Presstek Inc.

ONE OF THE smartest things an in-plant can do to reduce production time and environmental impact is to go computer-to-plate (CTP), eliminating the entire film imaging and developing stage and all of the toxic waste issues involved. The quality, speed and efficiency improvements of CTP make it an excellent business decision for almost any shop. Many have already done just that, and are now ready for the next step up: low-process/chemistry-free or no-process plates. Going green has been a big story in the print business for the past decade, and chemistry-free plates are the next wave. “Non-process plate technology will improve to meet

Presstek has appointed former Xerox Senior Vice President Frank D. Steenburgh to its board of directors. With more than 25 years of senior management experience in digital printing, he will focus on helping Presstek expand its role in the growing digital color printing market. Steenburgh retired from Xerox in 2005 as the senior VP for business growth. He joined Xerox in 1967 and held a range of management positions. He was responsible for growing Xerox’s $4.5 billion production business, with a strong focus on digital color, in his most recent position. He currently serves as the chief marketing officer at ColorCentric Corp. “Frank

Dick Williams, one of the founders of Presstek, died this week after an extended illness. He was 73. Mr. Williams served as the company’s chief technology officer until his retirement in January 2003. He also held many other positions with the company, including Chief Executive Officer, and he was chairman of Presstek’s board of directors from 1998 to 2004. “Dick’s contributions to Presstek and the industry are invaluable. He was the technical visionary of Presstek and the father of DI printing,” lauds Presstek board member Dr. Lawrence Howard.

Heidelberg Suprasetter 145, Suprasetter 162 and Suprasetter 190: Heidelberg is adding large-format models to its Suprasetter range to coincide with Drupa 2008. The new systems are used in conjunction with the Speedmaster XL 145 and XL 162, and the Suprasetter 190 can also supply plates for other presses, up to a sheet width of 74.8˝. The platesetters are available with throughput speeds of up to 35 plates per hour (pph), with a resolution of either 2,540 or 2,400 dots per inch (dpi) as required. The six cassettes of the plate loading unit enable up to 600 plates in as many as six different formats

It seems like just a couple years ago that imagesetters were all the rage. But these days it’s getting increasingly difficult to keep one running due to the shrinking availability of film. Just ask Mike Sternfeld, manager of the Print Shop at California State University-Long Beach. When Kodak stopped making film for his in-plant’s ECRM Mako 3650, he had to turn to a distributor in New York. It started to get very expensive. So recently, after a two-year search, the eight-employee in-plant did away with film altogether and installed a new Presstek Vector TX52 thermal computer-to-plate device running Freedom chemistry-free plates. Included in

THIS WILL be the ink-jet Drupa. No, it will be the green Drupa. Or, maybe the print buyer Drupa. Actually, it will be big enough to be all three, and much more. In case you’re new to the business, Drupa is the largest trade show in the graphic arts industry. Held every four years in Düsseldorf, Germany, it will boast more than 1,800 exhibitors and cover more than 1.8 million square feet of exhibit space in nearly 20 halls when it kicks off on May 29. Putting a label on Drupa is one way to make it more digestible. Another is for

HUDSON, NH—February 28, 2008—Presstek, Inc., the leading manufacturer and marketer of digital offset printing business solutions, today announced an alliance with Press-sense, the world’s leading developer of Business Flow Automation for the Print Industry™. Under the agreement, Presstek will offer the Press-sense portfolio of Web-to-print and business management software as part of its on-going plan to surround its digital offset product portfolio with value-added business solutions. Presstek will offer both licensed software and hosted versions. Presstek will be demonstrating this workflow solution at The Graphics of the Americas trade show in Miami, FL from February 28 to March 1 (Booth #1090), and

Presstek Inc. has filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) against Israeli printing plate manufacturer VIM Technologies and its manufacturing partner, Hanita Coatings RCA. Presstek claims VIM’s Di-R waterless processless thermal plate rolls infringe on two of its U.S. patents and its registered DI trademark. In addition, the company sued three U.S.-based distributors of VIM products—Guaranteed Service & Supplies, Ohio Graphco, and Recognition Systems—along with Canadian distributor AteCe Canada.

HUDSON, NH—February 11, 2008—Presstek, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRST), a leading manufacturer and marketer of digital offset business solutions, today announced the filing of a Complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) against Israeli printing plate manufacturer VIM Technologies, Ltd. and its manufacturing partner Hanita Coatings RCA, Ltd. for infringement of Presstek’s patent and trademark rights. Presstek also sued three U.S. based distributors of VIM products: Guaranteed Service & Supplies, Inc., Ohio Graphco Inc., and Recognition Systems Inc., as well as one Canadian based distributor, AteCe Canada. Presstek is seeking, among other things, an Order from the ITC forbidding the importation and sale of

After years of relying on local service bureaus and printers to provide film, Palm Beach County’s Graphics Division has moved into the computer-to-plate (CTP) arena. The Greenacres, Fla.-based in-plant recently added a Presstek Dimension 425 platesetter with an EFI Fiery RIP and the EFI OneFlow PDF workflow. The thermal platesetter is chemistry free; its processor uses water to rinse the metal plates. Manager John D.L. Johnson says his shop loves the faster turnaround time that CTP has brought, as well as the control it gives his in-plant over jobs. The shop worked out a 48-month lease on the equipment. “We were spending about $30,000