The installation of our 4 colour Direct Imaging (DI) printing press is changing the way we meet our customers’ demands for their printing be it single colour or short-run colour. This proven technology produces high quality offset printing, in the least amount of time, with the least amount of labour and materials.

Q. What is DI?
A. DI is an acronym for Direct Imaging. A DI press is connected to a Postscript-based prepress system in a similar fashion as a laser printer — the press becomes another computer peripheral. The Postscript data is used to simultaneously image the four printing plates in register, directly on-press.

Q. Why DI?
A. DI cost-effectively provides the quality, quantity and quickness, that print buyers require. Our DI press provide the convenience, economics and turnaround of toner systems, but surpass their capabilities with the higher quality and greater capacity of offset printing, with the added bonus of being environmentally friendly.

Q. How does DI printing benefit the environment?
A. Direct Imaging eliminates hazardous waste material right up to the final step of printing. Film and chemical processing are eliminated. The plates are non-photographic and used plates are recyclable so disposal problems associated with heavy metals are gone, as is the cost. Since DI is a waterless printing process, fount and alcohol substitutes are eliminated. The very quick makeready time of DI presses significantly reduces paper waste.

Q. What exactly is DI technology?
A. A successful DI strategy is a combination of three core technologies working in unison —1. laser imaging, 2. thermal plate and 3. press design. This process requires the fewest steps from digital file to plate, eliminating the need for a safelight environment, reducing waste and removing chemical processing from the plate making process.

Q. What are the benefits of Direct Imaging?
A. Our DI press enables us to be more competitive in a market that continually demands faster turnaround time, shorter press runs, and expects lower cost without sacrificing quality. It is a very cost-effective method of printing one, two, three or four-colour jobs at run lengths from 200 to 25,000.

Q. What is the difference between a DI press and digital printer?
A. They are two different technologies. Digital printers, such as HP Indigo and Xeikon products, are toner-based printers that provide copier quality in run lengths of less than 500. Our DI press offers true offset, lithographic quality - ink on paper in quantities of 20 and greater. Digital printers are limited to the stock that they use, while DI presses use any stock from onion skin to heavy board thickness. With a digital printer each finished piece has a fixed cost, while DI presses are designed for production printing. DI presses are clearly the highest quality and most cost effective solution for all types of printing.

Q. What can be printed on a DI press?
A. Anything that can be printed on a conventional press from single colour to full colour, can be printed on a DI press, including stationery, catalogues, books, documentation, sales literature, point-of-sale displays, cards, packaging, and forms. We’re not limited to paper and board stocks, either. The DI can print on labels, plastics and Tyvek, and we can even use the DI for lenticular printing to produce direct mail with a three-dimensional appearance.

Q. What level of print quality can I expect from a DI press?
A. Our DI press delivers higher-quality offset printing. With output at 2540 dpi with 300 line screen in comparison to the 600 dpi from toner based systems. In comparison to traditional offset printing methods, DI delivers higher quality because the DI production process reduces manual intervention and the number of iterations between the original and finished plate. The instabilities associated with conventional production methods, such as emulsion variances, processor condition, and ages of chemistry, have been eliminated.

Q. Are DI presses suitable for versioning?
A. Due to the fast plate changing and excellent registration, DI presses will easily address your versioning needs. For example, a sales brochure can easily be printed in multiple languages, simply by changing the black plate.

Q. Are there any special requirements for clients submitting their own files for printing on our DI Press?
A. Printing to a DI press carries many of the same requirements as printing to a traditional press. You should start by talking to us. Before sending the job please make sure you have completed an output form giving details of the job, include all fonts, or convert fonts to outlines, images supplied in CMYK, checked bleed sizes and any trapping.