Ron Kendig

What's the future of offset technology? Find out where direct imaging is taking it—and how presses may eventually shed plates altogether. Look at the trends: Shorter runs. Faster turnaround demands. Digital job data. Cut-throat competition. Many printers won't survive. Those that do will have to use new technology to heed these trends. That's where on-press imaging comes in. It offers everything today's business climate demands: Short-run efficiency, lower costs, faster makereadies and fewer steps. True, direct imaging (DI) is nothing new; Heidelberg introduced its GTO-DI in 1991. But DI quality has improved since then. New imaging systems from Presstek and CreoScitex have paved

Will toner-based printing make offset obsolete? No way, say the offset experts. Offset will transform into a more user-friendly, more digital process. With the final year of the 20th century now well underway, offset press venders are beginning to turn their thoughts toward the future—and it's not as far off as you might think. For some time, the industry has been beset with hushed voices forecasting the potential demise of offset due to intense competition from digital printing. Not so fast, offset venders insist. The next few years, they say, will bring about new generations of presses so technologically advanced, convenient and attractively