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[pressgeek]

Does anyone here have any feedback from their pressroom when it comes to running Kodak Thermal Direct plates (or Fuji's equivalent processless plate) in a duplicator environment?

I can almost imagine these would work on a large press with longer runs, heavy ink usage, and recirculating dampening systems, but I am worried about hanging 20 or 30 plates a day on a duplicator (Itek 975, AB Dick 360, Heidelberg Printmaster). Typically, our duplicators have run lengths in the range of 50 to 1000, with very little coverage. Consequently they would be stripping off a larger percentage of plate emulsion than a large press, without the benefit of a large press sheet to carry it away.

Kodak claims that the unexposed plate emulsion sticks to the blanket and does not make its way into the water fountain or the ink, just wondering if this is true in practice.

thanks!