Introduction
Since the introduction of full color printing presses decades ago, the demand for color documents has been steadily growing. At first, color printing was reserved for only the most important documents where the high cost of color was justified. As printing technologies advanced and full color printing capabilities were added to the typical office environment, more and more documents were printed in color. However, a large portion of the documents were still being printed daily were in black and white, it being the faster and more  cost effective alternative. People have always wanted to print their documents in color, but speed and cost considerations have limited their ability to add color to documents.

This white paper describes the traditional color printing technologies and the types of output they generally produce, and also introduces an emerging market segment spurred by the availability of a fast, low-cost color printing technology from RISO.

The Importance of Color
Research clearly indicates that color has tremendous power to add impact to communications, boosting recall and influencing opinion. Studies done by Pantone® and the internationally recognized Pantone Color Institute® indicate that “consumers are up to 78% more likely to remember a word or phrase printed in color than in black and white.” Further to this, “when color is combined with the written word, it impacts readers with the triple whammy of greater recall, recognition and attention.” Other research backs up these findings.   study by InfoTrends discovered that full-color variable data documents also enhanced customer loyalty and retention, generating 34 percent faster response rates, a 48 percent increase in repeat orders, and a 32 percent increase in overall revenues.