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Prepress
In the Prepress Department, electronic files are taken from News and Advertising and the images are turned into a metal plate ready for the printing press.
The Prepress Technicians check each page in the computer to confirm that all stories, photos and ads are completed, approved, and ready for release. They ensure that the pages conform to our layout standards and send the pages to an imagesetter, which produces a negative of the complete page. The Prepress Technicians check the negative, prepare it for the plate line, and scan it for automatic ink settings on the printing press.
| The next step is the actual platemaking process. The negative is placed face up on an aluminum plate that is coated with resins and light sensitive material. It is placed in a plate-exposing device with very bright lights, about 5000 watts. The light that goes through the clear portion of the negative exposes that part of the plate and makes it black. The plate is then passed automatically to the processor, where all of the unexposed coatings are washed off, leaving only the exposed parts. The chemistry in these exposed areas will allow ink to adhere to it. The unexposed portions will not hold onto ink. |
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For color images it takes four negatives, cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black. When these colors are placed on top of one another you get full color.
The final step is to prepare the plate for the press. In order for the plate to fit onto the cylinders of the press, each end of the plate is bent inward. These bends hold the plate in place while the press is running. Once the bends are in place, the plates are taken to the pressroom to be mounted on the press.
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