Your browser is no longer supported. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

A cut above: your guide to automated plate cutting

01/09/21

For more flexo packaging prepress departments, automated plate cutting tables have moved from being ‘nice-to-have-but-not-essential’ to a smart investment in the production process. Steve Smith explains the benefits of cutting tables and how the latest developments in Miraclon’s TAP plate layout software further enhance prepress and pressroom efficiencies.

Steve says:

To fully appreciate the benefits of cutting tables, just think how time-consuming and complicated it is to cut plates manually. It’s not uncommon for one plate layout to carry as many as 20 separations with different repeats. Manually cutting these out of the layout takes time and the task becomes more complicated when repeats are staggered on the plate (by 30mm or so) to mitigate ‘bounce’ on press.

So why invest in automated plate cutting? As well as being faster, more accurate and safer, using a plate cutting table can also help press operators easily identify separations when assembling sets.

Read Steve’s bio

See more tech tips

Your guide to automated plate cutting