In the face of a huge number of B2 inkjet launches, the US-based direct imaging (DI) manufacturer used its drupa day one press conference to argue that its DI presses offered "the short-run digital offset solution for the printing industry".

The 75DI, which was launched at Ipex 2010 and prints at up to 16,000 sheets per hour, has been given a new toolkit.

A perfecting option is available immediately, as is the new inline sheet inspection system, which is fitted to the last unit of the press to measure for colour, registration and defects.

The Virtuoso Print Quality System, which can be specified on new presses or retrofitted, inspects each sheet as it passes through the press.

"Continuous and automated inspection saves time and money while producing a higher-quality, more stable print run," the company said.

Another option for the 75DI is variable-data printing with the addition of inline imprinting systems, such as the Kodak S5 unit being demonstrated on the 75DI at drupa.

Stan Freimuth, Presstek’s new chief executive, said DI technology offered greater throughput than digital presses but at the lower costs associated with offset.

"The market is starting to acknowledge this and we expect to have a great drupa as a result," he said.

The manufacturer is also demonstrating its strength in computer-to-plate (CTP) with a number of drupa launches.

The Pearl Dry Blue product is a waterless plate for use with presses such as the KBA Cortina newspaper press and KBA Genius.

The PhD 830 is a thermal digital plate first shown at Graph Expo and now available in Europe, which offers runs lengths up to 250,000 unbaked and over 1m baked.

Presstek says its DI presses offer "the short-run digital offset solution for the printing industry"