In this step the plates, paper, and ink are checked for accuracy against the instructions written on the workorder. In addition to the workorder the following are checked:

• Examine the plates for defects
• Correct plate for the pressrun
• Correct color separations for the pressrun
• Correct ink
• Correct paper

After the print job has passed it's preflight testing; the job is then burned onto aluminum plates. Each plate is coated with a light sensitive solution. The plate is then put in a dark room and a laser beam is used to expose areas of the plate to light. The laser light causes a chemical reaction on the plate making the light sensitive coating on the plate harden. This creates two distinct areas on the plate: the image area and the non-image area.