Visitors to drupa 2004 had the first chance to see HP Indigo in action, and will not have been disappointed as the company launched two new presses, two new inkjet printers, and a quartet of new large format inkjet media. HP also announced an alliance with desktop publishing provider Quark. In its presentations the company spent the first half focusing on its claim that digital printing was now a proven growing business, which it claimed was growing at 33 per cent annually. According to HP Indigo, 78 per cent of all four colour jobs are already in run lengths of less than 5,000, and 33 per cent will be produced with a 24 hour period by next year, figures the company says mean that digital colour printing is set for substantial growth.
For mid to large size printers HP Indigo has launched the HP Indigo 5000. Capable of printing 4000 full colour A4 pages an hour, the 5000 is the first new press developed by HP and Indigo, in fact development was in place before the acquisition. The company says the device features innovations in paper handling, inking systems and production software. It has a new digital front end, HP Press Production Manager. It is a seven-colour press, which can print both spot and Pantone colours.
The second new press is the HP Indigo 3050, aimed at giving medium to large sized printers an entry-level route to digital production. It uses the Indigo liquid ink technology, prints in seven colours, and has an improved paper path over its predecessor the 3000, the new paper path provides better handling of lower grammage papers.
The exhibition was the first opportunity for HP Indigo to exhibit its two new large format inkjet printers, the Designjet 30 and 130. Both are six colour printers, aimed at the proofing market, which the company says deliver photo quality images at up to 2400dpi. They also boast inks that will not fade for 70 years, developed according to HP because that is what the market wants.
New media specially developed for the Designjet 30 and 130 included Premium Plus Photo and Proofing Gloss, Premium Plus Photo Satin and Photo Matte, which HP says deliver consistency and stability, together with photo realism.
