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Lithographix Chooses Screen PlateRite FX1200 to Make High-Quality Coating Plates

Thursday 31. October 2013 - Lithographix Inc., one of North America's largest, most accomplished commercial printing operations, wields innovation like a wand. The Hawthorne, Calif.-based lithographer tackles a wide variety of print projects with superior-quality, eight-color sheetfed and web printing. The Screen PlateRite FX1200 digital imaging system is the newest component of Lithographix's innovative approach to inline UV coating.

“We installed the PlateRite FX1200 system to image relief plates that we use to apply UV-curable coatings,” said George Wolden, vice president of manufacturing. “It’s essential that the coating releases cleanly from the plate and creates a clearly defined dot. The Screen technology gives us the best release properties and dot structure.”
The PlateRite FX1200 handles flexographic photopolymer plates, letterpress plates and thermal ablation film up to 42 x 47.2 inches. Lithographix produces high-quality coating plates for 40-inch UV sheetfed equipment and a commercial web press with a 38-inch web width. Screen’s flexo CTP technology registers the coating plates during the imaging process with the same accuracy as its popular CTP recorders designed to make digital plates for offset printing.
Known for its leadership in the high-quality printing niche, Lithographix prints annual reports, automotive brochures, catalogs, corporate collateral and inserts. A grand-format department delivers billboards, displays and signage.
To deepen the color of printed areas or help designs stand out with strategically placed accents, Lithographix offers its clients high-gloss, satin, soft touch and other types of UV coatings. The PlateRite FX1200 enables Lithographix to apply spot UV coating using inline tower coaters.
“The Screen unit is more accurate than the system we had been using,” Wolden said. “We ran tests on the different plate-making devices. The PlateRite FX1200 produces really fine definition. The exposure system delivers more details. The edges of the relief plates are very crisp.”