imagesetter

An imagesetter is a high resolution output device that can transfer electronic text and graphics directly to film, plates, or photo-sensitive paper. It can be thought of as a very expensive high resolution printer and can come in many different sizes and formats. An imagesetter uses a laser and a dedicated raster image processor ( RIP ) and is usually PostScript -compatible to create the film used in computer-based preproduction work. Unlike the resolution on a home printer, which is probably between 300 - 600 dots per inch ( dpi ), the resolution on a typical imagesetter is 1270 or 2540 dpi with a maximum dpi of 4000. In process color work, an imagesetter creates the separated output by "printing" the image four times - once each in cyan, magenta, yellow and black ( CMYK ).