Digital Printing-Digital Offset

HUDSON, NH—June 28, 2006—Presstek, Inc., (Nasdaq:PRST), a leading manufacturer and marketer of high-tech digital imaging solutions for the graphic communications industry, today announced that Business Cards Tomorrow (BCT) has installed two Presstek Direct Imaging (DI) presses in its Tempe, Arizona and Denver, Colorado sites to support increased demand for short run, high quality, fast turnaround printing of business cards, brochures and other materials. “We took delivery of our first DirectPress 5634DI press in March of this year,” said Mark Ell, Chief Financial Officer and Owner, BCT Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. “We were so excited about the results it delivered for our business that

Brian Wolfenden, director of Marketing Communications with Presstek, spoke with IPG about combining environmentally friendly methods with higher productivity: “One way to reduce both costs and time to market is to streamline plate production while at the same time improving print quality. As one example of this trend, Presstek has seen an increased interest in our chemistry-free computer-to-plate (CTP) and direct imaging (DI) press technologies, which contribute to the ability to deliver high quality, short-run color faster and at a competitive price.” “Like commercial printers, in-plants are being asked for shorter print runs with tighter delivery times. What was once one run of 50,000 might

A number of in-plants have added DI presses, speeding their turnaround times and saving money. Here are some of their experiences. Offering their observations for this story were: Gerard Catrambone Associate Director Office of Publications University of Illinois, Chicago Heidelberg QuickMaster DI 46 Hal Cypert Communication Services Manager Print and Mail Services County of Tulare, Visalia, Calif. Heidelberg QuickMaster DI 46 Dan Lee Group Manager, Prepress and Special Services Printing LDS Church Printing Division Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City Ryobi 3404 DI Scott Lipsey Quality Control Coordinator Printing Services Mississippi State University Starkville, Miss.

If you run a lot of 500- to 10,000-page four-color jobs with tight turnaround times and have the right computer skills, digital offset printing may be just what you need. By Bob Atkinson In-plants face increasing demands for short-run, fast-turnaround jobs, including full-color work. The problem? The traditional film/plate/ press route is poorly suited for these types of jobs. New technology has offered some help with this problem, first in the form of computer-to-plate (CTP) systems that eliminate the time and costs associated with film. Then, starting about a decade ago, an even more powerful technology arrived: digital printing, where a RIP

Perfect registration. Faster makereadies. Lower costs. In-plants with direct imaging presses boast of these benefits and more. by Bob Neubauer AT THE University of Texas at Austin a few years ago, the administration started to fall in love with color. Alumni invitations and other projects were increasingly being designed in four-color process, then farmed out to local printers when they proved too complicated for the in-plant's aging two-color presses. To save the school money and give it more control over the final product, Printing Services started looking into digital color, with the administration's blessing. In the end, the in-plant settled on a Heidelberg Quickmaster

Why put imaging systems on every press unit, when a complete set of plates can be made in a single offline CTP system? We asked the experts. by MARK SMITH TAKING STEPS out of a process can increase productivity, reduce variability and lower production costs. That all sounds great, but these gains naturally must be weighed against the investment required to achieve them. Doing such a cost-benefit analysis for the on-press imaging concept might at first seem to be a rather straightforward calculation. The potential variables in the equation quickly prove otherwise, however. Issues such as integration with existing plant capabilities, markets served and

What's the future of offset technology? Find out where direct imaging is taking it—and how presses may eventually shed plates altogether. Look at the trends: Shorter runs. Faster turnaround demands. Digital job data. Cut-throat competition. Many printers won't survive. Those that do will have to use new technology to heed these trends. That's where on-press imaging comes in. It offers everything today's business climate demands: Short-run efficiency, lower costs, faster makereadies and fewer steps. True, direct imaging (DI) is nothing new; Heidelberg introduced its GTO-DI in 1991. But DI quality has improved since then. New imaging systems from Presstek and CreoScitex have paved

No more film. Faster makeready. Better quality. Direct imaging presses seem to have everything a printer wants. Is this where the industry is going? SAFECO had a dilemma. Press runs at its in-plant were getting increasingly shorter, and these short-run jobs were keeping the six-color 20x28˝ Mitsubishi constantly busy—so busy that when long-run jobs arrived, they frequently had to be outsourced. "We knew we needed another press, and we needed a press that would facilitate the shorter-run jobs," recalls Larry Jablinske, manager of graphic and printing services for the Seattle-based insurance and financial services firm. Additionally, the new press would have to run five