Inkjet & Digital Printing

Grafitex Opens Digital Future with HP Indigo press 5000

Monday 21. April 2008 - High value commercial and photo-specialty products produced digitally

HP today announced that Grafitex Servicios Digitales, S.A., Barcelona, Spain, is using its HP Indigo press 5000 for the development of new digital services.

Grafitex exemplifies the digital transformation of the printing industry. Ten years ago, prepress accounted for more than 80 percent of its business, but today it is only 15 percent, with digital printing being the main component.

“There has been a clear shift in the market,” said Joan Ma Beltràn Novell, managing director, Grafitex Servicios Digitales. “Ten years ago, our customers were mainly designers and ad agencies. Today, we have many direct print buyers, decorating studios, architects, hotels, hospitals and other enterprises.”

“We have been able to carry out several big and unusual projects for well known car manufacturers,” Novell said. “One wanted personalised brochures, and another wanted an extended brochure featuring well know sports stars. With the HP Indigo press 5000, the job was done in two to three days.”

Building a photo-specialty business

Since acquiring its HP Indigo press 5000, Grafitex has established a new division, printernet, providing an online service for printing photobooks and postcards (www.printernet.es). Photobooks comprise a major growth market for print service providers and more than 70 percent of all photobooks are printed on HP Indigo digital presses. The company offers a range of binding solutions for photobooks and finishing is carried out in-house.

“For commercial work, we often use six colours plus varnishing,” said Novell. “Now with the photobook business, it is our intention to install the next generation of software so we can use the HP Indigo Light Cyan (LC) and Light Magenta (LM) inks.”

HP Indigo Light Cyan and Light Magenta (LC/LM) inks, when used with CMYK process HP ElectroInk, deliver significantly enhanced photo with smoother tone transition and saturated colours.

“Our company has always been growing. We think digital printing is 100 percent necessary, both for developing new products and responding to customer requirements,” said Novell.

A family run company, Grafitex was established in 1976 for carrying out photo-composition of text and pages for the publishing market. Since then, it has adapted and grown into a prepress and digital printing company, expanding into new high value markets.