ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Impressions Printing, a commercial printer in St. Thomas, Ontario, recently added a KODAK NEXPRESS Digital Production Color Press to its growing digital portfolio. The company has a strong 40-year reputation in southern Ontario as an offset printer and a year ago entered the digital printing market. Impressions Printing has seen its digital business grow tremendously in the short time frame. The addition of the KODAK NEXPRESS Platform enabled Impressions Printing to increase its digital capabilities even further by extending into variable-data printing and full-color applications.

The company serves a wide array of customers, ranging from marketing firms and Fortune 500 companies to small businesses and individual consumers. Impressions Printing has long been using a KODAK DIGIMASTER Digital Production System for its black-and-white digital print applications. The company decided to expand its digital services into full color with the installation of a KODAK NEXPRESS S3000 Digital Production Color Press in November 2012.     “We are now able to handle all of our digital work under one roof with both the KODAK NEXPRESS and DIGIMASTER Platforms. Whether it’s direct mail or variable printing, postcards or flyers, we can produce practically every print-related product that our customers request,” said Cory Stuart, Director of Impressions Printing. “Our customers are very happy with the pricing and imaging quality of the KODAK NEXPRESS Platform output. The quality of the work is comparable to what we would have done on offset, but we are meeting quicker turnarounds and have greater flexibility—thanks to digital.”

The company is the first printer in Ontario to utilize a KODAK NEXPRESS Press with KODAK NEXPRESS HD Dry Ink. Kodak’s HD Dry Ink features a smaller particle size, which helps Impressions Printing achieve denser blacks and more vibrant colors on each print job it produces.

Stuart noted that the extensive color gamut of the KODAK NEXPRESS Platform was one of the top selling points, along with the ability to accommodate a wider variety of applications with ease. The KODAK NEXPRESS Platform supports a range of substrate types, sizes, weights and thicknesses, including more than 800 standard offset substrates.

Impressions Printing has also been able to remove order quantity restrictions—customers now can place shorter-run orders and feel confident that the company will not only meet quality expectations, but also deliver on their tight deadlines.

Impressions Printing runs three shifts, seven days a week and relies on KODAK PRINERGY Workflow to enhance its efficiency on each print job. KODAK PRINERGY Workflow is the system of choice for printers looking for powerful file preflighting, color management, trapping, and imposition, and offers impressive flexible device connectivity, customizable automation and database-driven production management to allow printers to fully maximize their operation’s productivity.

With the use of the award-winning KODAK NEXPRESS Fifth Imaging Unit Solutions, commercial printers like Impressions Printing are now able to differentiate customers’ applications through effects like watermarking, protection coating and color gamut expansion for critical brand color matching. Impressions Printing staff notes they are already utilizing the in-line dimensional printing and high-quality glossing features of the Fifth Imaging Unit as a way to draw in new customers and expand on their existing client work.

“Our customers are really impressed with the quality of the NEXPRESS Press and enjoy seeing what the Fifth Imaging Unit Solutions can do for them,” said Stuart. “We’ve used the clear gloss quite a bit on applications, especially for postcards and brochures. Some customers are now contacting us directly with digital work just for these enhanced features. It’s allowed us to tap into new markets we couldn’t reach before, and we are even moving some offset jobs over to the digital press.”

Impressions Printing has grown its business by 75 percent during the last three years. The company’s staff is optimistic about their future in digital, expressing that they have already seen plenty of business growth in their black-and-white digital work and are starting to see an increase in their variable printing work.

Complementing its notable success in the digital market, Impressions Printing will continue its offset printing business as well. The company also uses KODAK Solutions for its offset production, including a KODAK MAGNUS 400 Platesetter running KODAK THERMAL DIRECT Non Process Plates. The MAGNUS Platesetter provides exceptional productivity, helping Impressions Printing reduce the amount of time each job spends in prepress. THERMAL DIRECT Plates enable high-quality offset printing while completely eliminating the need for plate processing equipment and chemistry. The addition of the THERMAL DIRECT Plates made Impressions Printing the first Kodak customer in Canada to implement a completely process-free plate making solution.

“Kodak developed the KODAK NEXPRESS Platform as a robust solution for printers looking to do more with digital printing. With its advanced printing capabilities, high efficiency, and outstanding imaging quality, it is easy to see why Impressions Printing is growing its digital business so quickly,” said Greg Running, Kodak’s National Sales Manager, Canada. “This latest installation of the KODAK NEXPRESS Press will help Impressions Printing remain competitive in the commercial print market and deliver high-value applications to its customers.”