KENNESAW, Ga., February 24, 2005 -- Heidelberg’s newest Quicksetter models, the QS 300E and 400E, have reached a milestone one-year anniversary of being available to printers worldwide. With over 100 machines installed in the United States, this success proves that the two fully automatic computer-to-plate (CtP) systems for polyester plates continue to improve performance and quality for small commercial printers in today’s market. “Depending on how a printer is currently working, the Quicksetter 300E and 400E can increase productivity up to 75 percent and reduce costs by up to 50 percent,” said Ray Cassino, Heidelberg’s director of prepress product management. “The Quicksetter provides affordable CtP for polyester plates to the quick print chain and small format printers looking for solutions to improve performance.” Rounding out the prepress product line for small format solutions, the Quicksetter 300E and 400E are the perfect match for the Printmaster QM 46 press and Quickfolder. The Quicksetter 300E and 400E allow for faster turnaround of print jobs and higher quality with fewer errors, leading to increased productivity and profit for small commercial printers and franchisers. Demonstrating Heidelberg's commitment to provide innovated and integrated solutions for the print media industry, the Quicksetter 300E and 400E reinforce the demand for today’s printers to work smarter and more efficiently than ever before. “Heidelberg’s Quicksetter 300E is a wonderful, quality addition to our equipment in the shop,” said Donald Greninger, owner of Freehold, N.J.-based commercial printer Topline Imaging. “With its broad capabilities, the equipment allows us to continue to expand our client offerings and capitalize on more job opportunities that we couldn’t in the past.” Created in 2003 to meet customer demand for a simpler, dependable, more efficient product, the Quicksetter 300E and 400E connect a Heidelberg state-of-the-art MetaDimension front end to a well-established marking engine. MetaDimension is the same front end that Heidelberg offers on its larger computer-to-plate devices, the Prosetter and Suprasetter, making an upgrade to a four or eight-up Heidelberg CtP device easy and efficient. Once printers learn to use the front-end software MetaDimension, they can transfer the knowledge learned on it to larger systems as their business grows, proving that the Quicksetter has brought a new level of automation and quality to the small-format market. The Quicksetter 300E is designed for the Printmaster QM 46 and other portrait-feeding presses with a similar sheet size, and the Quicksetter 400E is designed for the Heidelberg GTO 52 and other landscape-feeding presses. Both produce high-quality polyester plates for timely printing and provide value-added benefits that make them an indispensable tool for franchise, quick and small commercial printers. The machines also offer benefits including digital proofing, hardcopy digitizing, elimination of film and chemistry costs, faster turnaround and fewer steps in the printing process. “The consistency and accuracy of Heidelberg’s Quicksetter 300E stands out above the competition,” said Kelly Gabriel, general manager and owner of Olympic Printers Inc., based in Port Angeles, Wash. “With our increased efficiency, we have been able to rearrange our workflow to handle most any deadline. The Quicksetter 300E works as a complete system with our Quickmaster 46 press and helps to give our customers more flexibility. Heidelberg equipment and support just can’t be beat.”