Inkjet & Digital Printing
HP Showcases Industry-leading Graphic Arts Solutions and New Product Offerings at Graph Expo
Monday 27. October 2008 - HP Indigo 7000, with 130 installations since drupa, featured alongside new large-format printers with advanced graphic arts technologies
HP is showcasing at Graph Expo a full range of highly productive solutions that make the company a leading provider in digital printing, which is one of the fastest growing parts of the global graphic arts industry.
With its broad portfolio of graphic arts products and solutions,including a new HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press that has had more than 130 installations since its drupa introduction, HP is helping print service providers (PSPs) grow their revenues and thrive in a changing economy.
HP comes to Graph Expo having avoided the so-called “drupa drought,” a year-over-year decline in orders that competing graphic arts technology vendors typically encounter in the quarter leading up to a drupa tradeshow. Despite weakening economies in many parts of the world, HP has experienced consistent year-over-year growth in revenues in its Graphics Solutions Business divisions for the first three completed quarters of fiscal year 2008.
“With 2008 being a drupa year, there are products offering new levels of profit potential coming to market, and HP has been among the most successful in terms of empowering customers with solutions that spur their growth,” said Michael Hoffmann, senior vice president, Graphics Solutions Business, HP. “The solutions and customer successes HP is demonstrating at Graph Expo explain why the company is obtaining these results.”
HP booth 1229 at Graph Expo includes numerous new technologies, including solutions from HPs drupa exhibit as well as a pair of offerings – HP Indigo Ink Mixing Software version 6.0 and the myhpipc.com partner portal – that are being presented for the first time at the tradeshow. Also, officials from HP Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions, which is responsible for developing the HP Inkjet Web Press, are announcing details on a new solution that will enable the press users to print on coated and uncoated media.
Top-quality print imaging for fine art applications
The HP booth at Graph Expo features work from two new art exhibitions produced using HP solutions. HP is collaborating with renowned wildlife and nature photographer Daniel J. Cox to present captivating imagery from his work with conservation group, Polar Bears International (PBI). The work being showcased includes fine art prints, posters, backlit displays, and photo books – all printed with HPs extensive graphic arts portfolio.
At the Graph Expo and PhotoPlus Expo tradeshows occurring this month, HP is featuring Coxs vibrant images printed on the HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer.
HP customer Finlay Printing of Bloomfield, Conn., has worked with the New York City-based GINA Gallery of International Naïve Art to produce the catalogue for the new exhibit “Winsome Days, Wondrous Nights: The Naïves of Argentina” on its HP Indigo press 5500. Catalogues from the exhibit, which opened on Oct. 24, are on display in the HP booth at Graph Expo.
Introducing the next generation of HP Indigo technology
For true offset-quality digital color production printing, HP will feature at its booth new HP Indigo press models that significantly increase the break-even point for costs against analog printing, including the HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press and the HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press.
The HP Indigo 7000 prints 120 high-quality, four-color, A4-size pages per minute and is designed for large numbers of static jobs with run lengths ranging from one copy into the thousands, as well as variable-data work requiring the “every page is different” capabilities of digital. During the end-of-year peak season, customers are projected to print approximately 300 million impressions per month on their HP Indigo 7000 presses.
Customers already using the HP Indigo 7000 include leading PSPs and photo specialty firms, including European firms CeWe Color AG, Photobox and Elanders Group subsidiary Sommer Corporate Media, as well as U.S.-based firms Consolidated Graphics, White House Custom Colour, Tabs Direct and RT Associates.
“The challenge presented to us was to find a technology solution to respond to Tabs Directs clients emerging and evolving variable data requirements,” said Troy Bullock, vice president of Business Development and Digital Media at Tabs Direct, a firm with locations in Dallas and Houston that has purchased two HP Indigo 7000 presses. “We carefully evaluated current and emerging print technologies and determined that HP provides us with the best competitive offering.”
The new HP Indigo WS6000 on display in the HP booth offers twice the productivity of the successful HP Indigo press ws4500 and is targeted at label and packaging converters with significant volumes of medium- and short-run jobs. The new HP Indigo Ink Mixing System software version 6.0, which is being shown for the first time ever at Graph Expo, now supports spot-color creation of more than 2,000 licensed PANTONE Goe colors in addition to more than 1,000 licensed colors from the Pantone Matching System.
HP also is showing its flagship HP Indigo press 5500, which has been enhanced to include an in-line connection to the HP UV Coater and additional feeder and support for thicker substrates for point-of-sale graphics and folding carton production.
HP also will present a full range of HP SmartStream workflow and print server solutions, including HP SmartStream Director, an integrated and open workflow solution developed through a new original equipment manufacturer (OEM) relationship with business flow automation technology provider Press-sense. HP SmartStream Director offers an integrated production framework for managing jobs – from online submission through printing and fulfillment – based on Press-senses new iWay version 5.0 and integrating HP- developed software as well as other third-party solutions. With new HP Indigo Print Care shown at Graph Expo, customers can gain remarkable uptime and virtually continuous printing. The offering, which has been deployed on all HP Indigo 7000 installations, provides proactive diagnostic and print-quality assistance tools, backed by live HP service center support, to help ensure quick and accurate detection and resolution of printing problems. Additionally, the new version of HP Indigo Ink Mixing System software ensures HP Indigo customers can create and print with more than 2,000 licensed spot colors from the Pantone Goe library and more than 1,000 licensed spot colors from the Pantone Matching System.
More solutions for digital large-format printing than any other company
Among HPs many large-format solutions, the company will highlight the new HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer – a professional photography solution that allows creative professionals and PSPs to produce gallery-quality black-and- white and color prints, photographs, art enlargements, digital designs and high-accuracy proofs with 12 HP Vivera pigment inks and a new HP 73 Chromatic Red. This new printer supports more than 50 Original HP large-format printing materials, including the new HP Baryte Satin Art Paper.
