Hudson, NH, - Presstek, Inc., a leading supplier of digital offset printing solutions to the printing and communications industries, has announced the signing of a distribution agreement with Graphicolor, a leading distributor of quality printing solutions in West and Central Africa. Based in the Ivory Coast, Graphicolor will distribute and service Presstek DI(R) digital offset presses and CTP solutions across the region. Graphicolor has also installed a new Presstek 52DI digital offset press in its showroom for demonstration purposes.

Established in 1981 as a prepress company, Graphicolor represents the quality standard for the graphic arts industry in West Africa. Over the years, the company has expanded, adding distribution of graphic arts equipment and consumables in 1992 and photographic supplies in 1993. Graphicolor was the first company to provide color separation services in West Africa, and pioneered the development of digital printing in the region in the late 1990s.

"This distribution agreement with Presstek gives us a terrific opportunity to offer medium run-length solutions based on the exceptional DI digital offset printing process," said Georges Abou-Jamra, Managing Director, Graphicolor. "Presstek's DI presses perfectly bridge the gap between digital and offset printing, offering complementary services to those technologies and making the production of high-quality medium run-length printing affordable and cost-effective. With this agreement and a Presstek 52DI press in our showroom, we can now provide the widest choice of best-in-class equipment and consumables in the region."

Raphael Levi, Presstek Regional Sales Manager for West Africa, said: "West and Central Africa are important territories and potential growth areas for us. Our partnership with Graphicolor strengthens Presstek's position on the continent, gives us solid access to the market, and provides an excellent opportunity to generate additional revenue. We believe this is the perfect time to present these solutions to the West African graphic arts community."

Presstek's highly automated, sheet-fed, four-color digital offset presses offer the most profitable solution for quick-turnaround, short-run, high quality color printing. DI presses do not require separate prepress systems because the chemistry-free plates are imaged directly on the press. Presstek DI presses offer one of the lowest costs per sheet at run lengths of 500 to 20,000, while delivering up to 300 lpi quality and stochastic screening -- without incurring additional time or expense. Plus, more jobs can be delivered in less time as the DI can go from digital file to sellable color within ten minutes.

Presstek also has one of the broadest portfolios of CTP solutions in the industry. Presstek pioneered chemistry-free CTP and is a leader in this space offering CTP solutions for printing establishments of any size. In addition, Presstek's "open platform" approach to CTP means that Presstek's chemistry-free Aurora Pro plates and long-run Aeon plates are available for use with systems from Presstek and other manufacturers of thermal platemaking systems.