Sabah Selects Agfa Graphics Computer-To-Plate Solutions.

 

Mortsel, Belgium - 4 September 2006 - Agfa Graphics announced today that Sabah Newspaper, one of Turkey's largest newspapers and part of the Ciner Group, has selected Agfa's violet-laser CtP (computer-to-plate) systems to convert to full digital platemaking. Sabah currently uses analogue equipment from other manufacturers. The deal is another major win for Agfa's Turkish distributor Reproset after the Dogan/Hurriyet announcement in June this year.

Three high-speed :Polaris XTV units with :Arkitex software and :Sublima screening will make Sabah a leader in technological innovation and newspaper printing quality in Turkey. Dozens of newspapers around the world have enhanced print and colour quality for better looking advertising pages thanks to Agfa's  cross-modulation screening, which requires no extra effort on press. Sabah will be the first newspaper to bring this ground-breaking technology to the Turkish market.

The new systems are to be installed at Sabah's Istanbul print site, which will use approximately 200,000 sq. m. of violet plates per year. Sabah has four more print sites at Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and Adana.

"As we were scouting our technology options, we wanted to find the best and most innovative solutions. Our long-standing partners Reproset guided our choice to Agfa," said Selim Gulmen, Sabah's production manager. "Agfa's market and technology leadership together with Reproset's trusted reputation of customer support outweighed competitive offers, even at a lower price. We saw an impressive demonstration of Agfa's chemistry-free violet plate. No other manufacturer's technology vision even comes close."

"This is yet another major win for us in Turkey this year and we are very pleased to see Turkish newspapers embrace the violet CtP solutions which have made us a global leader for digital newspaper prepress," said Emma Isichei, director of Agfa Graphics' newspaper segment.

 

The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world's leading imaging and information technology companies. Agfa develops, manufactures and markets analogue and digital systems for the printing industry (Agfa Graphics), the healthcare sector (Agfa HealthCare) and specific industrial applications (Agfa Materials).

Agfa's headquarters are in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is present in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries throughout the world. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 3,308 million euro in 2005.

 

Agfa Graphics offers integrated prepress solutions to the printing industry. These solutions comprise consumables, hardware, software and services for production workflow, project and colour management. Computer-to-film, computer-to-plate and digital proofing systems have earned Agfa Graphics a worldwide leadership position in the commercial and package printing and the newspaper publishing markets.

Agfa Graphics is rapidly expanding its offerings in the growing digital inkjet market. Its experience in both imaging and emulsion technology has provided the expertise required for making an assortment of high-quality UV and solvent-based inks. Joint development and manufacturing partnerships with industry leaders expand its technological reach and allow the company to develop comprehensive digital solutions for printing posters, banners, signage, displays, labels and packaging materials.

Product and company information can be found on Agfa's home page on the World Wide Web at: www.agfa.com.