A platemaker makes the physical plates of a print job: one plate per ink on each printed side of every form on an offset press, and one plate per colour of each version on flexo. Add it on the Platemaking tab of Equipment with Add platemaker (an empty tab offers Add a platesetter and Add a flexo plate line). When a team has one, quotes and imposition solutions get a Plates step before printing, timed and costed on its rates. Without one, plates are costed as before: the press's plate cost.
Offset CTP and flexo plate lines#
| Kind | Speed | Plate material |
|---|---|---|
| Offset platesetter (CTP) | plates per hour | per plate (or per m² with the press's plate size) |
| Flexo plate line | m² per hour | per m² |
An offset CTP images one plate per ink and side straight from the job's files, so its time is counted per plate. A flexo plate line images, washes out and dries photopolymer plates, so its time and material are counted per m² of plate, plus a process wait (drying) after making. The kind is chosen when the platemaker is added and can't be changed afterwards. One platemaker of each kind is the team's default.
Technology and processing#
Offset platesetters: Thermal CTP, Violet CTP, UV CTP (CtCP). Flexo plate lines: Digital flexo (laser-ablated mask), Analogue flexo (film).
Processing, offset: Processed (developer), Low-chemistry, Process-free (on press). Flexo: Solvent wash-out, Thermal (dry) processing, Water wash-out.
Technology and processing are for your records; they don't change times or money.
How plates are costed#
Each imposition job, quote group or box part takes its plate money from exactly one place, in this order:
- A platemaker of the press's kind that takes the press's plate: the default, else another active one that fits. A platemaker whose maximum plate is smaller than the press's plate never prices plates it can't make; the job then takes the next source below (bought plates, the job's plate set cost, or not priced) with the note "No platemaker takes this press's plate".
- Bought plates: the press's plate cost per plate on offset (0 means the press rate includes plates: "included in press rate"), or the flexo plate rate card on boxes ("bought").
- On an imposition job only: the job's Plate set cost (per form) × forms.
- Otherwise offset plates show Plates not priced, never $0. Flexo boxes keep needing the flexo plate rate.
A platemaker that prices nothing (no plate price, or a press without a plate cost, and no hourly rate) shows its plates as not priced, naming it: "Platesetter A has no rates: plates not priced". Such plates carry no money at all: no minimum charge and no consumables are added to the job. A platemaker added from a preset starts like this, and the page of each press whose plates it now costs says so until you enter its rates.
Plate material comes from one of two places, chosen on the platemaker (Plate material from):
- This platemaker's plate price: the platemaker's plate cost and price (the default).
- Each press's plate cost: the plate cost of the press the job prints on. Use it to keep per-press plate prices, or to time platemaking while plates keep the press's plate cost (set the hourly rate to 0). Prices then stay as they were unless the press has a minimum charge: with a platemaker the press's minimum covers the press only, so a total the minimum used to set can rise by up to the plates' price.
It never adds both. A blank price charges what the plate costs you; an explicit 0 means the plates are included elsewhere. With no plate price and no plate cost, an offset platesetter warns "has no plate price; the press's plate cost isn't used" (a flexo plate line: "has no plate price"). One that takes its plates from the press, on a press without a plate cost, says "takes the press's plate cost, and the press has none"; that press's page asks for a plate cost. Hanging plates on the press (the press's makeready per plate) always stays on the press.
The money of one job:
- Time = setup per job + imaging + handling, where imaging is the plates made ÷ the speed (offset) or their area ÷ the speed (flexo), and handling is the plates made × the handling per plate. Plates made include the remake allowance: 16 plates at 5 % are 16.8 plates made.
- Cost = time × hourly cost + plates made × (plate cost + consumables cost), each per plate or per m².
- Price = time × hourly rate + plates made × (plate price + consumables price), at least the minimum charge. Plates that aren't priced (above) have no price and no cost.
For example, a platesetter at 30 plates per hour with 5 min setup, 0.5 min handling per plate, 5 % remakes, hourly cost 60 and rate 90, plates at 8.00 cost / 10.00 price and consumables at 0.50 / 0.75 makes 16 plates (2 forms printed 4/4) in 47 min, for a cost of 189.80 and a price of 251.10 (15.69 per plate). These are example rates, not defaults.
Plates are their own block or line wherever money shows: a Plates row on the imposition Production tab, a Plates $ column in the Report, a plates row on the estimating offset card, and a plates line on boxes (included in the line's price). Where the press's plate cost prices the plates, the press's minimum charge still covers the press and those plates together; with a platemaker each has its own minimum.
Fields#
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Name, Manufacturer, Model, Notes | How the platemaker shows in lists. |
| Kind | Offset platesetter (CTP) or flexo plate line, chosen when it is added; it can't be changed. |
| Technology | How it images plates. |
| Processing | What happens to a plate after imaging. |
| Max plate width (mm), Max plate height (mm) | The largest plate it takes; enter both or neither. Empty: no limit. A press whose plate is larger buys its plates. |
| Plate formats | The plate sizes you stock, one per line: a name, then width × height in mm. For your records. |
| Inline punch and bend | It punches and bends plates inline (for your records). |
| Plate margin (mm) | Flexo only: trim around the printed panels on each edge, added to every plate's size. Default 0. |
| Setup per job (min) | Once per job, quote group or box part: loading the cassette or size, queuing the job. |
| Speed | Plates per hour (offset) or m² per hour (flexo): what you plan at, not the maker's rating. Empty: plates are costed but not timed ("Platemaking time not estimated"). |
| Handling per plate (min) | Attended time per plate: loading, punching, finishing, cutting. |
| Process wait (min) | Unattended time after making the plates before the press may start (flexo drying). Never charged. It is shown in the test estimate and carried on the plates step; on the schedule, the print step waits for it. |
| Hourly cost, Hourly rate | What an hour costs you, and what you charge for it in quotes. |
| Minimum charge | The least a job's plates are charged, once per job, quote group or box part. |
| Plate material from | This platemaker's plate price, or each press's plate cost (offset only). |
| Plate material basis | Per plate, or per m² of the press's plate size (offset; flexo is always per m²). Per m² needs the press's plate size: without it the note is "Plate size unknown: per-m² costs not priced". |
| Plate cost, Plate price | What one blank plate (or m²) costs you, and what you charge. Leave the price blank to charge the cost. |
| Consumables basis, Consumables cost, Consumables price | Chemistry, water, energy and tape, per plate or per m², priced like the plates. |
| Remake allowance % | Plates remade for damage or changes, as a share of the plates a job needs. Counted in time and money, never in the number of plates. |
The Test estimate panel on a platemaker's page shows the time, cost, price, average per plate and the wait for a number of plates and a plate size (and a press, when the material comes from the presses).
Setup and minimum#
A platemaker's setup and minimum charge apply once per estimate group or box part (each is its own print job) and once per imposition job. An estimate with two offset groups pays the setup twice.
Presets#
Platemaker presets carry technical facts only: the kind, technology, processing, maximum plate size, plate formats and inline punch and bend. A maker's rated speed is shown as a hint next to the empty speed, never copied into it; times, money, the remake allowance and the margin are always yours. See The presets library.