ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Eastman Kodak Co. has introduced its new PYNK Smart Print System photo kiosks at 5,000 CVS/pharmacy stores nationwide.
The photo and imaging company said Thursday that the PYNK Smart Print System automatically measures, crops, arranges and prints photos to fit a frame, using proprietary Kodak technology that marries photos with "photo holders" — providing a turnkey print-to-fit solution
Kodak noted that the PYNK System solves the problems inherent in collage photo frame products, such as the time-consuming tasks of finding, cropping, printing and cutting perfectly sized photos to fit the predetermined shapes and sizes in multiphoto collage frames, and other photo holder products.
With the PYNK System, consumers simply select a PYNK Smart Print Ready frame or mat, type in the PYNK product ID number at the kiosk, and watch as the PYNK Smart Print is printed to fit the product. Photos are automatically cropped, sized, arranged and printed on one sheet to fit the frame or mat, in seconds. Simply slipping the printed sheet back into the matted frame finishes the job, according to the company.
After conducting successful trials of the PYNK system at CVS/pharmacy stores in Westchester County, N.Y., the system made its debut on Thursday at most CVS/pharmacy stores across the country, Kodak said, adding that the retailer’s customers will be offered a variety of collage frames, as well as mats that can be used in many existing frames.
"Consumers have always aspired to display beautiful collage frames in their homes, but the time and work involved didn’t make it easily possible. Now with the PYNK System, anyone can create stunning designer-quality framed collages in seconds," commented Nicoletta Zongrone, general manager of Retail Systems Solutions and vice president at Kodak.
"We believe this solution is game-changing for the frame industry because our research shows that there is potential for incremental frame sales as a result of making the framing process this easy," Zongrone added.
According to Kodak, the PYNK Smart Print system makes its easy-to-fill and refill mats and collage frames again and again because the products come with a unique Product ID card. Consumers simply bring the ID card back to the store and enter the product ID number into the PYNK-ready Kodak Picture Kiosk. The kiosk will know which frame or mat the consumer has at home and will lay out and print the pictures to match the layout.
