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 Which Do You Need? An Imagesetter, or a Large Format Laser Printer?
Factors to consider:
Is your laser printer adequate for the type of printing you now do? (True resolution on a laser printer is seldom better than 800 dpi, regardless of claims to the contrary, most film produced looks terrible)!Do you send out work to service bureaus? If so, what does this cost?Is the time ripe for you to purchase your own imagesetter to reduce costs, save time and enhance your own color capability?Alternatively, if you now own an imagesetter is there a need for a more capable, color compatible machine? First, it is good to remember that almost all imagesetters can go direct to film, even to paper or polyester plates and make color separations! How well you can do this will be determined by the choice you make and to some extent the price you pay. Imagesetters come in four different formulations:
- Capstan
- Flat Bed - Platesetters.
- Internal drum
- External drum
Capstan:
Imagesetters that are readily available, at a reasonable cost on the used and new market, are capstan type machines. Capstan units evolved from phototypesetting technology, which employed rollers to pass the film over the imaging field of the CRT or laser. Most capstan units are restricted to smaller film sizes. At this moment, there are at least 30 current offerings of new, color capable, capstan recorders. Earlier capstan devices included the L100, L200, L300 and L500 Linotronics, the 9400, and 9600 Agfa/CG machines, the 4200/4300 Tegra/Varityper series and a host of UltraSetter and ECRM machines in their many configurations. There is almost no difference in the function of the older and newer capstan type machines. The technology is the same, but generally the newer machines may feature a more accurate film feed assembly. Good examples of ongoing fine quality capstan recorders can be found in the Agfa AccuSet series and the Linotronic L330 and L530/L560
Internal Drum:
Drum Technology has been around for a long time--but was not commercially used for imagesetting--much before the advent of the Scangraphic recorders around 1986, followed much later by Linotype with their laser-diode powered L630 and Agfa with their helium-neon driven SelectSet 5000. (The debate still continues as to whether helium-neon or laser diode is best.)
External Drum:
External Drum systems, which as a rule, handle larger film sizes, are more recent entries, usually feature 4 or 8 up drums and are quite popular with the larger service bureaus. When considering any imagesetter purchase, it is important to note the type of Raster Image Processor (RIP) being offered with the marking engine. In some cases an older machine may have been updated by the purchase of a more powerful RIP which may be worth more money than the actual output unit! These days, capstan recorders, (which make much better plates and film than any laser printer), can be purchased used, for less than $10,000.00. Reliable machines in this category will be older Linotronic Densey L300/RIP3 or 4 and the Agfa Accuset models. For under $15k consider a reconditioned Linotronic Model L300QR, (quality recorder, forerunner of the famous L330). This unit is by far the best buy, because it has the accuracy to produce quite adequate color separations. A further advantage is the ease with which parts, service and more powerful RIPs can be purchased. The L300QR is a powerful workhorse that will serve most requirements for many years to come.
Keep in mind that most capstan imagesetters, weighing less than around 200 lbs seem to wear out faster when they get older.
The biggest change has been in the Raster Image Processor (RIP). Most people who can afford to are upgrading to software RIPs.
Fred Simper. May be reproduced in full at no charge, with credit. |
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