Printing Offset Plates Kodak Sonora X Process Free Plates

SONORA X Process Free Plates bring the environmental and cost benefits of process free plate making to more printers than ever before. With run lengths, imaging speeds, resolutions, and handling capabilities that match most unbaked processed plates, Kodak estimates that SONORA X Plates can be used by up to 80% of offset printers.

SONORA Plates can be used to print:

Offset packaging and labels
UV and low-energy UV print
Heatset web applications
Newspapers (high-volume & automated)
Long-run commercial print
VLF applications
And more...

Our goal is to make process free possible for all printers.

With the new technology developed for Kodak’s latest SONORA Plates, our plate scientists have come very close to that goal, expanding the capabilities of SONORA Plates to meet the performance needs of most offset printing applications.

Long Run Lengths

Sonora X plates can replace unbaked wet processed plates in most applications, with run lengths up to;

400,000 impressions with heatset / commercial cold press
200,000 impressions with sheetfed press
100,000 impressions for offset packaging (non-UV ink)
60,000 impressions for UV-ink applications

Productivity and print quality

With laser energy required of 120 mJ/cm2, SONORA X Plates let printers get the maximum throughput from nearly all platesetters, and with no processing step, making plates is faster than ever.

Your customers will appreciate that you are using a more sustainable plate, and they will love the print quality they’re getting, thanks to the high resolution capabilities of SONORA X Plates.

Technical Specifications

Plate	Non-ablative, thermal, negative-working (write-the-image) plate incorporating Kodak’s press ready technology
Application	High quality, medium to long run plate for sheetfed, packaging, web and all UV print applications
Spectral sensitivity	800 – 850 nm
Laser energy required	120 mJ/cm2 on KODAK Platesetters with KODAK SQUARESPOT Imaging Technology
Resolution	1% to 99% @ 200 lpi 450 lpi possible. Dependent upon capability of imaging device.
FM capability	20-micron stochastic Dependent upon imaging device capabilities, print applications and screening algorithms. For optimum FM performance, Kodak recommends KODAK STACCATO Screening on platesetters with KODAK SQUARESPOT Imaging Technology.
Run length	Up to 400,000 impressions with heatset / commercial coldset web presses Up to 200,000 impressions with sheetfed presses Up to 100,000 impressions for offset packaging (non-UV ink) Up to 60,000 impressions for UV-ink applications Dependent upon image resolution, press, press chemistry, ink and paper conditions.
Safelight	The plate can be handled before and after imaging safely for: up to 1 hour under white light up to 8 hours under C20 - UV Cut up to 24 hours under G-10 yellow light Safelight limits @ 800 Lux