Rochester, N.Y. - A number of newspaper printers who have transitioned to digital plate production with Kodak are ecstatic over the advantages they've realized so far. Morgan City Newspapers LLC, the Times-Herald, the Galveston County Daily News, McLean Publishing, the Statesboro Herald, the Jasper Herald, Enterprise Publishing, The Daily-Star Journal and Beeville Publishing are all reaping the benefits of Kodak's non process CTP solutions with increased quality, consistency and efficiencies.

Many have also realized the environmental benefits of converting to non process CTP solutions with Kodak. The P-FN Non Process Plates reduce the use of chemistry and save printers the time that used to be spent on processing chemicals. Additionally, reducing the pieces of prepress equipment from five to one frees up floor space inside facilities.

Each printer installed a KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS Thermal Platesetter with KODAK PF-N Non Process Plates, and KODAK PRINERGY EVO Workflow. Most also added KODAK PREPS Imposition Software, except Beeville Publishing, which purchased KODAK STACCATO Screening,  plus KODAK NEWSMANAGER Page Pairer Software.

Customers Achieving Results

Morgan City Newspapers LLC, of Morgan City, LA publishes The Daily Review, a five-day daily with circulation around 5,000, in addition to several other dailies and weeklies. So far, the company is impressed with the significant time savings it has achieved.

"It's saved us a wonderful amount of time already," said Steve Shirley, Editor and Publisher, Morgan City Newspapers LLC.

The company also anticipates tremendous cost savings, as well as improvements in image quality and consistency.

"What we hope to see long term is a bottom-line benefit," said Shirley. "We're no longer buying the chemicals to develop plates and negatives, and we've sacrificed no quality whatsoever. We've seen image consistency improve already too."

Eliminating the use of chemistry to reduce environmental impact was also appealing. The switch to digital was celebrated on the front page of the first issue of The Daily Review produced with Kodak's non process system, announcing that the paper had "Gone Green."

"It's a tremendous step in the right direction for us," said Shirley.

Saving space with Kodak's solution was a huge draw for the Newnan, GA-based Times-Herald. Producing non process plates adjacent to the press represents a significant convenience for the company.

"We're saving space and the environmental benefits from reduced chemistry are a plus," said Billy Thomasson, Publisher and Owner, Times-Herald. "We get better image quality and consistency and we save time."

The Times-Herald also installed Kodak's Ink Optimizing Service. The paper marks its 145th anniversary this year, and has daily circulation of 11,000.

Eliminating the need for a processor and saving space made Kodak the perfect fit for the Texas City Newspapers Inc., owned by Galveston Newspapers Inc., as well.

"We're a smaller operation, so the footprint of the equipment had to be smaller," said Robin Lashway, Imaging and Composing Manager, Texas City Newspapers, Inc. The Galveston, TX-based publication, also a PAGE member, has a daily circulation of 26,000, and was also looking to maximize the time spent by each member of its workforce.

"The transition to digital helps make our workforce more efficient," said Lashway. "We're moving a lot of employees into the composing environment. With a small operation like ours, it's important to be as efficient as possible."

The company has already noticed better registration, which strengthens image quality, and ultimately enables more cost savings. "The plates offer environmental improvements, and they run cleaner on the press too," said Lashway. "Our image quality is vastly improved. In the long-run, we expect we'll save a lot of money."

Recognizing CTP as "the technology of the future" sparked DuBois, PA-based McLean Publishing, printer of The Courier-Express, to seek a vendor for transitioning from its traditional process. A reputation for durability and quality persuaded McLean Publishing to work with Kodak on its conversion to digital.

McLean Publishing, owned by Independent Publications, Inc., is a member of the PAGE Cooperative, which comprises more than 3,000 newspapers around the country, including more than 570 dailies and 1,100 non-daily publishing facilities. The company discussed the conversion to digital with fellow PAGE members, as well as colleagues from other groups to which it is connected.

"We're fairly well plugged in with other Kodak customers, and we were able to see Kodak's equipment in use in several different situations," said Denny Bonavita, Editor and Publisher, McLean Publishing. "In my judgment, it's a more proven technology. The durability impressed the heck out of us too."

