Kodak vs. Fuji plates

[UncleSam]

I'm not a reseller or sales too. I don't earn any money or commission. My goal is find the best solution and the best quality without paying a lot of money to do it. Believe me, I deal with those big printer a lot and they are the one who always left behind, who always think they are the best when they are still asking us to provide PDF X1A file which is 8 years old technology. I always have trouble with them to rip my customer files since all my customers using CS3 with all kind of amazing transparency effect. To compete in this very tight market, we always say Yes to the customer and find a way to make it happen!

Like Microsoft Windows is not the best OS out there but it is the most people use platform so as Kodak/Creo maybe widely used by all major printer, are they really the best product? I really doubted!

Luckily, there is always a better company out there and they always come up with a better product.

[stargate]

I am with you Uncle. I hate those PDF X1a or TiFF/IT files! Believe me that they are still people that only believe in matchprints!!!

[ace]

Hi,

I am using Fuji LH-Pie with a screen 8600, artworks Odystar / Nexus on the front end. Very robust combination.

Previously used Creo Brisque 4.1 with a Lotem 400 then 800. Had a mass of technical issues. I would have been screwed only I knew the engineer well.

A.

[nemo]

Brisque/Lotem are ex-Scitex products, they were just branded Creo after the aquisition. All old Scitex machines used fiber optics heads with much lower image quality and speed compared to Creo- based machines. They were popular among small shops with low volume. Only Quantum version of Lotem had a Creo thermal laser inside but everything else was the same.
It's unfair to compare these to a new Screen machine.
Kodak has today a very wide range of machines, some of them competing to each other.
If you never had a Trendsetter it's hard to to choose against Screen.

[breadfan]

We have a Screen Plate Rite 4000 with full automation, with 2 Nexus 8.5 RIPS on the Front end. We burn about 150-200 plates a day. I used Kodak Swords for 5 years. Fuji kept knocking on the door and I wanted nothing to do with them. I'm the kind a person who gets set in my own ways and I don't like change. Well, my boss said we were going with Fuji last year and in they came. Well, the first things I noticed is my new Fuji plates (LH-PJ) burned clean. I had major problems with Kodak not burning the edges all the way. I set the calibration and checked it every day for a week with no changes. I still check it every other day 10 months later with no changes, all within 2 percent! You will never do that with Kodak. I chased the calibration (on Kodak) on every chemistry change for a week, then changed after 2 weeks...it never stopped. On top of it all I really thought the Screen Autoloader was junk. Constant miss feeds and service calls. (Static!) It all ended with Fuji. They use heavier slip sheets. Thats all Kodak had to do? Line screens are much cleaner with Fuji and your optics stay much cleaner. Take it from me, DON'T do it! You will spend more than what ever you are saving if you use Kodak. I don't mean to knock them but, the difference is night and day.

[carosp]

Hi there, I have Scren PTR4100 / Sword. I am thinking to change to Fuji, any comments about?
Any dealer for plates in Florida?

[DCurry]

We used Fuji plates with our Lotem 400 MCU autoloader for 6 years and recently switched to Kodak Sword plates. We never had a quality issue with Fujis, but when they switched to heavier slipsheets we had nothing but trouble getting plates to load. We switched from Brisque to Prinergy and are paying less for plates (with the Prinergy upgrade included in the plate cost) than we were paying for Fujis.

Two months into the switch and we have been extremely pleased. No complaints from the pressroom regarding the Kodak plates, and they feed through the autoloader with absolutely no problems (knock on wood!) The plates seem more slippery and the slipsheets are thinner and slicker, which I believe helps immensely. We were a little nervous about switching due to some bad press for Kodak plates, but so far so good!

[carosp]

Now I remember, the only problem I had with the Sword plate occurred in the Screen PTR4100, the floating plate sensor inside platesetter did not detect this plate, we had to shut it down.
Errors as if the plate floating on the drum.

[Kevin@Kodak]

Now I remember, the only problem I had with the Sword plate occurred in the Screen PTR4100, the floating plate sensor inside platesetter did not detect this plate, we had to shut it down.
Errors as if the plate floating on the drum.

We've seen this too. Essentially the sensor can't see the plate reliably, and sometimes thinks that it's flown off the drum. It has to do with the surface reflectivity of the plate emulsion. We've worked with Screen on this though, and they have a fix available (software). Anyone battling this should speak up and we can help you get it resolved properly - there's no reason it should continue to be a problem.


Kevin.

[kaiserwilhelm]

I have used Sword Excel for over five years. Some of our other shops used Fuji. I was sent to those shops to determine there problems - prepress, ripping, and plating.
My experience was that the Fuji processor had so many buttons that Captain Kirk would have felt at home. RO water, etc. (My memory is two years old at this point).
We chased our dot in the morning and then when it got up and going well, we chased it again.
My Kodak processor at home runs 2,200 plates per chemical change, and I have always stated that I could probably urinate in the chemistry and still come out ok. (Never tried - afraid of getting electrocuted).
So, we pulled Fuji out of a couple of our shops.
Now, Fuji is back at my door. They are claiming that their new processor checks things every microsecond or so and make adjustments.
I will tell you. I have a very bad taste in my mouth from the past, but I am going to give them a shot. Why? Because I just can't believe that there are this many people with the opposite experience of myself.
So, I'll give them one more look....