Captive continuous inkjet (CIJ) is a potentially disruptive inkjet technology recently developed in the Kodak Technology Center. The captive continuous inkjet technology is expected to deliver the best of both drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet and continuous inkjet (CIJ) technologies: high resolution, compact size, and low cost associated with traditional DOD technologies and the high throughput and high reliability of traditional CIJ technology. In this paper, we will provide a description of this new architecture, its function and why we believe it to be advantaged over both traditional CIJ and DOD technologies. We will discuss the key technology elements with details on the design, fabrication, and characterization of captive CIJ devices, including results from simulations and experimental studies.