DI Press Meets Need For Short-Run Colour

The first 46 Karat Plus DI press in the UK and the first in Wales has been installed by A B Dick at Seargeants Brothers Printers in Pontypool with assistance from Welsh Assembly Government.

The first 46 Karat Plus DI press in the UK and the first in Wales has been installed by A B Dick at Seargeants Brothers Printers in Pontypool with assistance from Welsh Assembly Government.

Angela Williams, joint managing director of Seargeants, who runs the business with her brother Geoff, explained: "We were looking for a mid-range machine to complement our existing capabilities.

Initially, we favoured a higher volume digital copier but an analysis of our requirements revealed that from a quality and a cost point of view, we would be better served by a direct imaging press.

We needed a machine to accommodate the requirement for shorter run colour.

The set up charges on the larger presses make some projects unviable." Seargeants visited the Digital Print World exhibition in London last year to see what was available.

The company saw the new 46 Karat Plus waterless press being demonstrated running the new Presstek Profire Excel chemistry free media, which is claimed to print up to 300 lines per inch (lpi) with an FM screening option.

"We liked the quality and environmental advantages of the waterless, chemistry free concept.

We saw them as a unique selling point to our customers against conventional litho with a computer-to-plate system," added Angela Williams.

Williams read everything she could about DI presses and took up references with other Karat users.

She went on: "We purchased from A B Dick because we had built up a good rapport with the company and felt that they really wanted our business.

It was a good decision because they've stayed close to us and helped us through the learning curve." Seargeants took delivery of the press in February.

Angela Willians continued: "We wanted to be fully conversant with the press before we launched it as a new feature.

In fact, it is a very simple operation, far easier than setting up a CTP and a conventional litho press.

Files are sent directly to press from our studio.

If we are not designing the job ourselves, the digital artwork comes in to our studio and goes directly to the Karat in PDF format with minimal manual intervention." Currently Seargeants is printing at 200lpi, although the 46 Karat Plus can print up to 300lpi.

The company said that it is good for it to have that facility and the FM screening option, should it be needed in the future.

Williams said: "We are already receiving enquiries from greeting card and art reproduction companies, where those enhanced features will be very useful.

We have joined the Waterless Printing Society and enquiries are coming via its web site for environmentally friendly printing.

Before we placed the order we put together a feasibility study, which included all the types of jobs that we could run on a DI press but now we're in production, we realise that there are far more, which are suitable.

"We've been successful in persuading customers that the DI press will give them a high quality, professional but cost effective solution for a few thousand copies.

It's opening the door for them to become much more focused with marketing campaigns.

Speed of turn-around is equally impressive.

We had a client who works in Devon and wanted to take some new literature with him to a conference in North Wales.

He emailed the artwork before he left home and collected the finished job en route that afternoon." When asked what was the major selling point of the Karat, Williams highlighted the quality.

"The detail is fantastic.

You can't fail to get a good result from it.

But the main aspect is the waterless litho with no chemicals used in the printing process, coupled with no restriction on the choice of stock available giving the client the most environmentally friendly end product, with no compromise on quality," concluded Williams.

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