Computer-to-plate (CTP) Operator Question:

☛ Position and angle screens for proper exposure.
☛ Inspect developed film for specified results and quality, using magnifying glasses and scopes; forward acceptable negatives or positives to other workers or to customers.
☛ Punch holes in light-sensitive plates and insert pins in holes to prepare plates for contact with positive or negative film.
☛ Unload exposed film from scanners, and place film in automatic processors to develop images.
☛ Place masking paper on areas of plates not covered by positives or negatives, in order to prevent exposure.
☛ Mount negatives and plates in cameras, set exposure controls, and expose plates to light through negatives in order to transfer images onto plates.
☛ Operate and maintain a variety of cameras and equipment, such as process, line, halftone, and color separation cameras, enlargers, electronic scanners, and contact equipment.
☛ Perform tests to determine lengths of exposures, by exposing plates, scanning line copy, and comparing exposures to tone range scales.
☛ Mix solutions such as developing solutions and colored coating solutions.
☛ Activate scanners to produce positive or negative films for the black-and-white, cyan, yellow, and magenta separations from each original copy.
☛ Select proper types of plates according to press run lengths.
☛ Reposition lamps and adjust aperture controls in order to provide high quality images.
☛ Analyze originals to evaluate color density, gradation highlights, middle tones, and shadows, using densitometers and knowledge of light and color.
☛ Set scanners to specific color densities, sizes, screen rulings, and exposure adjustments, using scanner keyboards or computers.
☛ Perform minor deletions, additions, or corrections to completed plates, on or off printing presses, using tusche, printing ink, erasers, and needles.
☛ Correct minor film mask defects with litho tape or opaquing fluid.
☛ Position color transparencies, negatives, or reflection copies on scanning drums, and mount drums and heads on scanners.
☛ Arrange and mount typeset material and illustrations into paste-ups for printing reproduction, based on artists' or editors' layouts.
☛ Scale copy for reductions and enlargements, using proportion wheels.