ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 12 -- The Intelligencer in Doylestown, Pa., and the Ludington Daily News in Ludington, Mich., have recently purchased KODAK digital newspaper solutions to boost productivity and increase quality. Bob Braun, Production Director at The Intelligencer, selected a KODAK TRENDSETTER NEWS platesetter and KODAK THERMALNEWS plates. “Our sister newspaper, the Bucks County Courier Times, has the same system and we now can provide backup for each other,” said Braun. The newspaper printer also purchased a KODAK PRINERGY Evo workflow system and a KODAK NewsManager workflow system, along with KODAK STACCATO screening. “I have experience with using stochastic screening, so I am looking forward to the improved quality we will get from STACCATO screening,” added Braun. The Ludington Daily News purchased a TRENDSETTER NEWS 70 platesetter to help it handle the demands of printing one daily newspaper, two weeklies, two Total Market Coverage products and a variety of commercial jobs. “A strong reputation for quality and service made our decision to go with Kodak easy,” said Mark Eisenlohr, Operations Manager at Shoreline Media, the publisher of the Ludington Daily News. “We visited several nearby newspapers that have KODAK solutions and were impressed with the speed and quality of the TRENDSETTER NEWS 70 platesetter. The machine is a perfect fit for our size of operation.” The Intelligencer and Ludington Daily News are both members of the PAGE Co-op, a not for profit member owned buying cooperative with 1,250 member newspapers across the United States that have a combined circulation of 10.3 million. Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group is a member of PAGE’s preferred suppliers program. Kodak offers proven end to end solutions tailored specifically for newspapers, including thermal CTP platesetters, workflow, digital plates and screening technologies, all supported by round the clock service offerings. The TRENDSETTER NEWS thermal CTP device comes in five speeds, ranging from 60 to more than 240 plates per hour, to suit newspaper printing facilities of all sizes. The TRENDSETTER NEWS platesetter 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. THERMALNEWS printing plates meet the rigorous demands of newspaper printing. Precise reproduction of high resolution, first generation thermal dots, with no dot gain at plate level, provides outstanding quality output and run lengths of more than 200,000 without postbaking. And faster makeready and plate reliability gives newspapers extra editorial time. STACCATO screening produces high fidelity, artifact free images that exhibit fine detail and more impactful color in newspapers. STACCATO screening creates images without halftone rosettes, screening moiré, gray level limitations or abrupt jumps in tone, with no impact on RIPing or rendering time. KODAK NewsManager workflow system, a powerful PDF workflow management solution for high performance newspaper prepress, enables a flexible, automated workflow from edition plan to plate production. Based on open standards, it easily integrates into existing systems. The NewsManager workflow system is scaleable to meet all needs, from contract printers to metropolitan, national and international newspapers with multiple print sites. Complementing a NewsManager solution, a KODAK PRINERGY Evo workflow system helps newspapers deal with last minute changes easily, without causing delays. Based on the latest standards and proven PRINERGY technology, PRINERGY Evo software delivers exceptional PDF processing capabilities. A flexible PDF workflow featuring proven color management, late-stage editing and imposition, and advanced screening options to optimize output on TRENDSETTER NEWS CTP devices, PRINERGY Evo systems help deliver the end to end automation, speed, control, and flexibility that newspapers need to accommodate tight editorial and ad deadlines and output large numbers of pages more quickly.