ROCHESTER, NY - Jaz Book, designed for color book printing applications, and Jaz Silk, specifically made for direct mail and commercial printing, both from Sappi Fine Paper Europe, are the latest substrates to be recognized in Kodak’s Paper Rating Program. Testing shows that both papers, created for high-speed digital inkjet web printing, provide outstanding image quality on KODAK PROSPER Presses. The 4 diamond rating for each means that users will experience consistent, high-quality results.

Kodak, a digital printing pioneer, has been working with paper mills around the world for more than 25 years to test and develop media that will deliver optimized results on KODAK Printing Equipment. The relationship between Kodak and Sappi, the world’s leading producer of high-quality coated fine paper, has been growing for more than four years. “Working collaboratively is a priority for us. Together with Kodak, we have been able to positively combine our experience and expertise with a great result—paper designed to meet digital printing requirements,” noted Marco Eikelenboom, Sales and Marketing Director, Sappi Fine Paper Europe. “The Paper Rating Program for KODAK PROSPER Press is very quantitative, so we know what it takes to achieve the best results. Our customers benefit because they don’t have to worry about matching a paper’s print quality expectations with customer needs—they can focus instead on adding value to their printed pieces and growing their businesses.”

Sappi’s Jaz Book is a lower weight digital paper, available in 67 gsm, specifically created for full-color book production. As such, it is an ideal choice for the education market. The high dimensional stability of the paper along with high opacity mean that it has the right characteristics for the job it has been designed to do. Sappi Jaz also allows printers to get great quality on hybrid printing when using KODAK PROSPER Imprinting Systems and heat-set web offset.

Jaz Silk, a two-sided coated digital paper with real silk finish and the look and feel of traditional offset-printing paper is also part of Sappi’s Jaz digital paper range. It is available in 90, 115, 130 and 150 gsm and has been developed for direct mail and commercial print assignments.

Kodak collaborates with individual mills to develop and optimize papers. Currently, more than 250 papers have been developed and approximately 60 have been rated in the program. More papers are under development.

The Paper Rating Program relies on the collection and analysis of quantifiable data to determine the performance characteristics of any substrate. Kodak measures the image quality using a wide variety of factors and then identifies that substrate using a rating system that ranges from one diamond to five diamonds. The rating helps printers and publishers make more informed decisions about the right combination of quality and price when evaluating substrates for each of their print jobs.

“There are many variables in printing, so by removing the uncertainty around the performance and economics of the media, we can make the process a little easier. All testing is conducted under standardized conditions, and Kodak simplifies the results into the five-diamond rating system,” said Don Burns, Kodak’s Business Development Director for Media. “Buyers can have confidence that they are making the right substrate decisions.”