Seven Newspaper Printers in United States and Canada Buy KODAK Digital CTP Technology to Upgrade Quality and Increase Output

Reliable performance and increased productivity of Kodak cited as key benefits

Rochester, NY- Seven newspaper printers in the United States and Canada are the latest to purchase KODAK Thermal Digital Platesetters, KODAK Thermal Digital Plates and workflow to enhance quality and meet productivity goals.

At Freedom Communications Inc., which prints The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colo., they have added a KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS Thermal Digital Platesetter. The company already uses KODAK NEWSETTER CTP Devices and KODAK THERMALNEWS GOLD Digital Plates to turn out 90,000 daily and 110,000 Sunday copies of The Gazette, along with other publications and commercial jobs. “We’ve had good reliability with our current KODAK Platesetter and felt this was a logical choice,” said Wil Rios, Production Systems Manager at Freedom Communications. “This TRENDSETTER NEWS Platesetter gives us extra capacity and flexibility.”

At Page 1 Printers, a PAGE Co-Op member in Slayton, Minn., the company also added a second KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS 70 Thermal Platesetter and THERMALNEWS GOLD Plates. Page 1 prints more than 40 weekly newspapers and shoppers, as well as commercial sheet fed jobs.

“We have been upgrading our production process for the last several years and the purchase of KODAK CTP technology has been one of the best investments we’ve ever made,” said Craig Ryan, General Manager of Page 1 Printers. “We’ve been able to upgrade our quality and increase our volume. The KODAK service has been fantastic. With the new KODAK Platesetter we will be able to double our capacity.”

At the Union City Daily Messenger, a PAGE Co-Op member in Union City, Tenn., the company purchased a TRENDSETTER NEWS 70 Platesetter, THERMALNEWS GOLD Digital Plates, KODAK PRINERGY EVO Workflow System, KODAK PREPS Imposition Software and KODAK STACCATO Screening.

“We had quite a bit of confidence in the Kodak salesperson and we went to see the KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS Platesetter in operation at another plant. We were impressed by the equipment performance. They told us the KODAK technology worked consistently well and they never had any problems,” said Scott Critchlow, General Manager at the 8,500 circulation Union City Daily Messenger. In addition to the daily newspaper, the printer handles commercial jobs, circulars and more than 25 other newspapers.

Other newspapers adding KODAK Solutions include:

Lake Worth Herald Press Inc. in Lake Worth, Fla., which purchased a KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS 50 Thermal Platesetter, KODAK non process thermal plates, PRINERGY EVO Workflow System, PREPS Imposition Software and STACCATO Screening.

Record Searchlight, a Scripps paper in Redding, Calif., purchased two TRENDSETTER NEWS 50 Platesetters, PRINERGY EVO Workflow System, PREPS Imposition Software and STACCATO Screening.

The Windsor Star, a CanWest MediaWorks Publications property in Windsor, Ontario, purchased two KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS 100 Platesetters, KODAK NEWSMANAGER Workflow System and PRINERGY EVO Workflow System.

Q.E. Web Printing Ltd., a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd. of Oakville, Ontario, purchased a TRENDSETTER NEWS 70 Platesetter.

The TRENDSETTER NEWS Thermal CTP device comes in six models, ranging in speed from 60 to more than 240 plates per hour to suit newspaper printing facilities of all sizes. The TRENDSETTER NEWS Thermal Platesetter delivers fast, reliable imaging with a standard file format interface for newspaper production systems. It is available with semiautomatic or fully automated plate loading and unloading. The machine to machine accuracy of the KODAK SQUARESPOT Thermal Imaging Heads, combined with the binary nature of thermal imaging, achieves consistent and repeatable halftone dot structures.

THERMALNEWS GOLD Digital Plates meet the rigorous demands of newspaper printing while delivering outstanding resolution for premium newspaper printing and commercial quality printing. THERMALNEWS GOLD Plates offer run lengths of more than 200,000 impressions without postbaking. Rapid imaging and processing, faster makeready and plate reliability gives newspapers extra editorial time, and the clean working, low pH, low consumption developer reduces processing costs.

The KODAK PRINERGY EVO Workflow System helps newspapers deal with last minute changes easily, without causing delays. Based on the latest standards and proven PRINERGY technology, PRINERGY EVO Software delivers exceptional PDF processing capabilities. A flexible PDF workflow featuring proven color management, late stage editing and imposition, and advanced screening options to optimize output on TRENDSETTER NEWS CTP devices, PRINERGY EVO Systems help deliver the automation, speed, control, and flexibility that newspapers need to accommodate tight editorial and ad deadlines and output large numbers of pages more quickly.

KODAK NEWSMANAGER Workflow System, a powerful PDF workflow management tool for high performance newspaper prepress, enables a flexible, automated workflow from edition plan to plate production. Based on open standards, it easily integrates into existing systems. The NEWSMANAGER Workflow System is scaleable to meet all needs, from contract printers to metropolitan, national and international newspapers with multiple print sites.

KODAK PREPS Imposition Software supports POSTSCRIPT, PDF, EPS, DCS and TIFF source files. It works with all KODAK and many major third party workflow systems. PREPS Imposition Software helps prepress professionals remove even more manual steps from their preferred workflow by providing digital imposition. PREPS Software accepts more than 200 types of file inputs. PREPS Imposition Software enhances prepress efficiency and enables greater postpress reliability by automatically generating bar codes that can be read by WST and MULLER MARTINI bar code readers.

STACCATO Screening produces high fidelity, artifact free images that exhibit fine detail and more impactful color in newspapers. STACCATO Screening creates images without halftone rosettes, screening moiré, gray level limitations, or abrupt jumps in tone—with no impact on RIPing time. SQUARESPOT Thermal Imaging Technology enables the fine dot structure of STACCATO Screening to be a reliable and practical solution for newspaper printing and an effective competitive edge for publishers.

KODAK Products are backed by KODAK Service and Support.KODAK Service and Support is made up of more than 3,000 professionals reaching more than 120 countries. It is a leading multi-vendor integrated services provider, delivering consulting, installation, maintenance and support services for the commercial printing, graphic communications, document imaging and data storage industries. KODAK Service and Support professionals are uniquely qualified to provide services that control costs, maximize productivity, and minimize business risk.