Kodak, Pantone Create PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® Color Reference Book for Digital Print

CHICAGO—September 9—A unique PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM Color Reference Book for digital print gives marketers, designers and printers added confidence in the color capabilities of KODAK NEXPRESS Digital Production Color Presses.

The PANTONE® Color Reference book for NEXPRESS Digital Production Color Presses compares actual PANTONE Colors on a gloss coated, neutral white substrate (this is the same paper on which Pantone prints its industry standard guides)—printed by Pantone on the left side of the page—with the same colors simulated by a NEXPRESS Digital Production Color Press printed by Kodak on the right side of the page, in a true side by side comparison.

“The KODAK NEXPRESS Press is licensed by Pantone and uses Pantone color data developed specifically for the printer to provide optimal representations of PANTONE Colors on all configurations of KODAK NEXPRESS Digital Production Color Presses. Kodak collaborated with us on the development of the Color Reference Book to provide this highly effective tool for comparing NEXPRESS Press simulations of PANTONE Colors against actual PANTONE Colors,” said Andy Hatkoff, Vice President of Electronic Color Systems, Pantone Inc.

“This new book is an excellent resource that enables us to define, meet and exceed expectations with our litho customers moving to digital,” said Ira Jackson, President, Perfect Image, a 25 year old commercial printing company in Georgia. “From a sales standpoint, the book helps facilitate conversations with customers that are more solutions oriented and emphasize the many possibilities with digital color.”

Each numbered PANTONE Color is simulated using combinations of the four standard KODAK NEXPRESS Dry Ink process colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) or, if the color is outside of the four color gamut, the proprietary fifth imaging module is used with KODAK NEXPRESS Red, Green or Blue Dry Ink. Printed swatches may be used to choose any of the colors to specify in creative or production graphics elements, giving customers a high degree of confidence that the color printed by the NEXPRESS Press will accurately match a PANTONE Color printed elsewhere. This book can also be used to determine when it is possible to adequately reproduce a solid PANTONE Color on a NEXPRESS Press.

“The PANTONE Color Reference book validates the KODAK NEXPRESS Digital Color Production Press as a trusted and versatile solution for short run jobs, personalization and variable data printing with a wide range of process and spot colors,” said Venkat Purushotham, General Manager and Vice President, Digital Printing, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group. “This book gives our customers a powerful tool when selling digital print services.”

The KODAK NEXPRESS 2100 Plus, 2500 and S3000 Digital Production Color Presses meet a variety of needs up to very high volume environments. Customers are able to upgrade presses as they grow their businesses with options to select desired paper capacity, increase processing capability, and add a fifth imaging unit for delivery of spot color, watermarking and protective coating with the GATF InterTech Award-winning KODAK NEXPRESS Fifth Imaging Unit Solutions. The fifth imaging unit solutions also enable high impact glossing in conjunction with the KODAK NEXGLOSSER Glossing Unit. The booklet maker for KODAK NEXPRESS Digital Production Color Presses is available in line or off line for collating, stitching, folding, trimming, and creating standard or square back booklets of up to 100 pages.

The PANTONE Color Reference book will be displayed at Kodak’s booth #1246 at Graph Expo 2007 in Chicago and is now available for purchase. In addition at Graph Expo, NEXPRESS Presses will demonstrate support for the recently introduced PANTONE Goe™ Color System.

KODAK Products are backed by KODAK Service and Support. KODAK Service and Support is made up of more than 3,000 professionals reaching more than 120 countries. It is a leading multi-vendor integrated services provider, delivering consulting, installation, maintenance and support services for the commercial printing, graphic communications, document imaging and data storage industries. KODAK Service and Support professionals are uniquely qualified to provide services that control costs, maximize productivity, and minimize business risk.

About Pantone, Inc
Pantone, Inc. has been the world’s color authority for more than 40 years, providing design professionals with products and services for the colorful exploration and expression of creativity. Always a source for color inspiration, Pantone now offers paint and designer-inspired products and services for consumers. More information is available at www.pantone.com.

PANTONE®…The color of ideas SM.

About Eastman Kodak Company
Kodak is the world’s foremost imaging innovator. With sales of $10.7 billion in 2006, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on helping people better use meaningful images and information in their life and work. Consumers use Kodak’s system of digital and traditional products and services to take, print and share their pictures anytime, anywhere; Businesses effectively communicate with customers worldwide using KODAK solutions for prepress, conventional and digital printing and document imaging; and Creative Professionals rely on KODAK technology to uniquely tell their story through moving or still images.

More information about Kodak (NYSE: EK) is available at http://www.kodak.com

(Pantone is a trademark of Pantone Inc.) (Kodak, NexPress and NexGlosser are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.)