We've had it for almost five months and the transition has been very smooth, probably because we have such a lot of experience in managing a digital workflow. The only difference is exposing to digital plates instead of film. To get the best results, it's essential to make sure that the laser is calibrated correctly and decide which small dot we are going to print.
Digital plates are much more consistent on press.
The results are sharper, particularly with reverse text. We had some concerns in the press room when we first introduced digital plates but now printers prefer them to conventional plates because they are less trouble to run, and the quality of the finished product is much better. The CDI Spark is an external drum imager with an integral plate loading table and with EasyClamp to apply and secure the plates on the drum. It has the same TwinBeam optical system as the CDI classic and CDI Compact models. It images digital photopolymer plates in formats up to 635 x 762mm but can also use smaller plates.