Kodak opens up security printing for Nexpress with clear ink

The Red Fluorescing Dry Ink is clear to the naked eye, but becomes red fluorescing when illuminated with an appropriate UV light.

It can be used to print invisible images and non-reproducible barcodes, which can only be read with specialised barcode readers. This opens the Nexpress range up to the production of certified documents, such as medical prescription pads, drivers' licenses and event tickets.

The ink can also be used with variable data printing, allowing each piece of print to be encoded with unique information.

Steve Fletcher, general manager of Electrophotographic Printing Solutions at Kodak, said: "This innovative expansion of the Nexpress Fifth Imaging Unit Solutions allows digital print service providers to enter the lucrative and growing secure documents and 'track and trace' markets."

The ink, which was developed in collaboration with barcode technology company InData Systems, is now available throughout Australia and New Zealand.

It joins Kodak's Dimensional Coating, which is also loaded into the fifth unit and raises the image, offering textured digital print.

Meanwhile, Eastman Kodak has been named by a US financial analyst as the public company most likely to be targeted by private equity firms in the near future.

The list, compiled by Standard & Poor's Market, Credit and Risk Strategies group, selected companies based on particularly low ratios between their market value and their earnings.

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