The hottest printing business in China continues t

With the rapid economic development, China's demand for all kinds of printing materials has increased sharply, with a growth rate of 13% from 2001 to 2002; In the same year, the import of printing equipment and equipment reached more than US $1 billion. According to the annual growth rate of the national economy, although the growth rate varies from region to region, industry insiders expect that the growth rate will not be less than 10% - 15% from the perspective of the printing industry as a whole

Agfa (Hong Kong compares from the following aspects:) Ltd. Greater China printing system regional marketing manager Chen Kejun said that China's printing industry developed well in 2003. Take Agfa as an example. Although it experienced SARS last year, it did not damage their performance, and CTP's sales, if found to be loose, had already reached the expected target

he believed that under the objective conditions of adverse environment, the printing industry still increased because the stage of exploring new technologies has passed. At the initial stage of the introduction of computer direct plate making (CTP) in China, users are still considering its feasibility. After years of verification, the number of suppliers has increased significantly, and CTP technology has been widely accepted by industry insiders, so it has accelerated their purchase of CTP equipment. However, Chen Kejun pointed out that although the consumption of CTP has increased, most of the consumption is still concentrated in large foreign-funded printing enterprises. These enterprises are mainly aimed at the medium and high-end market and export, so the quality of printed matter is generally required to be high. In the face of increasing competition, domestic enterprises must improve the quality of printing products to maintain competitiveness. Therefore, CTP is expected to continue to develop

the development of South China is better

in terms of region, the development of South China is faster than that of other places. China's economic development is mainly driven by the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing Tianjin and surrounding areas. In particular, manufacturers in Hong Kong and Taiwan have moved their plants to the neighboring South China and the Pearl River Delta when the economy is opened, taking into account factors such as cost, labor price, scale and area. As the local economy and trade began to be frequent, other supporting industries have also been active, such as advertising, retail, etc., thus promoting the prosperity of the printing industry. In order to maintain its competitive advantage, the printing factory has introduced foreign advanced printing equipment and consumables to print pamphlets and other printed materials from the beginning, so South China has become a concentration of high-end printed materials

however, Shanghai has received strong support from the government in recent years, and all walks of life, including the printing industry, have flourished. It is believed that Shanghai will become the next key development area of the printing industry

ctp use began to mature

ctp has been launched into the market for more than 8 years, and has been widely accepted by the industry after years of improvement. Chen Kejun believes that it is no longer easy to launch innovative products in the market, and suppliers will instead focus on basic technological improvements, such as faster, more durable, more productive and more environmentally friendly

take thermal CTP as an example. In the past, multiple laser heads were needed to image, but now with the new GLV technology, high-resolution images can be obtained and applied to industrial applications

ctp is also more and more popular in the Chinese market. However, Chen Kejun pointed out that most CTP users are concentrated in foreign-funded enterprises. Their printing technology has reached international standards, and they moved their plants to South China only to save costs. In general, they all follow the latest international technology, so switching to CTP does not bring technical problems. However, for domestic enterprises, this adaptation period will take some time, because their products are aimed at the general public, and the printed matter does not need to be too exquisite. They can't see the urgency of using CTP technology, because their existing equipment is not up to the advanced level, and the employees are only familiar with the traditional printing process, and the digital printing process will require them to receive training again. Therefore, many domestic printing enterprises still use traditional photo typesetting technology

however, as mentioned above, domestic companies are facing increasing challenges from foreign investors. To compete for a day, they must improve the level of existing equipment and then enter foreign markets. Of course, in this process, not all companies may have the ability to adapt to this change. Therefore, some small printing enterprises in some provinces and cities are driven by the local government to merge into group companies, so as to achieve economic benefits, facilitate financing and enhance competitiveness

requirements of packaging on Printing

in addition to commercial printing, packaging printing is also a printing category that has received attention in recent years. Agfa has provided CTP hardware equipment suitable for packaging and printing, but other software and proofing supporting equipment are not enough, because there are certain restrictions on digital inkjet proofing, and not all materials are used

Zheng Shaoliang, product manager of the company's printing system in Hong Kong, pointed out that packaging printing is different from general commercial printing, because the book printing has only four colors, but packaging printing usually needs to replace different accessories, one of which can be used to experiment with more colors in the automotive industry to achieve the publicity effect. For example, spot colors such as gold, silver and fluorescent will be used. The proofing machine may not be able to show these colors, but use the printing machine to make proofing, It will cost more. In addition, packaging and printing usually involve three-dimensional effects, so it is necessary to make a simulation sample, mount the printed matter on the packaging (such as cartons), and let customers see the final appearance of the finished product, so as to ensure that there will be no mistakes in mass printing

xm overclocking

to ensure the quality of printed matter, image reproducibility is the decisive factor, which involves the printing of points, that is, to show the various tones of the original and pictures in geometric lines. Generally speaking, dots are printed by amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM). Am prints the dots in a consistent pattern. The size of each dot is different. Large dots show dark color. Generally, the size is micron, but only 4-color products can be printed at most; The effect of FM is the same as that of am, except that the points are printed randomly, and the points are small. The number of control points shows different gray tones, but the randomness of control points is difficult

therefore, Agfa research issued an overclocking (XM), called sublima Jinghua, which can use am and FM at the same time without the need for conversion devices. This technology can print four kinds of high-speed lines (210/240/280/340lpi), with FM for highlights and dark positions and am for midtones. This new technology can be used with Agfa's Galileo, xcalibur 45 and xcalibur VLF plate making machines

xcalibur is also the latest CTP product launched by Agfa. Xcalibur 45 and xcalibur VLF both use variable grating optical imaging system (GLV). This patented technology can accurately control the energy of the laser and decide whether to reflect the laser onto the printing plate for imaging, which acts like a shutter. During the imaging process, GLV's Micro shutter adjusts the laser to produce a separate recording beam, and is automatically calibrated to ensure the best and uniform exposure

the laser recording beam consists of strictly controlled and variable light spots. This IntelliSpot intelligent point technology combines the factors of Gaussian Gaussian points and traditional points to create a new hybrid point with higher accuracy. In addition, xcalibur adopts a patented imaging recording method, in which the long strip beam moves on the drum in a spiral manner and images across the printing plate. Other manufacturers' solutions need to eliminate gaps through overexposure, or constantly move in the imaging area to fill the gap between light spots to form points. Xcalibur's long beam imaging avoids the gap or mutual weight between recording beams

in general, Agfa is full of confidence in the prospects of China's printing market. Chen Kejun believes that China is the fastest growing market in the future. Coupled with the establishment of Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), it will bring more marketing activities to other industries, thus promoting the printing of more promotional materials and providing greater business opportunities for the printing industry. (Wen/Deng Meibao)