In today’s printing industry, digital production presses have become an integral part of production processes. The range of digital presses available on the market is more varied than ever before, and as the industry continues to evolve, more and more forward-thinking printing companies are investing in digital printing – mainly inkjet.
Aside from installing a stand-alone digital press, there is another option for printers who want to benefit from highly productive digital printing: the integration of digital imprinting systems that can match quality and printing speeds onto conventional equipment. Adding digital capabilities to existing printing or finishing equipment can help printers take advantage of new business opportunities, streamline processes and increase the profit potential of their production facilities without huge financial investment.
With over five decades of experience in the development and manufacture of inkjet printheads, Kodak today has the KODAK PROSPER Plus and KODAK PROSPER S-Series Imprinting Systems in its portfolio. PROSPER Printheads deliver the high speeds and print quality necessary for integration with offset (sheetfed and webfed), flexo and gravure presses as well as postpress and packaging converting machines. Kodak's state-of-the-art continuous inkjet imprinting solutions offer printers the easy transition to inkjet technology and the ability to capitalize on opportunities in variable print by this hybrid approach.
Thanks to their flexible integration and diverse configuration options, KODAK PROSPER Imprinting Systems are suitable for a variety of uses where they can demonstrate their versatility. These areas of application include:
• Direct mail – personalized text and images/graphics, targeted promotional offers/messaging and coupons,
• Packaging – bar codes, 2D codes, mass versioning, security/anticounterfeiting features, variable codes for connected, smart packaging applications
• Gaming – raffle tickets, sweepstakes, contest marketing
• Personal care products and napkins – product decoration, versioning of designs, adding instructions for use or marketing messages
By producing applications efficiently and cost-effectively with PROSPER Imprinting Systems with short lead times, print shops can better meet their customers' needs and help them achieve their business goals faster.
Kodak's PROSPER Imprinting System portfolio features high image quality and high-speed solutions. The printheads use KODAK Stream Inkjet Technology, which enables ultra-high speed and high ink coverage on a wide range of substrates including glossy substrates thanks to precise, round drop placement.
PROSPER Imprinting Systems offer speeds of up to 900 mpm (3,000 fpm) and produce image quality that is difficult to distinguish from conventional offset printing. The print width of the base configuration is 105 mm and can scale to fit a variety of widths; CMYK color printing is enabled by cascading four of these inkjet modules. The systems are available in different speed and width versions, allowing printers to customize the solution to fit their specific needs.
Options for flexible expansion of the print width
PROSPER printheads can be configured up to 12 across, creating a customized solution to fit the needs of a large variety of applications. Thanks to this exceptional scalability, printers can start small and subsequently add additional imprinting heads with a field upgrade. Depending on the configuration, systems can include up to 12 print stations and 24 printheads and can be easily integrated into existing equipment using Kodak or third-party mounting solutions. Printers can start with monochrome printing and later add spot and process colors as their business requirements evolve.
Launched by Kodak at drupa 2024, the new KODAK PROSPER Print Bar takes printing with PROSPER Imprinting Systems to another level. It enables seamless and accurate inkjet printing with scalable print widths in 105 mm increments using multiple PROSPER printheads. The smart integration solution offers enhanced automatic color-to-color registration, cutting down on waste and reprints. In addition, the solution’s innovative Smart Stitch functionality helps ensure consistently high print quality with seamless wide-format output. For maximum flexibility, the PROSPER Print Bar is available in pre-configured monochrome and CMYK options as well as custom configurations to accommodate a variety of applications. For example, a pre-configured CMYK option with a seamless print width of 306.8 mm consists of 12 printheads – 3 for each color – plus print bars for mounting, 6 print stations, and a KODAK CS450 System Controller.
Inks and primers perfectly tuned to the printheads
PROSPER Imprinting Systems employ water-based pigment and dye-based KODAK EKTACOLOR Inks developed and manufactured by Kodak, which dry fast owing to their chemical composition. A key advantage of the inks lies in Kodak’s proprietary pigment micro-milling process which creates extremely fine nanoparticulate pigments with a very narrow size distribution. The finer pigments make the ink easier to jet, reduce light scatter to achieve richer and purer colors, and deliver a superior color gamut as well as ultra-thin dried ink layers.
What’s more, Kodak’s inkjet inks differ from competitive inks by having a lower level of humectants. This results in faster drying, even when printing with high ink coverage on difficult substrates. Energy-efficient near-infrared (NIR) inline drying technology or a similar equivalent drying system is typically used to reliably dry the inks.
The beneficial properties of EKTACOLOR Inks enable PROSPER Imprinting Systems to print vivid images with vibrant colors and reliably render the offset color gamut. Printers also benefit from the fact that Kodak offers not only CMYK process color EKTACOLOR Inks but also customized spot color inks.
PROSPER Imprinting Systems also benefit from water-based, ink-receptive KODAK OPTIMAX Primers that are optimized for EKTACOLOR Inks. In addition to creating a thin layer to strengthen ink adhesion, the primers immobilize the pigment, allowing high-speed printing even with high ink coverage. Kodak has developed a range of high-performance OPTIMAX Primers for a wide range of substrates and applications. These include an OPTIMAX Standard Primer for uncoated papers and an OPTIMAX Enhanced Primer for coated papers. OPTIMAX Packaging Primers are available for uncoated and coated corrugated and folding carton packaging applications, as well as for non-absorbent materials such as plastic, film, and substrates for personal care products.
A complete solution with custom-made integration from a single source
KODAK PROSPER Imprinting Systems are comprised of printheads, data and fluid controllers, EKTACOLOR Inks and dedicated OPTIMAX Primers. Kodak has a wealth of expertise in the engineering and manufacturing of inkjet towers and mounts for the effective integration of high-speed inkjet imprinting systems into analog printing presses and finishing or converting lines. This allows Kodak to quickly provide each customer with a custom-engineered solution for practically any application and installation situation.
“PROSPER Imprinting Systems offer versatile, highly efficient solutions that establish digital printing capabilities in various applications and market segments without compromising the productivity of the equipment on which they are installed. And the new KODAK PROSPER Print Bar takes seamless print output and automatic color-to-color registration accuracy in hybrid color printing to a new level,” said Randy Vandagriff, Senior Vice President, Digital Print, Kodak. “As we are the single-source supplier of the total solution, including printheads, controllers, inks, primers and integration solutions, customers can be sure we can support them quickly and reliably when they are faced with new market challenges.”
Investing in PROSPER Imprinting Systems enables printers to maximize the capabilities of their existing printing and finishing equipment with digital printing and meet growing market demands for variable output, versioning and customization efficiently and profitably.
