HUDSON, N.H., Oct. 09 -- Presstek, Inc., a leading provider of direct digital imaging technology, today announced a successful showing of its products and technologies at Graph Expo 2003, the largest North American printing industry conference and exhibit, held September 28th to October 1st in Chicago. Presstek's environmentally friendly CTP and DI solutions were prominent and generated positive interest. "Graph Expo attendees represent the most serious, educated, and savvy prepress and print customers in the world," said Presstek President and CEO, Edward J. Marino. "It's therefore highly gratifying that their reactions, and the sheer numbers who visited our exhibits, confirm that Presstek's products are successfully mirroring their economic, application, and technological needs." Marino said that much of the positive reaction to the Applause plate came from dealers and customers already familiar and satisfied with the popular, chemistry-free Anthem plate. He further attributes much of the excitement regarding the Presstek-powered A.B. Dick solutions to Presstek's established credibility in the CTP marketplace. Attendees Standing in the Aisles: Environmentally Friendly CTP Products Make Strong Showing at Graph Expo At the Presstek exhibit, live demonstrations of the new Applause process free plate had attendees standing in the aisles. Applause plates were imaged on Presstek's Dimension400 CTP system and printed live on a Komori Lithrone 420 press. Attendees visiting the Presstek stand were particularly impressed by the ease of use of the Dimension system, the fast roll up of the plates on press, and the compact size of the Dimension CTP system. Presstek thermal plates require no chemical processing after imaging. One visitor to the stand asked, "Where is the rest of the system?" after seeing the Dimension400 and Applause in action. Applause beta customer Gene Scott, President of Pony XPress, Reynoldsburg, Ohio, spoke to booth visitors about his experience with the new plate, "One of the best things about Applause it that our press room operators love it. There's little that they have to do to image the plate and hang it on the press. Plus, we've been able to get up to color in just 15 sheets." Pony XPress is testing Applause on a Creo CTP system. Pony Xpress is already a regular Presstek plate customer, "We were on the ground floor with the Anthem chemistry-free plate. We print 100% on Anthem and plan to start using Applause. We have eliminated chemistry and are realizing substantial savings as a result. Presstek thermal plates are the perfect plate solutions for us." Presstek's New Chemistry-Free OEM Plate Showcased by A.B. Dick in Chicago A.B. Dick's new two-page Vector CTP system and Freedom chemistry-free plate generated excitement and buzz at the show. Featured at A.B. Dick's exhibit, the new Freedom and Vector solution will bring the benefits of chemistry-free, metal-based CTP to the instant and small commercial printer. Hal Hinderliter, graphic arts consultant, author and Graph Expo CTP session speaker said, "Presstek and A.B. Dick are likely to spark a revolution with these new offerings. Freedom is the first aluminum-based thermal plate to compete in the same space as polyester, allowing our industry's largest demographic to enjoy the efficiency and quality of an aluminum CTP workflow." A.B. Dick's Vice President for Marketing, Scott MacKenzie, said, "Graph Expo confirmed that the two-page and under market is primed for a metal CTP solution that provides cost and time savings. We had substantial interest in the Vector thermal platesetter and chemistry-free Freedom plate. Potential customers like the fact that we're eliminating cost and time barriers through a chemistry-free platemaking process." First Major Showing of New KPG DirectPress 5034 DI A Success Kodak Polychrome Graphics showcased its new DirectPress 5034 DI system, a two-page, four-color digital imaging press powered by Presstek's ProFire imaging and thermal plate technology. The KPG DirectPress 5034 DI system brings together the quality advantages of offset printing with the workflow and automation benefits of digital printing. This combination presents new growth opportunities for commercial printers, trade shops, or digital service bureaus that want to tap into the growing demand for high-quality, quick- turnaround, short-run, four-color work. "Graph Expo was a great opportunity for KPG to demonstrate its breadth of solutions for the graphic arts community, and the Kodak Polychrome Graphics DirectPress 5034 DI was central to that. Customer reaction was very positive, specifically around KPG's ability to integrate the press into various workflows, while delivering outstanding color and image quality on a consistent basis," said John Schloff, Kodak Polychrome Graphics' Vice President, Digital Printing and Color.