A Massachusetts newspaper printer last month became the first customer to install a Newsmatic 250 violet computer-to-plate unit from ECRM Imaging Systems.

West Hanover-based Graphic Developments Inc. prints a variety of community newspapers in New England, as well as trade newspapers for the financial and food industries.

George E. Davis, president and chief executive officer, and Bob Damon, general business manager, Graphic Developments Inc.
Photo: ECRM

“We ordered a unit before the 250 cassette machine was available,” said Bob Damon, business and general manager for GDI. “We took a (Newsmatic) 60 cassette machine in with the stipulation that when the new machines came in, ECRM would switch out the 60 for the 250.”

The Newsmatic 250 debuted this spring and is capable of imaging 80 pages an hour. The system is engineered with an integrated cassette and trolley configuration.

Ultimately, GDI opted to keep both units, tapping the older system for some selected jobs as well as to serve as backup, Damon said. Before converting to CTP, the printer ran two filmsetters.

“With the type of shop we are - and I’ve got to believe with most newspaper shops - you have to have backup to everything,” Damon said. “I cannot call up a customer and tell them our machines are down and I can’t get their paper produced today.”  

No more film

Following the successful installation of GDI’s first Newsmatic unit, Damon said, the printer’s employees quickly decided they didn’t want any more film.

“We were up and running within two days on the 60 machine and within just a few days all the prepress people and pressroom people said they did not want to see any more negatives,” Damon said.

The first job off the 250 was a local community newspaper, which was imaged, printed and on its way to the local post office within hours, said George E. Davis, GDI’s president and chief executive officer.

“Every once in awhile you get a no-brainer, and that’s what this is all about,” he said of the CTP foundation.

Davis, who has owned and operated GDI since 1973, believes film is a thing of the past.

“It’s a hazardous waste,” he said. “There’s a great accomplishment in eliminating hazardous waste. The labor it took to deal with film is gone, the machine uses half the power - it’s a very good thing.”

Weighed the options

Damon said GDI looked at both thermal and violet before choosing the ECRM units. Although GDI also considered another violet unit, ECRM was the best fit and the most affordable for the printer.

“In newspaper work, we’re not looking at printing 200 line screen,” he said. “We’re at about 100 line screen, which is on the high end for newspapers and with this new machinery, we’re actually pleasantly surprised that we may be able to go to 120 line screen because of the quality enhancements we’ve noticed.”

Graphic Developments Inc.’s new Newsmatic 250 (left) was installed in June; the printer has been using a Newsmatic 60 for several months to print community and trade newspapers. ECRM’s Don Langston (left) and Paul Kelley were on hand for the installation.
Photo: ECRM

GDI uses Fuji’s thermal plates, which it buys through graphic arts dealer and systems integrator the Tripp Co.

“We had to do very little (integration) because we had actually anticipated them going CTP for a long time,” said Ken Perron, Tripp’s electronic specialist. “We tried to get them to a point where it would be just a matter of going right from film to CTP without any real changes in workflow.”

Perron said that was essentially the case and GDI was able to switch fairly easily from the two filmsetters it formerly used, to the Newsmatic CTP units.

“Basically we unplugged the filmsetters and plugged in the platesetters and they were ready to go.”

Currently, GDI is running its prepress workflow from its Harlequin RIPs. In the future, however, Perron said GDI might roll out a workflow app to streamline its production process.

New features

ECRM’s Newsmatic 250 CTP unit features the company’s FleXarm plate pickup mechanism and slipsheet removal system. It can handle up to 250 0.3-millimeter (.012 gauge) plates.

Slipsheets are deposited into the removal bin and plates are automatically imaged and transferred to the processor, said Peter Wilkens, ECRM’s vice president of worldwide marketing.

Despite the increased cassette capacity, Wilkens said the 250’s footprint is no larger than earlier models. The Newsmatic 250 can accommodate plate formats between 11.4-by-18.5 inches and 25-by-36.5 inches.

The device comes with ECRM’s CtServer software.