M & R Marking Products, represented in Australia by Astron Industries , has released InstaPlate, a liquid photopolymer for printers and stamp makers. It is a fast, easy way to manufacture high quality photopolymer plates.
Water-soluble InstaPlate is contained in clear plastic bags of various sizes. The bag of polymer is exposed to the negative instead of the traditional method of carefully pouring the polymer to avoid introduction of air bubbles. InstaPlate removes the necessity to create a vacuum to hold down a cover film, the application of damming tape, the removal of air bubbles from the poured material, the placing of substrate on top of the polymer and the expense of wasted material.
Very little skill is necessary when producing photopolymer plates. InstaPlate is available in a soft durometer for printing dies and will soon be available in a hard durometer for pressing matrix board masters. Bag sizes currently available are A4, A5, A6 and A7. InstaPlate can be exposed and processed on a variety of types of photopolymer equipment. Samples and demonstration CD are available.