Sonora X are Kodak’s flagship process-less plate. They’re the best process-less plate I’ve ever used and I believe they’re the best ones on the market. However, as with so many other things in printing, user experience may vary. A lot of that depending on application, ink, press brand, and dampening system arrangement. It can be a little difficult to see the image on them before putting on press, and they’re also susceptible to scratching because there’s no gum - but handle them carefully and correctly, and they’re fine. They roll up quickly on press and there’s literally no gain at all from platemaking. All that said; they still are what they are and even though I do like them, I can’t really say I prefer them over a conventional plate.
Thanks for the the info. So Kodak claims with low water settings to loosen the emulsion followed by ink tack transferring emulsion to paper. My question would be if your running smaller sized sheets there is lots of emulsion not being transferred to the paper. Where does that emulsion go? Into the Ink train causing eventual roller issues or some kind of blinding issues or ink water balance issues? Nowadays paper is not as good as it was as far as epa regulations and cheaper processes in paper making . We use a flo clear system and still have to change our waters once a week and that sometimes is pushing it depending on how much uncoated or mill start up stocks we use. So with that.... lowest water settings to loosen emulsion becomes running higher waters because of higher conductivity. Now it's not just loosening emulsion its stripping it back through the water system. It just seems like we're going to have to change or perform more maintenance in order to effectively use processless plates hurting overall productivity. Am I wrong? Am I just overreacting? Maybe the test goes well. Maybe there is no initial problems but for the long hall I'm worried.
In my opinion you’re neither overreacting, nor are you wrong. I think application is the key when considering a change to these plates, because while being good, they aren’t exactly perfect. And you have to weigh the potential issues (your mentioned ones are valid) along with the obvious advantages. Unfortunately, I can’t give you all the answers you’re probably looking for because I admittedly have limited experience with them, and I also don’t know your situation there. They are good plates though. *If you end up making the change, you might try to hold on to your processor for a little while, just to be sure.
