New equipment spares chemicals and saves money

The Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal purchased an innovative, environmentally friendly piece of equipment, Publisher Bill James said.

The Kodak Trendsetter News Platesetter replaces an older system that used a liquid chemical process to create negatives and plates. The new system bypasses both processes and associated costs.

“By purchasing this piece of equipment, we should increase quality and the speed of processing plates, and the machine is totally green as opposed to the prior system,” James said.

Light-sensitive chemicals come dry and affixed to plates used by the Trendsetter.

Senior press operator Keith Sproat pressed a button on the Trendsetter to demonstrate the computer-to-plate process. About a minute later, like a piece of toast, a plate popped out with a computer-generated news page burned and ready to go onto the press.