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publishing market development at HewlettPackard, which provides the inkjet web hardware for the Hearst custom print jobs. Particularly encouraging, Sexton added, is that "the [image] quality is high enough for high-end fashion retailers." Over the past five years, production inkjet printing has made significant inroads into the transactional printing, direct mail, and book publishing market segments. So what's next? As print costs continue to drop and image quality improves, fuller coverage and coated media are keys to production color inkjet. The promotional publications market looks promising. Several marketers already are bringing "magalogs," such as Hearst's, to life using a powerful combination of customer data and inkjet technology. Improvements in print quality and media range, especially matte and glossy media, have opened new opportunities for customers in what HP calls "high-volume general commercial printing", says Aurelio Maruggi, VP and GM of the firm's Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions (IHPS) division. "The idea is to marry the benefits of digital, in terms of customization and personalization, with the high-volume productivity that was previously only possible with offset technology," Maruggi explains. "The result is the ability to do mass customization. We anticipate this to be a big area of growth for production inkjet," especially as cost-per-thousand continues to drop. HP'S T300 offers high productivity at a breakthrough cost on inkjet-optimized coated and uncoated media. Kodak also offers super-enhanced inkjet image quality with its new Prosper 5000XLi Press, launched earlier this year (in February). The "i" stands for Intelligent Print System (IPS), a press-management technology that ensures the highest quality output. IPS is designed to process thousands of press inputs that measure imaging performance and detect variations. The technology combines inline video monitoring and advanced software controls to enable real-time adjustments that refine and optimize color quality. IPS tracks and evaluates pages, then makes adjustments, as needed, to the more than 100,000 inkjet nozzles in each system. "The Prosper Press Platform is a highperformance solution for a range of digital printing applications, such as direct marketing, commercial print, and publishing," says Will Mansfield, marketing director for Kodak's Inkjet Printing Solutions. "The high speeds and large volumes these presses offer make it more important than ever to ensure the highest performance and quality throughout the print run. Automatic monitoring and on-the-fly adjustment of printing parameters do just that—enabling PROSPER S30 Imprinting System Ofering the highest speed in the industry at 3,000 fpm, Kodak's PROSPER S30 Imprinting System delivers 600x200 dpi output and gives web and sheetfed ofset printers a high performance choice for hybrid printing applications such as direct mail, inserts, gaming, advertising, package labeling, and more. Inkjet printing inline with ofset printing delivers a number of signifcant benefts, including faster job turnaround time, lower costs, and higher productivity for highvolume imprinting applications when compared to sheetfed laser printing. The typical production process may involve printing direct mail shells on an ofset press, letting the shells dry, and imprinting them on a laser printer. Hybrid printing eliminates drying time and enables imprinting on the sheets as they pass through the ofset press, saving up to two days in production time. The PROSPER S-Series Imprinting Systems include the S5, S10, S20, and S30, available in black or CMYK confgurations delivering up to 600x600 dpi output at speeds ranging from 500 fpm to 3,000 fpm. MyPRINTResource.com/10771977 www.MyPRINTResource.com AUGUST 2013 • INKJET'S AGE 9