The Kodak Plate Control Strip is a test image for digital platesetting systems. It contains a variety of pixel checkerboards, linework, prescreened areas unaffected by tone curves, and continuous-tone tints.

Use it to visually assess the quality of digitally imaged lithographic plates in your production environment. You can also use a plate reader or densitometer to measure some of the elements in the Plate Control Strip. You can use the Plate Control Strip with conventional (AM) screening or with stochastic (FM) screening, such as Kodak Staccato stochastic screening software. 

Placing the Plate Control Strip in the nonprinting clamp margin of the plate promotes consistency in digital print reproduction through these quality control factors:

• Confirmation of correct RIP resolution and RIP identity
• Visual and measured verification of plate exposure and processing
• Visual confirmation of correct screening type (AM or FM) and line screen (AM) or feature size (FM)
• Visual and measured assessment of calibration curve application

Kodak provides the Plate Control Strip as sets of standard encapsulated PostScript (.eps) files and Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files compatible with Kodak workflow software, such as Kodak Prinergy software and Kodak Prinergy Evo software, as well as workflow software from other vendors.

Size of the Plate Control Strip

Terms used in this User Guide

Element: An individual target in the Plate Control Strip, such as a checkerboard

Reference screen: A prescreened area that the RIP has not modified

Requested screen: A screen that the RIP produced and modified according to its current settings for line screen, angle, dot shape, tone curve, and so on