Kodak Versamark to print five full-colour dailies for Ifraexpo

Kodak Versamark is planning a splash at next weeks Ifraexpo with a host of colour titles from the worlds first commercial user of its digital newspaper printing set-up.

Visitors to the Leipzig show will be able to read five daily titles printed in full colour at Digitaldruck Bayerlein, based in Neusss, Germany. The titles will be on offer at the show from 10am after they arrive from the printer, which this May became the world's first firm to produce newspapers on a Versamark VX5000.

Digital newspaper production is gaining ground since it was launched commercially by Oc in 2001, based on its laser DemandStream press, which can produce up to 1,000 24pp black-and-white newspapers every hour.

Oc's Digital Newspaper Network (DNN) now counts members in the US, Australia, South Africa, Spain and Greece as well as Stroma in west London.

Although the technology to digitally print full-colour papers has existed for several years, there have been concerns over costs. In Oc's DNN, a single newspaper costs around 1 to print.

But Kodak Versamark claims that its ink-jet set-up, which can produce more than 1,000 40pp newspapers per hour, is "cost-effective" with colour on one side and black on the reverse.

Kodak Versamark is also developing in-line finishing allowing it to produce multi-section newspapers.

Ifra colour papers
The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Times of India, India
Sports Nippon, Japan
Sovjet Sport, Russia
Beeld, South Africa