ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 7, 2005 -- NexPress Solutions, Inc., part of Kodak's Graphic Communications Group, is highlighting strong growth in the digital book publishing market, driven by innovative and successful users of the company's digital printing systems. NexPress is presenting the latest information on its KODAK DIGIMASTER digital production systems for high-volume monochrome printing, along with KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 digital production color presses, at the BookTech Conference and Expo in New York City, March 7-9, 2005. There are numerous applications being produced in the digital book publishing market, many in short or individual one-off runs. These include trade books of varying types, such as galleys, large-print editions, and foreign language versions; textbooks for all grade levels; professional and scientific publications; and college and university titles. Overall industry growth is expected to continue as more publishers discover the cost and efficiency advantages of digital printing. NEXPRESS production systems are specifically engineered to support these applications, thanks to high-speed throughput, advanced raster image processing (RIP) architectures, and a streamlined workflow. According to Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology and a leading publishing industry expert, digitally printed books will represent one-third of all books printed within five years. "Digitally printed books are the future of book publishing," said Romano. "Every category is ripe for digital printing, and we will see many more titles in short runs rather than fewer titles in very long runs. Big publishers will not drive the market--the individual will. Instead of 15 minutes of fame, all of us will have one book printed." The reasons behind this trend to digital book publishing include: -- Increasing demand for backlist and out-of-print books--with online booksellers exerting pricing pressure on conventional retailers; -- Continuing, rapid growth of publishable material--more authors and specialized titles are creating a demand for shorter-length print runs; -- Increasing numbers of returns to publishers due to the impact of online sales--publishers typically allow retailers to return unsold books for credit up to a year from purchase; -- Growing use of digital technologies-- allowing publishers to see the advantages of creating a file in one format that can be used for offset presses, digital printers and online; -- Increasing cost of educational materials, especially at the university level--forcing curriculum developers to customize texts and course packs specifically for their use. NexPress Customers Set the Pace in Digital Book Production As the digital book publishing industry continues its expansion, NexPress customers in the U.S. and abroad are among the leading innovators driving this market. Most have multiple presses, both black-and-white and color, and many have implemented web-to-print ordering capabilities to optimize convenience and throughput. The following customers exemplify the use of NEXPRESS technology to create new and unique publishing applications that are produced with the high quality and fast turnaround the market requires.