What Is An Imagesetter?

An imagesetter, sometimes made by IQSmart, is a machine used in the printing industry. Printing companies need a way to transfer the words from a screen or a single piece of equipment to several sheets of paper. Any time something needs to be printed over and over, these machines come in handy. Whether it is for a book or newspaper, it works as the middleman, drawing the image from a set place onto pieces of paper. Text needs to be converted and transferred to the press, which is what the equipment does. It puts digital text on a piece of film that is then put on a plate and used for printing.

Some equipment is self-contained. There is an operator that loads the machine with film and chemicals and then it does its job. It is computer controlled and linked to pagination software. The desk rolls the negative and the information is sent to the machine, it then outputs the image onto the negative. The negative image is usually larger than the final page. The film is similar to what is used in a camera but larger. It goes through the same process, too, as a traditional film camera. It is exposed to the text, run through a developer, then stop and fixer baths, and then placed on plates where the image is burned.

Prior to the invention of these machines, typesetters would put together long lines of metal type and type the ink onto the paper. It was photographed onto a large camera and printed in this manner. Metal was replaced by computer printers which allowed people to paste the stories and articles onto a large sheet of paper that was photographed by the camera. Unfortunately, the quality of each copy would go down as the process continued. This more modern way of handling things eliminates the problem of reduction in quality.

This is known as the computer to plate method. It is getting more and more popular because it makes printing high quality images over and over possible. A printing company can burn the plates right from the computer and no quality is lost from the transition from computer to film to plate. It eliminates one of the steps, making the process quicker and more efficient.

The disadvantage of using this type of technology for creating newspapers is that the machines are very expensive. They require special training and the person using it must be able to use the computer, as well as the machine. They might have to do maintenance and take care of problems, in addition to making sure everything gets printed properly. It is a major investment, so unless a company does a lot of printing, it might not be worth the cost. However, those who want high quality images and text printed over and over again will find this is one of the most efficient methods for accomplishing the task. The end result is well worth the expense and effort of using one of the machines.

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Stewart Wrighter searched the term IQ Smart to find printing equipment online. For more information about IQ Smart go to

http://www.genesis-equipment.com/productslink_Refurbished-CreoScitex-Scanners_6_53.aspx .

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