Now that another Drupa has passed, and with Graph Expo coming soon, it might be interesting to revisit one of the new technologies introduced at these shows in times past. One of the “hits” of Drupa 1995 was the Heidelberg QuickMaster DI. Its predecessor, the GTO-DI, the original “direct imaging” press introduced at Print 91, met with modest success in the preceding four years. But the QM-DI was a totally new press with much improved imaging capability and a higher level of automation. Response at Drupa was truly amazing: standing-room only at the theatre presentations, and initial orders at the show for hundreds of presses. At that Drupa, MAN Roland also had a technology demonstration of their innovative and unique DicoWeb. And in the subsequent years, KBA showed its 74 Karat.

Yet the initial promise of on-press imaging never really bore fruit. While about 2,000 of the presses have been sold, the adoption of DI-type presses has no doubt disappointed its many boosters. Why hasn’t direct-to-press caught on more? Why have so few been sold, mostly by Heidelberg? Timing was no doubt a part of it: Heidelberg was unable to deliver the presses for nearly two years, and, in the interim, off-press imaging (CTP) took off.

For those who haven’t adopted computer-to-plate, on-press imaging has all of the same barriers as CTP, including capital cost, requiring an all-digital workflow, and digital proofing. Second, unlike computer-to-plate, the technology and imagers are tied to a specific press and size. You do not have the flexibility to change presses or sizes if production and scheduling requirements dictate. And most of these direct-imaging presses are two-page portrait format, which limits the kind of work that kind be manufactured. (The KBA 74 Karat and Heidelberg Speedmaster 74-DI are of course 28” presses, and the Komori project D is a 40” format. However, only about 50 of these have been installed in North America.)