Mind the GAP! - The missing link for narrow-web offset printers

I did not win last week’s lottery nor did I receive great news on my retirement account statement. I did however, get a package by mail with books I had ordered a few days before. I signed off the delivery sheet that the mailman had given me and received a duplicate copy from him. Today, through snail mail,, I also received rebate check for that external hard drive I’d purchased a while back. It’s not all bad.
You are probably asking yourself, “Where is he going with this”. Well, you see, most of the documents, except for the books, were printed on a narrow-web press... But why? Narrow web presses are very fast and provide the ability of inline finishing procedures like perforation, die cut, slitting, roll to roll rewinding, ETC... The downside of using a narrow-web press is the place where the plate and the rubbers are mounted to the cylinders.


This area is non-printable, and it’s what we call the “GAP”. A simple solution would be to add a blank area on the top or the bottom of the job to shift into the “GAP” area. However it may cause errors while adapting the job or an endless point of discussion with some customers who do not want to compromise their design. This is can be very inefficient and not at all cost-effective because of the amount of time it takes to get the job to the press. Compose offers a complete toolset to mitigate the issues related to narrow web prepress and plate making. Using 1bit tiff data for input and output, not only is the content of the job secured, but it also allows simple and open connectivity with many systems. This toolset is made up of two programs. One is Plate Controller. Plate Controller allows the arranging of elements on a plate for flatout work. Plate Controller offers advanced “Step & Repeat” and alignment functions. It supports single sided and double sided jobs. The second program is called Gapfinder.
Gapfinder locates the so called “GAP” and moves it to an area of the job where there’s no information. Thus “enlarging” the printable area, or saving a significant amount of paper. If a plate does not have a place to move tha “GAP” to, that plate can be split into what is called a “2 plate lockup”. So part of the image will be printed on a press unit and the rest on another. When these products are used together, Plate Controller gives Gapfinder the “Step & Repeat” information. With this data, Gapfinder can automatically find the gaps and move them, or create the necessary splits. Gapfinder can also place all the necessary registration & custom optical marks that some presses require. Plate Controller and Gapfinder can help you increase your productivity.
Stop by booth 6555 at Print09 to see it in action, or call us and see for yourself what Compose can do for your Narrow Web business. To download the Plate Controller click here, to download the Gapfinder brochure, click here.