A pad knife (aka tablet knife) is a very convenient tool for lifting steel-backed plates on magnetic flatbases. The blade is short enough for convenient manipulation and wide enough to prevent the plate from bending; and its front rounded edge keeps it from scratching or cutting the surface of the base.
I also use this handy tool to remove washed out plates from the platen of the photopolymer platemaking machine.
These are commonly used to separate padding and are available from various distributors of printing and binding supplies.
