Direct Imaging (DI)

For many years, short run full-color printing was too expensive to be a realistic option so most of us settled for two-color printing. In the early 1990’s, color laser copiers began to offer good quality full color reproductions. As the price per copy was close to $1.00, the price became prohibitive for more than 100 or so copies.

In 2001, Multi Media Services invested in our first four-color offset as well as a pair of high speed color laser printers. With the average price for color copies falling to around $.45 each, it became affordable for customers to produce as many as 1,000 color copies at a time. Our four-color press was able to produce quantities of over 1,000 pieces at a price comparable to color copies. The press could produce higher quality and offered more flexibility with stock selection. Since 2000, our copy volume and our full-color offset volume has exploded! We now produce more color than any other full-service printer in the southern tier of NY or the northern tier of PA.

In June, Multi Media Services purchased a new four-color press, the Ryobi 3404E-DI (Direct Imaging). This third generation DI images the plates on the press and is waterless. These two factors decrease the setup time by 80% and dramatically increase quality. We image with a 16-micron dot, which allows us to print optional 300 line screens and stochastic dots. This quality is unmatched in our area. We invested in a closed loop densitometer so that our pressman doesn’t make decisions by eye as every other shop does. He merely scans the color bars on the edge of a press sheet in one four-second pass and the DI gives instant feedback and adjusts color on the fly. This is the only system like this in NY!