[LargeFormat] Ultrabiglargeformatcamera

Tue Mar 11 09:28:05 2003

Imagesetters are the answer.  Essentially they are a  laser printer that
runs real film or the Black Plate.  Most of the imagesetters start at around
1000 dpi and go upward toward 4000 dpi depending on the model.  The material
is generally sensitive to the red light laser (or IR Lasers)  and is
developed in chemistry. This is generally the same chemistry that has been
around for a while.  Rapid Access Chemistry.  The Black Plate is made by
Mitsubishi and uses a Activator and Stabilizer for the chemistry and that
makes it a developer incorporated material.  It is also not capable of a
half tone much more than about 150 lines per inch.  Film can go higher.
Most of the black plates are exposed at 1800dpi and 133 lpi.  This seems to
give the printer (owner) the best resolution and frequency for the speed
they need.  This the way for shops that don't need a long run for the plates
to go.  Typically the run with the Mitsubishi plate and it is really the
only one, is guaranteed  to 25,000 impressions.  This, in my mind, if your
press is new and in good shape, a low ball estimate.  50,000 would be more
like it.  Also, a lot depends on the press style.   Longer runs and real
process color jobs need the film to accomplish this and have the
registration and the like demand that film be used.  For these uses metal
plates are still needed but you don't need cameras anymore.  That is how the
printshops have gone desktop.

lee\c
----- Original Message -----
From: "Les Newcomer" <lnphoto@twmi.rr.com>
To: <largeformat@f32.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 7:02 AM
Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] Ultrabiglargeformatcamera

> Admittedly this is slightly off list, but  how does an offset printer go
> 'desktop'
>
> When I was looking into the career, and even when my wife managed a prints
> shop 6 years ago, you still had to burn a plate.  Do they have laser
> printers now with arc lights?
>
>
> Les
>
>
> On Tuesday, March 11, 2003, at 02:22 AM, click76112@charter.net wrote:
>
> > <<All done with computers and laser
> > printers now.>>
> > Richard et all,
> > This was my business for over 25 years.  This is not entirely true.
There
> > are loads of offset printers that have still not converted to desktop
> > yet.
> > They will because the materials are drying up and the cameras are
gettting
> > rarer and the parts are getting harder to get. I about 6 installs to do
in
> > the next month to convert these guys into the digital age.
> >
> > lee\c
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@ix.netcom.com>
> > To: <largeformat@f32.net>
> > Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 3:18 AM
> > Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] Ultrabiglargeformatcamera
> >
> >
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Jim Brick" <jbrick@elesys.net>
> >> To: <largeformat@f32.net>
> >> Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 3:13 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] Ultrabiglargeformatcamera
> >>
> >>
> >>> The camera is a process camera, used by the semiconductor
> >> and printing
> >>> industries for decades. I ran one of these in the early
> >> 60's. As process
> >>> cameras go, this one is not particularly large. Those used
> >> for making
> >>> semiconductor masks make this one look like a toy.
> >>>
> >>> Process cameras for the printing industry used arc lamps
> >> (later pulsed
> >>> xenon lamps) and were used to make line and halftone
> >> negatives.
> >>>
> >>> Process cameras for the semiconductor industry used a very
> >> sharp cutoff
> >>> green light and lenses that were made to be exceedingly
> >> sharp only at that
> >>> one wavelength. These cameras were made to be able to
> >> reduce man made
> >>> semiconductor layer tape-ups (very large) down to
> >> microscopic size for
> >>> masks from which to manufacture integrated circuits.
> >>>
> >>> The big process cameras were focused by the numbers. Not a
> >> loupe and ground
> >>> glass. A crank on the back to dial-in the number for the
> >> percentage reduction.
> >>>
> >>> Jim
> >>>
> >>>
> >>   Note the sprint shock mounts on the bed!
> >>   The whole theory and practice of making half-tone plates
> >> is fascinating. Its now almost a lost art, particularly the
> >> original method using cross-screens made of ruled glass.
> >>   The half-tone process was capable of very good quality
> >> when done right but it more often was not. The average
> >> quality of half-tone work done now is enormously better.
> >>   Until the 1950's the medium of choice was wet plate
> >> colloidion but it was rapidly displaced by self-screening
> >> film which eliminated the need for the cross-screen and
> >> special apertures. All done with computers and laser
> >> printers now.
> >>
> >> ---
> >> Richard Knoppow
> >> Los Angeles, CA, USA
> >> dickburk@ix.netcom.com
> >>
> >>
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