Direct Imaging Expertise from Heidelberg

Solutions for cost-effective printing of short color runs

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) will be using IPEX to demonstrate its expertise with Direct Imaging technology. The company will be exhibiting the Quickmaster DI Pro, first shown at Print01 in Chicago. This unit represents the third generation of its highly successful A3-format digital offset presses. The Speedmaster 74 DI will also be appearing with a whole range of new product features.

Direct Imaging (DI) forms the link between offset and digital printing and is synonymous with rapid, cost-effective printing of short color runs in high offset quality. Heidelberg is the No.1 DI provider with over ten years' experience of DI technology and nearly 1,700 Quickmaster DI and over 120 Speedmaster 74 DI presses installed around the world. The main features of DI technology include rapid, direct transfer of digital data from the prepress for imaging printing plates in the press and a high level of automation.

The Quickmaster DI Pro -  for even greater productivity in A3
The new Quickmaster DI Pro boasts enhanced quality, more flexibility in the choice of format and printing stock, and user-friendly control with the CP2000 Center. It provides the answer to the increasing digitization of work processes and the trend towards even shorter throughput times and ever shorter runs while still ensuring top quality results. Gotthard Schmid, Head of the Direct Imaging Product Center, explains: "Traditional printshops use it to print short color runs. Prepress houses benefit when moving into the printing market by profiting from their data handling expertise. The QM DI Pro can also turn advertising agencies into full-service providers." The recent study from the American CAP Venture institute also confirms that Quickmaster DI customers can print very cost-effectively with an average gross yield of 45 percent.

QM DI Pro customers are impressed - 40 percent higher productivity
The new Pro press has met with positive reactions from all over the world and more than 100 units have been sold so far. The British company APR Printing and Design in Uckfield is particularly impressed with the new powerful stream feeder. Roger Carew, Managing Director of APR, explains: "The Quickmaster DI Pro offers us flexibility combined with absolute precision, stable paper travel and rapid, straightforward changeover of formats and printing stock." For Chris and Steve Thomas of Digipress in Adelaide (Australia), the new QM DI Pro press is an exciting new development: "The increased productivity is really impressive - now we can print a magazine of up to 64 pages almost 40 percent faster."

Speedmaster 74 DI - new features in A2 format
The Speedmaster 74 DI made its first appearance at Ipex in 1998. This model too is undergoing continuous further development. It is now available with the new IBM xSeries 250 RIP software that provides increased storage capacity. Now users can store even more print jobs before these are sent online to the press for imaging. The number of print jobs that can be retrieved when needed has also increased.

The other new feature is the AxisControl Prinect module, which is a standard color measuring system that has been fully integrated into the CP2000 Center press control system. AxisControl allows guided setup for faster inking up. It also ensures continuous monitoring of the entire job run. The fact that AxisControl ensures short setup and throughput times - not least with the Speedmaster 74 DI, which is designed for short color runs - leads to even greater productivity and cost-effectiveness.
And thanks to the innovative CanOpen technology, peripheral units of the Speedmaster 74 DI such as Inkline, CombiStar and Exatronic powder spray device can be controlled and monitored via the touchscreen on the CP2000 Center control console. For Speedmaster DI customers, this saves time, facilitates control and monitoring of the printing process and, consequently, optimizes the entire workflow. The new options make the Speedmaster 74 DI even faster and more versatile for cost-effective printing of magazines and brochures in short color runs of up to 20,000 sheets.

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The new Quickmaster DI Pro press has met with positive reactions from all over the world and more than 100 units have been sold so far.

For further information:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Corporate Communications
Hilde Weisser
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 50 66
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 50 46
E-mail: hilde.weisser@heidelberg.com