HUDSON, N.H., Feb. 25 -- Presstek, Inc., a leading provider of chemistry-free direct digital imaging applications, at a press conference in Athens, Greece, today announced yet another groundbreaking innovation - a new laser imaging platform for the future. ProFire Excel, the next generation of thermal imaging, is designed to bring improved productivity, higher quality and reduced cost to thermal CTP and DI applications. "Presstek's ProFire imaging is the de facto standard for DI in the industry, and with ProFire Excel, Presstek has raised the bar, yet again," said Frank Romano, RIT School of Print Media professor. "This is a company that keeps beating its personal best, and the whole industry, including many who could not afford this technology before, will benefit." "We listened carefully to our end-user customers and our manufacturing and distribution partners, who asked for more affordable, higher quality imaging technology," said Tim Turner, Presstek's Director of On-Press Development. "Based on their feedback, Presstek engineers, together with Presstek's Lasertel subsidiary in Arizona, developed a brand-new laser imaging system that represents a revolutionary next generation in imaging technology." ProFire Excel and DI Presses Peter Bouchard, Presstek's General Manager for On-Press Imaging said, "We believe the next generation of direct imaging presses, equipped with ProFire Excel, will bring DI printing into the mainstream. Users of these presses will be able to produce work not previously possible on DI, with a higher quality than conventional - and more expensive - offset presses." The unique ProFire Excel design broadens the range of applications that can be produced on a DI press. ProFire Excel enabled DI presses are designed to produce up to a 300 line screen with no incremental cost, offering increased flexibility and improved margin opportunities while more effectively meeting the needs of today's demanding marketplace. ProFire Excel - and by extension, ProFire Excel enabled digital presses - are built upon the foundation of reliability that has become a hallmark of Presstek enabled digital imaging solutions. ProFire Excel Enhances Computer-to-Plate Applications "The integration of ProFire Excel into new CTP systems is designed to significantly improve productivity for the print service provider," said David Ventola, Presstek's General Manager for Off-Press Imaging. "We believe that the faster imaging, smaller spot size and increased reliability enabled by ProFire Excel will build on Presstek's leadership in the manufacture of process-free, chemistry-free plate solutions to deliver the best price/performance in the market." CTP solutions equipped with ProFire Excel are designed to achieve imaging speeds of up to 20 plates per hour. With Presstek's process-free Applause thermal plates, these solutions will deliver unmatched productivity to the CTP owner, with a higher level of quality than ever before. Under the Hood The foundation of ProFire Excel is a single Image Data Board replacing the nine separate boards utilized in the current version of ProFire. The resulting smaller footprint and compact design of ProFire Excel open up an array of new options for the next generation of computer-to-plate applications and direct imaging presses. The Image Data Board controls 16-micron diodes and features patented Image Plus technology. Among the advantages of Image Plus is a new writing mode that substantially increases image quality while drastically reducing the possibility of moire patterns in standard screen sets. The History drupa 1995 Presstek demonstrates its PEARL imaging system with 36 x 42 micron spot. This technology proves itself in thousands of Heidelberg Quickmaster DI presses deployed worldwide since. drupa 2000 Presstek introduces award-winning ProFire series featuring a 21 x 22 micron spot. This generation of ProFire enables hundreds of DI presses and Presstek Dimension CTP systems. drupa 2004 Presstek takes these developments to a new level with the introduction of ProFire Excel, featuring a 15 x 16 micron spot.