With its full portfolio of technologies and services, Kodak is helping newspaper printers of all sizes make the transition to digital through workflow, CTP systems and thermal plates.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. December 8 — Michigan Web Press, Forum Communications, and Press-Enterprise have purchased KODAK thermal CTP newspaper solutions to make the transition to digital newspaper publishing.

Michigan Web Press, Inc., Davisburg, Mich., printer of inserts and college newspapers, purchased a KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS 100 thermal CTP device, a NELA PL-T plateloader, KODAK THERMALNEWS plates, KODAK PRINERGY Evo PDF processor, KODAK PREPS software, KODAK STACCATO screening software, and KODAK InSite software.

Forum Communications Company, publisher of The Forum, Fargo, N.D., purchased two KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS 70 CTP devices, KODAK NewsManager workflow software, and the KODAK InSite software.

Press-Enterprise Company, Riverside, Calif., publisher of The Press-Enterprise, purchased two KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS 200 CTP devices, a KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS 100 CTP device and two NELA PL-T plateloaders.

“Kodak is committed to providing newspaper printers with the technology and services they need to make the transition to digital,” said Neil McLean, Worldwide Newspaper Director, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group. “Kodak’s newspaper solutions provide the speed and flexibility to help newspaper printers improve profitability, shorten print cycles to meet tight deadlines, and address new market opportunities.”

The KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS thermal CTP device is available in a choice of five speeds from 50 to more than 200 plates per hour to suit newspaper printing facilities of all sizes. The KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS CTP device delivers fast, reliable imaging with a standard file-format interface for newspaper production systems. It is available with semi-automatic 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.

The KODAK THERMALNEWS printing plate, Kodak’s latest generation of thermal plates,  meets the rigorous demands of newspaper printing, bringing outstanding final print quality and reliability to this arena.  With virtually no dot gain at plate level, the THERMALNEWS plate offers high run lengths of 200,000+ without post baking, as well as enjoying fast restarts on-press and a significant overall reduction in plate production time, in turn providing valuable extra editorial time.

KODAK NewsManager is a powerful PDF workflow management tool for high-performance newspaper prepress that enables a flexible, automated workflow from edition plan to plate production. Based on open standards, it is easy to integrate into existing systems. KODAK NewsManager workflow software is scaleable to meet all needs, from contract printers to metropolitan, national and international newspapers with multiple print sites.

The KODAK PRINERGY Evo workflow system helps newspapers deal with last-minute changes easily, without causing delays. In conjunction with KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS CTP devices, KODAK PRINERGY Evo software helps deliver end-to-end automation, speed, control and flexibility, so newspapers can extend editorial and ad deadlines and output large numbers of pages faster. Based on the latest standards, and proven KODAK PRINERGY refine technology, KODAK PRINERGY Evo software delivers exceptional PDF processing power.

About Eastman Kodak Company

Kodak is the leader in helping people take, share, print, and view images – for memories, for information, for business, and for entertainment.  With sales of $13.5 billion in 2004, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on four businesses:  Digital & Film Imaging Systems – providing consumers, professionals, and cinematographers with digital and traditional products and services; Health – supplying the medical and dental professions with traditional and digital imaging and information systems, IT solutions, and services; Graphic Communications – providing customers with a range of solutions for prepress, traditional and digital printing, document scanning, and multi-vendor IT services; and Display & Components – supplying original equipment manufacturers with imaging sensors as well as intellectual property and materials for the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and LCD display industries.

(Kodak, Trendsetter, ThermalNews, Prinergy, Preps, Staccato, and SQUAREspot are trademarks of Kodak.)

2005