CTP and printing technology

Due to the first large-scale comprehensive demonstration of CTP technology at the DRUPA Expo held in Germany in 1995, people generally regard 1995 as the first year of CTP technology. In fact, CTP technology is not as young as people think. Its basic concepts and advantages have been recognized and accepted by people as early as the 1970s. However, at the time, there was a lack of necessary technical environment and supporting equipment and equipment. The CTP technology remained at the conceptual stage. As already mentioned above, the essence of CTP technology is to convert digital pages directly into plates, proofs, and even prints. There is no longer any intermediate links or intermediary physical media (such as film) for confirmation, modification, or splicing. This implies two layers of meaning.
First, the digital page is required to be complete in content, and it is completely reliable in quality. It is actually another form of existence (digital mode) of the final product.
Second, the conversion technology is required to complete faithful and reliable conversion, and the requirements for speed, efficiency, quality, cost, and consumables and environment meet the technical requirements of the final product form.
Therefore, CTP technology requires a complete digital environment, supporting output devices and equipment, as well as a new management concept.
The establishment of a complete digital environment gradually began to take shape until the late 1980s. The development and maturation of computer hardware and software technologies paved the way for the processing of images and text in the same computer system. High-quality desktop publishing systems based on workstations and personal computers have begun to be widely used in the printing field. Gradually become the main means of prepress production. By the early 1990s, the digital environment for pre-press processing had basically matured. Computers became the main tool for processing and processing. The network and digital media became the main means of information (product) transmission and the linkage of systems. The quality of illustrated digital pages has reached or even surpassed that of traditional plate-making processes. As long as appropriate conversion technology is available, digital pages can be directly converted into products in the required forms, such as films, plates, proofs, prints, and so on. The digital pre-press environment required by CTP technology has matured in technology. The supporting output conversion technology and equipment and equipment have become the key and the focus of development research.
The appearance of the image-setter (Imageetter) has made it possible to convert full-page films from digital pages to images and texts. It integrates color separation, screen-hanging, photocopying, imposition, copying and other operations in a traditional process. The quality of computer systems is high. The speed and quality of the pre-press operation have been greatly improved, and the production efficiency has been greatly improved. The digitization of the prepress operation has extended from the original to the full-page film. This kind of production system with digital prepress system and image photosetter as the main body has become the most important technical means and basic configuration for prepress production today.
The appearance of the Platesetter makes it possible to directly convert digital pages to printing plates. It integrates the operations of color separation, screen printing, photocopying, imposition, copying, and even printing, etc. Completed in a unified manner, complete digitalization of prepress operations. Direct plate making digitized the prepress operation from the manuscript to the plate, that is, to achieve complete digitization of the prepress operation, and no longer use intermediary media such as silver salt photographic film, ending prepress production relying on silver salt film The history of the realization of the "silverless" plateless filmless. This kind of high-efficiency, low-cost prepress production has the unparalleled technical advantages and huge economic and social benefits of any production technology before it, and will become the main pre-press production method and basic configuration of the system in the 21st century.
The appearance of digital presses (Digital Press/Printer) has made it possible to directly convert digital pages into prints, integrating traditional prepress, printing and even postpress operations into a whole, which is accomplished by computer systems. This is a "downright" digital production technology, there is no intermediary physical media throughout the entire production process, all products exist in the production system before the meeting with the customer digitally, circulation and processing and processing. Digital printing no longer uses plates in the traditional sense and belongs to Plateless Printing. Therefore, the ability to have Variable Information Printing and On-demand Printing will become increasingly The rise of the on-demand/personalized printing market is the main production technology means.
The emergence of a digital color proofer (Digital Proofer) enables the direct conversion of digital pages to color proofs, enabling the digitization of proofs, the so-called Direct Digital Color Proofing (DDCP). From a print production point of view, DDCP is actually an assistive technology that is compatible with direct platemaking, because all traditional proofing methods do not meet the requirements of direct platemaking in terms of speed (eg, traditional proofer proofing). The absence of film is technically difficult to achieve (eg, conventional toners or laminations are easily proofed). Of course, the high quality of DDCP can also find applications in other areas such as advertising, window display, posters, art design, and so on.
Obviously, CTP technology is actually an inevitable result of the digital development of the printing industry technology. CTP is no longer an isolated device or equipment. It is a complete system project. It needs the coordination of the supporting digital environment, control management technology, and equipment to realize its potential and advantages.