grow, and new CTP equipment will help ensure you can meet increasing demands.

Your existing CTP equipment may get the job done, but is it keeping up with market demands? Does it empower your business to thrive in a rapidly changing world? CTP technology has advanced significantly since your last purchase, and the platemaking process has become increasingly sophisticated.

New innovations enable higher throughput, better output quality, and a smaller footprint. Automated options, including remote monitoring capabilities, save time and labor. Combined with energy-saving features, simplified operation, and reduced errors and waste, automation can save you significant costs. But that's not all. The more plates you can automatically load, image, and unload, the more jobs you can process daily, boosting your revenue potential.

New CTP technology also features new imaging technologies. You can achieve finer detail in your output, even at faster speeds, ideal for fine art printing, microprinting, security printing, and halftone printing. The ability to easily achieve various demanding printing effects will set you apart and allow you to meet the diverse needs of a large customer base. The entire platemaking process is also more environmentally friendly. For example, the latest Kodak Sonora and Magnus platesetters use 3% less energy during imaging than our previous models and 95% less than comparable direct imagers on the market. Kodak direct imagers are also perfectly paired with Kodak Sonora XP process-free plates, further reducing the environmental impact of platemaking. In short, upgrading empowers you to easily meet existing customer needs and exceed their expectations, allowing you to discover new growth opportunities. Ultimately, you will see a significant return on your investment.

3. Your Existing CTP Equipment May Be More Costly

Unexpected CTP downtime can quickly increase unpredictable costs. This includes obvious expenses like repair and parts costs—and eventually replacement costs. Service contracts also increase in price for older equipment because older equipment requires more frequent checks and diagnostics. While Kodak provides excellent support to its customers, the maintainability of equipment does become more challenging as machines age and technology becomes obsolete. Parts may be more expensive if the older equipment platform is incompatible with newer models.

Beyond that, you also need to consider downtime, which leads to lost revenue and increased costs. If the direct imager fails, a critical piece of the printing process is rendered ineffective. All of these factors add up, and the total cost may end up being higher than purchasing new equipment—monthly payments may actually be lower.

Businesses face many unpredictable threats, uncertainties, and pressures, leaving no room for error. Investing in advanced platemaking technology and modernizing your platemaking process can streamline workflows, reduce business risks, and ultimately give you peace of mind.

The Ideal Solution Awaits

A good solution is not simply tinkering with a user's existing configuration; it's about making revolutionary improvements and enhancements. By investing in new CTP equipment, Kodak continues to lead industry change. Kodak's new equipment can now deliver plates to the printing department faster and reduce labor costs, eliminating costly plate remakes. Kodak's award-winning technology is suitable for businesses of all sizes, and its automation level can be customized to your needs.

Kodak offers a range of new and refurbished CTP equipment to help you achieve plate-making levels you never dreamed possible—from the entry-level Kodak Trendsetter manual CTP to the high-end, scalable Kodak Magnus Q8000T Plus model with multi-tray plate loading. New CTP solutions can improve your existing workflow in various aspects, such as capacity, efficiency, growth, and profitability. Saying goodbye to old equipment may be quite different from what you expect in terms of cost; it may actually lower your costs.