In January, HP will begin selling another new product shown in the booth, the HP Designjet L65500 Printer. This 104-inch-wide printer is the first of a new category of large-format, signage printers with HP Latex Inks, the breakthrough solution that provides many of the benefits of mild-low solvent-ink technology without imposing the typical environmental, health and safety considerations. Prints produced with HP Latex Inks are odorless(4) and emit extremely low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). No special ventilation is required,(5) facilitating an improved printing environment. HP Latex Inks are not classified as hazardous waste(6) and are non-flammable and non-combustible.
Also on display at Graph Expo, the HP Scitex FB950 Printer is a robust flatbed UV printer that delivers high-quality prints and high productivity on virtually any rigid or flexible media for the production of durable outdoor and indoor applications, including POP/POS signage, tradeshow graphics, interior decorations, banners and street furniture. Designed to increase productivity and profitability with efficient media loading and the ability to print multiple sheets at the same time, the HP Scitex FB950 Printer enables PSPs to accommodate a greater range of customer requests and grow their businesses. High-quality inks and printheads for variable-sized drops on the HP Scitex FB950 produce great image detail – up to 1,200 x 600 optimized dpi – and smooth color transitions across a wide variety of media. Advanced features for the HP Scitex FB950, such as an onboard camera, spectrophotometer, embedded software and a solid media feed system, ensure consistent results and worry-free operation.
Announced earlier this month at SGIA 08, the new HP Scitex FB7500 Printer features speeds of up to 5,380 ft2/hr (500 m2/hr) and three-quarter automated loading to reduce idle time between sheets by up to 85 percent,(7) and it delivers the highest productivity of digital flatbed printers in its price class.(8) An ideal solution for close-view applications, the HP Scitex FB7500 Printer is built on the proven HP Scitex TJ Series printing platform and offers the added benefit of HP Scitex X2 Printhead technology, which combines silicon-based microelectromechanical systems technology and innovative piezoelectric inkjet technology.
Tools, training and programs for profitable growth
Customers who have HP solutions also have access to one of the industrys most comprehensive offerings of business development solutions in the recently expanded HP Graphic Arts Capture Business Success Program. Previously available exclusively to HP Indigo customers, the program now includes enhancements designed to support large-format signage and display customers. The program offers them access to a comprehensive set of business tools and resources – including market research, marketing templates and online resources – that can help them penetrate new market segments and achieve profitable growth.
In North America, the HP Graphic Arts Capture Business Success Program also includes HPs executive sponsorship of the Digital Solutions Co-operative (Dscoop) users group. Dscoops popular annual conference, which is one of the graphic arts industrysfastest-growing independent users group meetings, will take place Feb. 19-21, 2009, in Orlando, Fla., and will feature keynote presentations from acclaimed MVP NFL quarterback and broadcaster Joe Theismann and HP Imaging and Printing Group Executive Vice President Vyomesh Joshi.
Higher-volume, higher-value personalized and variable-data imaging
HP Specialty Printing Systems (SPS) is enabling its industrial OEM partners to establish an ink supplies revenue stream with a new 10-pack of the popular 45A thermal inkjet ink cartridges.
The 10-pack is designed to bring partners additional revenue growth with industry-leading Original HP Supplies used in variety of applications, including mail, transactional/transpromotional and product identification printing. End-users of the ink also will benefit from the quality and reliability of Original HP Supplies available in a more convenient package.
HP Specialty Printing Systems also is showing its technology demonstration of a four-color (CMYK) Scalable Printing Technology-based imager for the mail printing market, which works in tandem with several solutions from HP partner firms Pitney Bowes and MCS. Designed to image envelopes in turnkey mail-printing environments, this comprehensive solution increases the envelopes stopping power in mail campaigns and is designed to ensure a perfect match between the personalized envelopes and personalized letters and statements printed on other digital devices.
HP Dialogue and Dialogue Live
HPs booth at Graph Expo also will feature enterprise document automation solutions from the former Exstream Software, a company HP acquired earlier this year. The Exstream Dialogue and Dialogue Live products obtained in the acquisition are now HP Dialogue and Dialogue Live. HP Dialogue and Dialogue Live offer enterprise companies a comprehensive software platform to build and deploy all high- volume, on-demand and interactive document applications, resulting in an expected increase in revenue for businesses. The products fit into existing IT infrastructures through their comprehensive connector technology and open architecture, allowing companies to streamline complex document processes producing more effective and timely communications. At Graph Expo, HP is launching the HP Indigo Partner Center, a
new website that serves as a central point for information on HP Indigo partners and partnering programs. Accessible at www.myhpipc.com, the HP Indigo Partner Center is the central place for information about partner solutions compatible with HP Indigo presses. HP will have more than 15 partners at its booth, including providers of prepress and finishing solutions designed to work with HP Indigo presses and the HP Inkjet Web Press.
Coated media compatibility for the HP Inkjet Web Press
HP also is planning to significantly expand the addressable market for the Inkjet Web Press with the development of a new solution for coated media that enables production at high speeds. The coating technology will enable users to print on uncoated and coated media, advancing HPs goal of providing great print quality, leading productivity and breakthrough economics in high-volume printing.
To better ensure high levels of success for customers of the Inkjet Web Press, HP has initiated a beta program for early installation. Los Angeles-based ONeil Data Systems is scheduled to receive the first HP Inkjet Web Press beta unit in December 2008. The press is expected to be commercially available in the latter half of 2009.
To support customers acquisition of the latest printing solutions, HP Financial Services, HPs leasing and financing subsidiary, will provide Graph Expo attendees with special promotional pricing.