Mortsel -- Agfa Graphics announced today a partnership to distribute Canon's imagePRESS digital colour presses to its traditional print customers in the UK from February 2009, enabling both companies to be more customer focused by offering a range of services to both traditional and digital printing houses.

Agfa Graphics UK will market the Canon presses alongside its own inkjet solutions, prepress systems and :Apogee Suite workflow software. The alliance covers the wide range of the Canon imagePRESS family including the Canon imagePRESS C6000VP, the Canon imagePRESS C7000VP and the newly launched Canon imagePRESS C1+.

Laurence Roberts, Managing Director, Agfa Graphics UK said: "This agreement with Canon means we are in an even better position to help the British printing industry to make the right strategic choices for their continued business success. drupa was a confirmation of the success of Agfa Graphics' inkjet solutions. Adding Canon's toner based document presses to our portfolio will further boost our customers' effectiveness. To maximize their profit they can choose between conventional and digital print in-house. Here Agfa Graphics demonstrates a leading role in the integration of digital print within traditional printing business."

Agfa Graphics' Apogee Prepress has been enhanced to also drive the Canon imagePRESS within a hybrid workflow. Irrespective of whether it is a print job, a re-run or a pre-series for approval, :Apogee Prepress will manage the data to create the proofs, the plates and the digital print. It sets parameters for media selection and the various finishing features using the CIP4 digital print standard JDF/JMF.

Andy Vickers, Managing Director UK and Ireland, Canon UK, said: "Digital print is a growth opportunity for commercial printers that can help deliver increased profitability. Canon is very pleased that Agfa Graphics, a leading prepress supplier, has chosen the Canon imagePRESS range for its pilot programme for digital press sales.

"The Canon Insight Report, published at drupa, clearly demonstrated that running litho and digital technology side by side is a route to increased profitability.  There is a strong synergy between Canon's print technology and Agfa's prepress knowledge that will ensure commercial printers have strong partners to support their business growth. It will help to take printers along the Path to Profit, which is the focus of everything we do to provide printers with the business tools they need to prosper."

Agfa Graphics will build the partnership with Canon in the UK in February 2009. First customer shipments are expected shortly after in Q1 2009.