HUDSON, N.H., March 12 -- Presstek, Inc., a leading provider of direct digital imaging technology and the industry's foremost environmentally friendly provider in the DI and CTP categories, today announced that it is further positioning itself to lead the market to the next phase of digital offset printing. Presstek's efforts for this next phase will be focused on enabling the transformation of traditional offset technology to digital offset technology. Today's commercial printers have become proficient with the use of digital prepress systems, the next logical transition is for printers to capitalize on this technology by adopting Direct Imaging (DI), or digital offset printing systems. Today, use of digital printing is established across all market segments and is clearly entering the mainstream. DI is a growing segment of the overall digital printing movement. Presstek believes it has effectively assembled the right combination of industry-leading partners, products and services to further its position as the industry leader in digital offset printing. Presstek's team of DI partners -- Ryobi, Heidelberg, KBA, and KPG -- serves approximately 75% of the press industry. Ryobi, a recognized leader in small press manufacturing, serves the commercial printing market on a worldwide basis. Heidelberg, the world's largest press manufacturer, distributes the Quickmaster DI on a worldwide basis. KBA, the world's second largest press manufacturer, offers two DI presses. And KPG, one of the leading global suppliers of products and services to the graphics arts industry and Presstek's newest DI partner, will distribute DI presses in United States and Canada. Presstek enabled solutions from these strategic partners provide offset quality output, a high level of consistency and reliability at a low cost per page for run lengths between 500 and 10,000. Presstek believes this alliance of industry leaders establishes the proper infrastructure to provide the service that today's on-demand market requires. Presstek has also expanded its European Distribution for DI plate products. On Monday of this week Presstek launched a new program utilizing a combined network of KBA, Ryobi, and independent European dealers. This network of established dealers will sell DI media directly to the end user. This program is designed to allow Presstek to better serve its end user customers and to offer a better value proposition to the customer. The program includes "Club DI", a multi-faceted marketing program that is designed to help DI press owners build their business through the use of professional sales and marketing tools. Presstek President and Chief Executive Officer, Ed Marino, said, "A year ago we set course to expand our marketing channels to improve our business. We have made solid progress against those goals and believe today, more than ever, that DI is well on its way to becoming a mainstream technology that will be commonplace at all levels of the offset printing industry. This is a particularly exciting step for Presstek. We believe it allows for greater distribution potential, a stronger value proposition to the printer, and increasing growth opportunities for the DI market. We believe the essential elements to be in place and that we have the manufacturing capacity to meet market demand. We are confident that we are well-positioned to lead the market to the next phase of digital printing."