Technology Watch Editor Says KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 Press Setting New Standards in Digital Color Printing

Special issue demonstrates productivity, quality and reliability of press

Rochester, NY, December 12 -- The fall 2006 issue of Technology Watch newsletter proves the saying “the medium is the message.”

Technology Watch Editor Henry Freedman dedicated his most recent issue to the KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 Digital Production Color Press because, as he wrote in the opening paragraphs, “Having researched and tested electronic printing systems for over 30 years, Technology Watch has never seen the likes of the NEXPRESS press.”

Produced on the NEXPRESS 2500 press, with one page printed on an offset press for side by side comparison, the 11,000 run issue demonstrates the press’s many features and benefits.

“This special issue gives readers a true appreciation for the power of the NEXPRESS 2500 press by combining analysis with first hand experience,” said Freedman. “The technology is excellent and I want to help the industry understand how the NEXPRESS 2500 press can create new market opportunities.”

Freedman believes that potential NEXPRESS 2500 press users will enjoy the chance to examine the capabilities of the technology up close. This issue of Technology Watch affords readers multiple opportunities to experience the NEXPRESS 2500 press.

“Investing in digital production color is an important decision that graphic communications providers must weigh with as much information as possible,” explained Freedman. “Our fall issue puts the power of the NEXPRESS 2500 press in the readers’ hands. I want people to get out their loupes and see for themselves how impressive the technology is and how it can open up new opportunities for them.”

On pages four and five, Freedman included a side by side comparison of the NEXPRESS 2500 press and offset print. Readers can also understand detail enhancement that comes from KODAK STACCATO DX Screening by folding back page five to the same image on page seven and comparing the two with a loupe.

Claiming a “bit of printing history” with a special demonstration of experimental continuous tone production printing, Freedman included an insert in Technology Watch that shows what “the future of production run digital color printing may be like.” The insert was printed in continuous tone on the NEXPRESS 2500 press without any image screening.

“While purely a laboratory production experiment, this insert is the first continuous tone production volume run that I’m aware of,” said Freedman.

Technology Watch also includes productivity and reliability data—published for the first time anywhere—for the NEXPRESS 2500 press. The newsletter cites that NEXPRESS 2500 presses demonstrate 100 percent productive output while running at the rated speed for an uninterrupted period of up to eight hours. Through one week (168 hours), the productivity remains high at 87 percent of maximum possible output.

“This level of reliability translates into productivity,” said Freedman. “For a 70ppm system, this means printing 614,000 pages out of a possible 705,600 pages in one week. During the research for this issue, I found a NEXPRESS 2500 press customer who ran a marginal volume for eight months without ever having an unscheduled service call.”

The NEXPRESS 2500 press meets a variety of needs from entry level to very high volume environments. Customers are able to upgrade presses as they grow their businesses with options to select desired paper capacity, increase processing capability, and add a fifth imaging unit for delivery of spot color, watermarking and protective coating with the GATF InterTech Award winning KODAK NEXPRESS Fifth Imaging Unit Solutions. The NEXPRESS Fifth Imaging Unit Solutions also enable high impact glossing in conjunction with the KODAK NEXGLOSSER Glossing Unit—as demonstrated on the cover of this issue of the Technology Watch newsletter. The booklet maker for NEXPRESS presses is available inline or offline for collating, stitching, folding, trimming, and creating standard or square back booklets of up to 100 pages.

For a copy of the Technology Watch newsletter featuring the NEXPRESS 2500 press, contact Technology Watch at http://technologywatch@att.net or call your local KODAK digital solutions sales representative.

Technology Watch has published more than 400 scientific and technical articles about printing, publishing and the information industry for more than 25 years. It has become one of the leading technical sources on the future of technologies in printing and publishing. Many technologies used today were first described years ago in Technology Watch, whose international base of subscribers read as a Who’s Who of the imaging industry.

For more information about the KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 press print quality demonstrations, contact http://technologywatch@att.net or contact Henry Freedman at 703-764-5206.

About Eastman Kodak Company

Kodak is the world’s foremost imaging innovator, providing leading products and services to the photographic, graphic communications and healthcare markets. With sales of $14.3 billion in 2005, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on helping people better use meaningful images and information in their life and work. Consumers use Kodak’s system of digital and traditional image capture products and services to take, print and share their pictures anytime, anywhere; Businesses effectively communicate with customers worldwide using KODAK solutions for prepress, conventional and digital printing and document imaging; Creative Professionals rely on KODAK technology to uniquely tell their story through moving or still images; and leading Healthcare organizations rely on Kodak’s innovative products, services and customized workflow solutions to help improve patient care and maximize efficiency and information sharing within and across their enterprise. More information about Kodak (NYSE: EK) is available at http://www.kodak.com.

For more information about Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, visit http://www.graphics.kodak.com.
(Kodak, NexPress, NexGlosser and Staccato are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.) 2006

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Beth Hogan Scott

Eastman Kodak Company

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