Graph Expo Sees DI Presses And CTP On Show

The Presstek 52DI press will be making its North American debut at Graph Expo in Chicago on stand 3822.

The Presstek 52DI press will be making its North American debut at Graph Expo in Chicago on stand 3822.

The 52DI is claimed by Presstek to be one of the most efficient and profitable presses on the market in the 52cm landscape format size.

The 52DI is said to provide print service providers the opportunity to capitalise on the growing short-run colour market by producing high quality printing fast, efficiently.

The automation and inherent quality of the landscape format makes high quality printing easier than before with less dependence on operator training and experience, said Presstek.

More work can be produced on the 52DI in less time than with a conventional press and eliminates the workflow steps and costs associated with other methods of printing plate production.

The company also claimed that superior quality printing of up to 300 lines per inch (lpi) and FM screening can be achieved without incurring additional time or expense.

The automation, ease-of-use and claimed operating speed of up to 10,000 sheets an hour is said to make the 52DI the fastest path from digital file to sellable press sheet.

Make-ready is accomplished in approximately 10 minutes, including plate imaging and coming up to colour within about 20 sheets, added the company.

Like the 52DI, the 34cm four-colour Directpress, which will also be highlighted at Graph Expo is suitable for quick turn-around, short-run colour printing.

Presstek's DI technology images all four plates simultaneously in precise register, going from file to sellable sheets in approximately 10 minutes, with fewer make-ready sheets than conventional offset, said the company.

The workflow reduces the time and cost to turn a job around, providing high quality printing whilst handling a range of substrates up to 20pt.

(0.5mm), said Presstek.

The DI press is said to be twice as profitable as conventional offset machines and up to four times more profitable than copier-based technology for short-run colour, according to market research conducted by Infotrends.

Presstek believes that DI presses help print service providers meet the demand for short-run, fast turn-around, high quality colour printing at lower costs, whilst improving their productivity, efficiency and quality levels.

Also at Chicago, Presstek will demonstrate the four-page Dimension425 Excel CTP system for mid-size and smaller print shops.

It is said to have an extremely small footprint and is optimised to work with Presstek's chemistry-free Anthem Pro plate.

The Anthem Pro chemistry-free plate is said to be a new generation chemistry-free thermal plate that optimises the advantages and proven capabilities of a grained anodised surface and requires only a water rinse after imaging to prepare the plate for printing.

Anthem Pro is claimed to provide improved ink and water latitude, greater colour stability and better overall print performance.

Like all of Presstek's CTP plate products, Anthem Pro offers chemistry-free performance and does not require any gumming, baking or chemical processing, whilst supporting run lengths of up to 100,000 impressions.

The Vector TX52 with Presstek's Freedom plates is a chemistry-free platesetter that provides the small format (52cm and under) printer with an affordable metal platemaking system for higher productivity, cleaner operation and lower production costs.

After imaging, Freedom plates are automatically cleaned with water in the Vector's integrated plate washer and exit the system ready for mounting on press.

Freedom plates are said to require no baking, special cleaning fluids, or gumming, which results in less waste material and a more environmentally friendly print shop, said the company.

The plates are also claimed to be suitable for high-quality, short-run printing with run lengths up to 25,000.

Presstek Aurora Plate Chemistry-free Plate By eliminating chemistry from the process, Aurora chemistry-free plates simplify platemaking and reduce the total cost of ownership for third-party (non-Presstek) CTP thermal imaging systems, said the company.

This chemistry-free, daylight-safe plate, which will be on show in Chicago, is said to only require only a water rinse and enables up to 200lpi printing and stochastic screening.

Aurora is a high-speed anodised aluminum plate with claimed ultra-high resolution, that provides superior on-press performance and supports run lengths up to 50,000, said Presstek.

Chicago will also see the company's Fiery-based Facet RIP, which is claimed to enable ease-of-integration and management of the digital workflow.

Developed in collaboration with EFI, the RIP is said to be an affordable, high performance digital front-end that has been qualified for operation with all Presstek and A B Dick-branded digital output devices.

Facet also connects to most Fiery-driven devices and inkjet proofers, as well as a range of colour and mono production devices, providing a true hybrid offset and digital workflow, said the company.

Facet RIP also provides digital pre-press capabilities.

Meanwhile, the Harlequin-based Momentum RIP is said to be compatible with PostScript Level 3 and PDF 1.5 specifications, and supports applications that generate PDF and PDF/X files.

Based on Harlequin's most current RIP release, Momentum RIP 7.0 supports Presstek's DPM, Vector and Dimension Series CTP systems, as well as Presstek-enabled DI presses.

Graph Expo will also see the A B Dick Digital Platemaster 34 HSC, designed for use with small-format portrait presses.

The polyester platesetter supports screen rulings up to 175lpi, and is suitable for a range of applications, from simple spot colour jobs to more intricate two-colour and four-colour process work.

A B Dick's 9985A-ICS two-tower offset press will be on the Presstek stand.

It is claimed to be suitable for spot colour, multi-colour and process colour printing.

The true two-colour offset press is equipped with features that simplify operation and consistently deliver high quality output with minimal operator skills, claimed the company.

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