HP used its Indigo customer event in Tel Aviv on 12 February to announce that it had reached the 1000 unit milestone for its series 4 (75cm wide) digital presses, with the confirmation of the installation of a B2 Indigo 12000 HD press at Ryan Printing in New York. New varieties of ElectroInk and SmartStream Production Pro workflow software were also announced.
‘Supplying 1000 presses to customers in 65 countries is an exciting milestone. The introduction of the HP Indigo B2 platform at drupa 2012 set the stage for a massive disruption in printing, prompting print service providers to reevaluate their businesses,’ said Alon Bar-Shany, general manager, HP Indigo. ‘Today, adopters of HP Indigo technologies are enjoying double-digit growth thanks to their relentless drive to innovate and print different [sic].‘
The Indigo 12000 has reached 50 installations worldwide, including the recent purchase of five units by Smartpress. The 75cm wide Series 4 platform also includes the oversized B1 Indigo 50000 for commercial and photo printing, Indigo 20000 for labels and flexible packaging and the Indigo 30000 for folding cartons.
HP also announced the introduction of ElectroInk Easy Release, which it says is the first digital solution for scratch-off applications such as lottery cards, and confirmed that its metallic silver liquid toner is now in customer testing in Spain. A high opacity white for the Indigo 7900 has been launched and the same is now commercially available for the Indigo 20000.
A new DFE version, SMartStream Production Pro v7.1, was also announced, which HP said supports a fully automated workflow for preparing increased numbers of jobs more quickly, automating prepress and incorporating a ‘super-fast’ pixel-level viewer for artwork inspection.
