There had been speculation about whether the company would sell the ranges as AB Dick also sells Pressteks Dimension 200 and Anthem plates.

AB Dick general manager Ray Hillhouse said although the company had an excellent relationship with Presstek, there was no real reason why it should sell the Vector.

We are going to continue to sell the Presstek Dimension 200 and Anthem plates, said Hillhouse, who said the Dimension was a similar product that was selling well, and at a reasonable price.

This is in contrast to AB Dicks OEM outlets in the US, who will continue to sell the Vector 52 and its Freedom plate. At the moment there is no indication of who will sell the Vector or Freedom products into the UK market.

The Vector platesetter and Freedom plate are aimed at medium-sized B3 printers. Although both products were similar to the Dimension 200 and Anthem, AB Dick had said it wanted them to appeal to printers on their environmental credentials.

Hillhouse said AB Dick UK had also started to commence the first UK installations of Applause plates, which are capable of handling up to 100,000 impressions.

Following AB Dicks deal to sell the KBA 46 Karat DI press direct in the UK, which commenced effectively at the beginning of this month, (PrintWeek, 30 October 2003), Hillhouse said he also expected the first installations of the 46 Karat to be confirmed within the next few months.