A contact printing apparatus (100), using a direct-coupled emissive array (20) of individual light emitting pixels (22), forms an image from digital data onto a photosensitive medium (16). The direct-coupled emissive array (20) is fabricated on an optically coupled substrate (25) that provides light-directing elements, such as a lenslet array or fiber optic faceplate (40) for directing light from emitter pixels (22) to print pixel (71) locations on the photosensitive medium (16).