MacDermid Printing Solutions said it plans to ship two manual-load flexo computer-to-plate units to The Union Leader in Manchester, N.H., this fall as the daily converts to digital plate production.

The Union Leader is one of two U.S. papers planning to roll out MacDermid’s NAPPflex CTP systems and associated laser. The other is The Providence (R.I.) Journal, which will deploy two automated MacDermid CTP systems by year-end (see Newspapers & Technology, May 2006).

The dailies will join papers in Italy and the United Kingdom deploying the systems.

MacDermid last year said it would begin offering CTP systems for flexographic presses, using technology it acquired from PerkinElmer.

MacDermid’s manual-load systems can image up to 80 plates per hour while the automatic unit will be rated at 120 plates per hour. A conveying system will transport plates into MacDermid’s NAPPflex plate processor.