CHICAGO--Sept. 6, 2001-- Digital offset color presses have become the premium standard in commercial printing worldwide. But often overlooked is this important fact: for digital presses to generate superior print results at maximum cost effectiveness, the papers must be specially engineered. Smart Papers, the newest and one of the largest independent U.S. manufacturers of premium specialty printing papers, today announced it has established a relationship with Indigo N.V., a leading manufacturer of digital color printing systems. The two companies will be at Print 01 in Chicago starting today. The Smart-Indigo relationship centers on two key areas: 1) joint product and application development, including related technical support and, 2) joint marketing to Indigo's customer base and customer prospects as well as training about end-user paper applications for the Indigo sales staff. "Smart's wide array of coated and uncoated digital printing papers are specially optimized for digital presses. The company's Kromekote brand of cast-coated, high-gloss papers, for example, shows off the absolute superior results that digital printing generates,'' says Judy Finlay, substrate business development manager for Indigo's U.S. operations in Woburn, Mass. "Smart's digital papers line bridges a lot of application requirements for our customers and has widespread availability through paper distributors,'' Finlay said. "Additionally, an important feature is their strong technical support to Indigo and our customers.'' Smart DigitalPapers will be among those featured in print demonstrations of Indigo commercial digital offset color presses at Print 01 in Chicago, today through Sept. 13. Indigo's Platinum and Publisher 4000 will be featured along with other advanced Indigo Digital Offset Color presses -- including the high-speed, high-volume UltraStream 2000 for mainstream commercial printing; the popular low cost e-Print Pro+ for short-run, on-demand printing; the Omnius WebStream for labels and packaging; and the MultiStream for specialty printing. In addition, Indigo's digital photo studio will showcase the six-color Photo-e-Print, which produces portraits of breathtaking photographic quality in seconds from flash to print. Indigo has relationships with other paper manufacturers and Smart Papers has relationships with other digital printing press makers. Smart Papers is a "one-stop-shop'' for the digital printing community because it offers the widest selection of coated and uncoated papers from a single manufacturer. Its market-leading brands such as Kromekotecast-coated (high gloss), Knightkotematte-coated two side, and Carnivalhigh brightness uncoated papers have been specially engineered for digital presses. They are readily available for shipment from Smart Papers and its franchised distributors across North America.