The Platemaker 5 produces polyester plates as well as film and paper proofs with better halftones and sharper images than earlier versions.

The platesetter uses Xant's most recent CTP innovation Z-Dot, which the firm claims results in smoother blends and higher line screens. It reproduces images with all 256 shades of grey while controlling dot gain.

Xant said the machine is ideal for printers looking for a low cost, high-quality, chemistry-free CTP.

"We pioneered electrophotographic CTP technology 12 years ago and with the Platemaker 5 we've refined it," said Xant president and chief executive Robert Ross.

"The Platemaker 5 is in a class by itself," he said.

The machine uses plates with a run length of 20,000 impressions and can make up to 120 plates per hour at resolutions of 1,200 or 2,400dpi.

It can make plates up to 30.5x46.9cm in length and 34x50.5cm wide. The auto plate loader can stack up to 50 Myriad 2 polyester plates.

It is available in the US now and in Europe from June.