HP Offers Pre-Drupa Peek

At a pre-Drupa press event last month in Tel Aviv, Israel, Hewlett Packard unveiled several new technologies. In the spotlight were its Ink-jet Web Press, Latex Inks, SmartStream Digital Workflow Portfolio and three new Indigo digital presses. All will debut at Drupa.

Causing quite a stir among the new products was the 30˝ HP Ink-jet Web Press—reportedly the world’s first 30˝ digital ink-jet web press designed for high-volume production of books, transpromo mail, direct marketing materials and newspapers. The new web press, which prints at 600 dpi at speeds up to 400 fpm, will be available in the summer of 2009.

However, it was Indigo that took center stage at the four-day event, with attendees witnessing firsthand the digital press’s diverse printing capabilities. Press kits, postcards, name badges, hotel key cards, wine bottle labels and even bongo drums—all printed and personalized on Indigo presses—illustrated Indigo’s reach across a range of printing substrates and applications.

Front and center was the new Indigo 7000, a cost-efficient digital press that produces photo-quality material at speeds of 120 ppm in four-color. The 7000 will be available in June.

Also new was the Indigo W7200, a commercial press designed for publishing, direct mail and transpromo applications. Next was the HP Indigo WS6000 label and packaging press that, according to HP, “offers twice the productivity of the HP Indigo ws45000 press.” Both the W7200 and WS6000 models are slated for availability in early 2009. All three new Indigo presses are the first to be built with a next-generation print engine using HP’s liquid electrophotographic process.

They will also be the first generation of machines to employ the new HP SmartStream Digital Workflow Portfolio—an open-environment technology designed to meet a range of applications and provide workflow management from job creation to fulfillment. The SmartStream digital workflow technology was introduced in conjunction with the new HP SmartStream Production Pro Print Server and HP SmartStream Production Plus Print Server, both powered by Creo.