HUDSON, N.H., July 2 - Presstek, Inc. and Xerox Corporation enhanced their strategic partnership with a June 13 event attracting more than 100 graphic arts customers to Presstek corporate headquarters and demonstration center in Hudson, New Hampshire. "DIalog 2001, Graphic Communication: From Digital Data to Direct Imaging,'' afforded customers the opportunity to learn about, and see first-hand, the advantages of direct imaging (DI®). The daylong seminar was aimed at commercial printers, print buyers, production managers, graphic designers, advertising agencies and prepress suppliers. "It's gratifying to witness the change that occurs when people learn about DI,'' says Robert Hallman, president, Presstek. "It's not complicated; when professionals do the math, they can see significant gains in productivity and profitability without a compromise in quality when they go to DI.'' "Our customers are telling us we need to be in the offset space. This is an area that will be highly profitable to the printers who enter -- shorter runs, faster turnaround time, lower costs and superior color,'' said Elaine Wilde, senior vice president and general manager, Xerox Worldwide Graphic Arts Business. Xerox offers two digital offset systems -- the Presstek-enabled DocuColor 233 DI and DocuColor 400 DI presses -- as part of its DocuColor product line. Frank Romano, author and professor, Rochester Institute of Technology told the crowd that we have become a "fast food society, and printing is no exception.'' "More and more work will be done in 24 hours,'' Romano said, adding that "eight percent of all print is currently delivered within a day but it is expected to increase to 30% by 2020.'' He classifies DI presses as doing "longer, short runs,'' and sees the majority of their run lengths being short to moderate (501-10,000). Romano also said that use of full color is expected to continue to grow -- from 48% today to 75% of all print by 2020. The seminar included a panel led by noted industry consultant Ira Gold. Participants included Ron Kendig, general manager, Direct Imaging, Xerox; Efrem Lieber, vice president, Sales, Marketing and Customer Support, Presstek; and David Tashji, general manager, Business Development, Xerox. David Zwang, principal consultant, Zwang and Company, also presented "Workflow for the New Millennium'' in an afternoon session. According to Kendig, DI technology combines the speed of digital input with the advantages of ink on paper (offset printing). He added that DI presses offer the most economical short runs and create easier and faster makeready, as printing plates are imaged in precise register. Presstek, Inc. is a leading developer of digital laser imaging and chemistry-free plate technologies for the printing and graphic arts industries. Marketed to world-leading press manufacturers and directly to end users, Presstek's patented DI®, CTP and plate products eliminate photographic darkrooms, film and toxic processing chemicals, reduce the printing turnaround time and lower the production costs. The company's Lasertel subsidiary supplies it with the valuable resources necessary for its next generation laser imaging devices. Lasertel also markets its laser technology to emerging segments of the telecommunications, medical and defense industries.