As well as supplying plates for its Timson VLF press, BemroseBooth will make use of the Ultimas ability to produce two B1 plates simultaneously for its sheetfed and other web presses.

We already had one Screen B2 platesetter and have been investigating a variety of large-format CTP technologies to boost efficiency, said BemroseBooth business development director Andy Blundell.

Speed, quality and the ability to handle a range of plate sizes were important criteria and with the Ultima we found everything we needed in one machine.

The firm is taking the fully automated version of the Ultima with multi-cassette autoloader. It will be driven by an existing Barco FastLane workflow that was recently upgraded.

The firms two other sites at Hull and Teesside are also considering moving CTP.

Screen UK managing director Brian Filler said: Companies with multiple presses and high production levels now only need to invest in one machine.

Screen has launched RemoteView soft proofing software. It allows ripped files produced by Harlequin RIPs to be viewed on PCs and Macs on the network prior to film or plate output.

It can view individual separations, progressives and traps. The computer used to view the jobs handles the image processing to ensure the ripping and output of other jobs is not slowed down.

Story by Barney Cox