Presstek, Inc. featured a five colour 75DI with an inline aqueous coater equipped with the new Virtuoso Print Quality System as well as a range of new features at drupa.
The company will be offering automatic perfecting and UV curing options for its flagship 75DI digital offset press. Adding automatic perfecting and UV printing options to the 75 DI press significantly expands the range of applications a 75DI owner can address, said Stan Freimuth, Presstek’s Chairman, President and CEO. Each 75DI press will be configured to meet the needs of its buyer, and we expect that there will be a great deal of interest in these new developments at drupa, especially from larger printers, specialty operations and the packaging industry.
Two New Presstek 75DI Configurations Available:
Automatic Convertible Perfecting. A perfecting device on the 75DI can be automatically converted between normal printing and perfecting. Up to 10 towers can be included in the perfecting configuration. Perfecting is possible at up to 15000 sheets per hour, making the 75DI one of the fastest perfecting presses in the industry. Single-pass perfecting boosts productivity and further reduces cycle time on what is already one of the most productive presses on the market.
The 75DI can now also be equipped with inter-deck UV dryers and a UV coater, making possible high-value-added printing on specialty substrates such as film, metallised paper and other non-absorptive media, as well as lenticular printing. In addition to adding value to printed materials, such as surface protection and glossy finishes, UV printing also shortens drying time for faster finishing and delivery of high quality printed materials.
Perfecting and UV Printing configurations are available for immediate order.
The 75DI features support for 300 lpi and FM screening, 6-minute job-to-job turnover (including on-press plate imaging), and a small environmental footprint. The press prints up to 16 000 six-up sheets or 96000 letter-sized pages per hour.
We will continue to investigate ways to add more value to the 75DI going forward, added Friemuth. We are excited about the progress we have already made in a relatively short time, and will be looking to our customers for insight and feedback on other capabilities they can utilize to grow their businesses with the 75DI.
The company also announced that it is now possible to order a Presstek 75DI press with integrated inkjet heads, enabling the inline application of variable data.
Using inkjet technology to add variable information to DI printed sheets in one pass opens the door to many new applications for DI printers, said Joe Demharter, Presstek’s Vice President of Sales. This hybrid printing system combines two digital technologies to create one optimised system for addressing, numbering, bar coding, targeted promotional information and other variable data applications while still maintaining the ultra high quality and extreme automation that are signature DI press capabilities.
Presstek 75DI presses with variable data capability will be custom ordered and specially configured for each client’s needs and can be configured with a number of inkjet heads. An inkjet configured 75DI will support stock from 0.04 to 0.3mm at speeds of up to 10,000 sheets per hour. Currently each inkjet head has a printable width of 106 mm and a resolution of 600 x 600 dpi.
The company also introduced PearlDry Blue, a new Thermal CTP Plate for Waterless Offset Printing Applications.
PearlDry Blue extends the benefits of previous generations of Presstek’s waterless plate technology by offering superior on-press performance and enhanced imaging characteristics, said Axel Thien, Presstek’s President of Europe/Africa/Middle East Region. This new plate will provide an opportunity for us to gain market share in the European waterless printing market, especially within the newspaper segment, where chemistry-free platemaking has not yet been widely adopted. Utilisation of waterless printing already delivers many advantages. By combining those with the cost, efficiency and environmental benefits of true chemistry-free platemaking, printers can enhance their operations even more, this is especially critical in today’s highly competitive marketplace.
PearlDry Blue is a true chemistry-free plate that can be imaged on 830nm thermal CTP systems from a range of manufacturers. Its fast and efficient imaging allows qualified thermal CTP systems to operate at maximum speed. PearlDry Blue provides daylight handling and operation for up to 8 hours. The non-ablative plate requires only a simple water wash after imaging. No chemistry, baking or gum is required. It outputs resolution of 1% to 99% dots at 200 lpi (80 l/cm), and stochastic (FM) screening is easily handled. The plate is rated for run lengths up to 100,000 impressions and is ideal for both web and sheetfed applications.