The smaller footprint of the equipment saved the company from having to modify its facility to accommodate the installation. A responsibility to reduce its environmental footprint though, is what primarily steered McLean Publishing toward Kodak's non process option.

"I write editorials, and I tell readers we need to be environmental stewards-we have somewhat of an obligation here," said Bonavita. "This is a greener technology than what we were using, and with the price, Kodak makes it a reality for us. We recycle a lot of our newsprint, we're using soy-based inks-this goes hand-in-hand with our efforts, and it's less caustic to our employees."

The Statesboro Herald, a six-day daily in Statesboro, GA owned by Morris Communications Company, became aware of non process plates by following the developments of CTP solutions for six to seven years. The cost-effective nature of Kodak's non process solution, combined with the high-quality imaging, automation and environmental improvements it enables, were the selling points for the paper, which also installed Kodak's Ink Optimizing Service.

"I have no doubt that the industry will continue to move forward with non process," said Joe McGlamery, Vice President of Operations, Statesboro Herald. "We're providing better quality for our customers with a more cost-effective output."

To the Statesboro Herald, another PAGE member, sustainability means more than just a responsibility to the environment. It reflects a feeling of responsibility toward the people all around them as well.

"With the non process plates, we've reduced our labor and energy costs, but we're also more environmentally friendly for our neighbors, and it's a better working environment for our employees," said McGlamery. "That's an investment in our people that you can't measure with a number."

The Jasper Herald of Jasper, IN, also a PAGE member, found that Kodak's solution fit both its needs and its facility's configuration perfectly. In the midst of remodeling, the company felt that Kodak's model allowed more flexibility.

"The cost-savings with non process are fairly substantial," said John Rumbach, Editor, Jasper Herald. "The environmental benefits of not installing a processor were very appealing, plus, it fit well with our production flow."

For Enterprise Publishing of Blair, NE, researching CTP solutions with fellow PAGE members and speaking with other publishers led the company to Kodak. The investment in quality and long-term cost savings added up to the right package for the publisher, which prints 12 weeklies across Nebraska and Iowa.

"Quality is important to us, and this is the best quality system in the market," said Mark Rhoades, President, Enterprise Publishing. "We eliminated spending money on chemicals, sped up our processes and ended up with better quality images. In the long run, this was the best investment we could have made."

Sustainability has always been important to The Daily Star-Journal of Warrensburg, MO, another PAGE member. The non process option from Kodak was appealing not only for its environmental benefits, but reduces opportunities for error for the paper, a subsidiary of NewsPress & Gazette Company.

"We liked not having to buy a processor, and eliminating chemicals," said Bill James, Publisher, The Daily Star-Journal. "The whole package looked good to us. It's a very green, cost-effective option, with better image quality and registration. We feel really comfortable with Kodak and we're realizing significant benefits since the installation."

Beeville Publishing Company of Beeville, TX, a PAGE member, has also reaped the benefits of transitioning to digital with Kodak since it purchased KODAK STACCATO Screening Software and KODAK NEWSMANAGER Page Pairer Software.

The KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS Platesetter delivers fast, reliable imaging with a standard file format interface for newspaper production systems and is available with semi-automatic or fully automated plate loading and unloading. The KODAK PF-N Non Process Plate provides the resolution, reliability, and imaging accuracy of thermal, digital plates without the need to install and maintain a plate processor, and KODAK PRINERGY EVO Workflow is an affordable PDF workflow system for controlling prepress, plate, and film production with customizable configurations. KODAK PREPS Imposition Software is the fully automated industry-leading solution for error-free impositions. KODAK STACCATO Screening is advanced, second-order FM screening technology. STACCATO Screening produces high-fidelity, continuous tone images that exhibit fine detail and an extended color gamut. Kodak's Ink Optimizing Service offers newspaper printers the opportunity to decrease ink consumption while improving reproduction fidelity and increasing stability on press-without changing workflows or pressroom practices. The KODAK NEWSMANAGER Workflow System is a powerful open standards management system for high-performance newspaper printers. It is scalable to meet the needs of complex metropolitan printers to small-to-medium size newspaper printers requiring NEWSMANAGER Page Pairer Software.

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