Kodak has awarded the Sword iJET Gloss from Mitsubishi Paper Mills a 5 Diamond rating on the Paper Rating Programme for its Prosper inkjet web presses.

This is the highest rating within the programme. A 5 Diamond rating is awarded to a media that equates to ‘offset quality.’ MPM collaborated closely with Kodak in the USA and Japan to develop a product that meets the high rating.

Launched earlier this year, the Paper Rating Programme relies on the collection and analysis of quantifiable data to determine the performance characteristics of any substrate. Image quality is measured using a variety of factors to determine the final rating from one to five diamonds. This is intended to help the customer choose the most appropriate paper for the job. Fewer diamonds don’t indicate an inferior paper, just one that’s better suited to monochrome work such as books.

Sword iJET 4.3 Gloss is a premium, glossy media designed to run on high-speed continuous feed inkjet presses. In many applications, it does not require post printing lamination or liquid UV. It is FSC-certified and said to give ‘excellent ink adhesion, remarkable drying characteristics, universal ink compatibility, and a wide colour gamut,’ according to Mitsubishi.

‘We are very pleased with the performance of Sword iJET Gloss, and its 5 Diamond rating is a testament to the R&D and Manufacturing excellence at Mitsubishi,’ said Don Burns, Kodak’s Business Development Director for Media. ‘Their support for our direct mail customers using KODAK PROSPER Presses has been outstanding. The offset class image quality metrics achieved by this new gloss paper truly makes it a world-class inkjet paper.’

The Sword iJET Media will initially be available in a basis weight of 127.9 g/m2 in both gloss and matte surfaces. Future products with the gloss surface include heavier weights to meet the caliper specifications for mailers, reply cards, and other printed products, as well as common market thickness such as 104.7, 157 and 186 m2.

Contact: www.graphics.kodak.com and www.mpm.co.jp/eng