Impressions - September 2015 - 59

The M&R Tri-Loc pallet moves to
each print head, pulling the screen frames into
contact with three registration points on the
pallet for quick set-up times.

coated with photo emulsion, a film positive no longer is required for screen exposure. This alone saves a shop thousands
of dollars per year in film costs, which
can be used to pay for the CTS unit over
time. Saving about $1 per sheet for film
(11" x 17") adds up fast. This also makes
the screen-print shop greener because
it doesn't have to discard thousands of
sheets of polyester film after they are no
longer needed.
Since the image is printed with black
toner directly onto a coated screen, fine
detail easily can be achieved, as there
is no film to refract the light during the
exposure process. This light scatter reduction helps to properly expose fine lines and
halftones down into the 2% tonal range
with less chance of overexposing these
areas in the design.
When using CTS imaging in conjunction with a pin registration system, the
process will eliminate taping multiple film
positives to clear carrier sheets, while also
saving money on supplies and labor. With
CTS, color separations are imaged directly
onto all the screens in relationship to each
other within .001 tolerances. This greatly
shortens setup time when registering
screens on the press.
Since CTS-generated screens automatically are pre-registered, it's possible to use
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many different pin registration systems,
including the M&R Tri-Loc system. Users
of these types of systems with CTS units
report they can image and expose screens
in as little as 40 seconds, then be washed
out and registered on the press in less than
eight minutes.
With the M&R system, the Tri-Loc
pallet is mounted to the press and then
moved to each print head, pulling the
screen frames into contact with the pallet
at the three registration points. This also
greatly reduces setup time.

THINK INK
The main ink types used with today's
CTS systems include wax and waterbased inkjet toners that have been formulated with UV-blocking properties.
The heated wax inkjet technology can
be used to print a high-density image
directly onto a coated screen. Some units
using wax reportedly will print 1,200 dpi,
allowing halftone frequencies of up to
110 lpi. As an added feature, some units
also include full-featured raster image
processor (RIP) software.
Other CTS systems use digital inkjet
heads with liquid toners that have UV
blockers to increase performance during
the screen-exposure stage. Manufacturers
of the inkjet systems report that their CTS
systems can print 720 dpi and run on standard PC software using a common USB-2
port connection.
The Spyder II DTS system from Exile
Technologies uses a phase-change print
head and solid wax ink to print the graphic
onto a coated screen. The wax ink is heated
and jetted onto the screen, where it instantly
dries, leaving a high-density, light-blocking
mask that adheres to any emulsion.
September 2015 | Impressions

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Impressions - September 2015

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