HP road shows for latex printing

Printing industry is becoming increasingly aware of the need of green printing solutions. Companies are also demanding that the industry be more responsible with the materials and inks they use. Amongst the companies driving their brand image by promoting the environment, HP goes one step ahead and launches HP Designjet L65500 printer. RITU GOYAL HARISH from SIGN & GRAPHICS gives a brief account of the company’s journey towards the eco-friendly front.

Sudhir Phalke of SuAn Digital Images 
Launched in 2008, HP Designjet L65500 is the first printer to feature HP latex printing technologies and an example—along with the company’s low-solvent and UV-curable technologies—of the solutions the company is bringing to the signage market to reduce the environmental impact of printing.

HP recently launched the printer in Pune with much fanfare and four companies were sold the machine, making Pune the ‘Capital of Latex Technology’. Through the company’s official business partner, Pune-based company Global5Technologies headed by Prashant Khomne, HP showcased the multi-faceted printer at a series of road shows conducted in the city recently.

HP Designjet L65500 
SuAn Digital Images and Vista Kolour were amongst the new Latex acquirers. Speaking on the occasion, Santosh Nair, regional sales manager, HP mentioned, “The Latex provides durable, odourless prints, sharp image quality, enabling print service providers to increase their print capacity and grow their businesses while reducing the environmental impact of their printing.”

The 104-inch HP Designjet L65500 printer offers print service providers a versatile system that can produce a broad range of applications on a wide range of materials including most low-cost, uncoated, solvent-compatible media.

Future of super-wide format
Punit Chaddha 

Introduction of this breakthrough technology that comes neatly packaged in a machine of almost eight feet in length offers water-based eco-friendly printing by drastically altering the impact on environment. “HP Latex is the future of super-wide printing and is going to provide explosive growth to the customers. Also with organisations today becoming more and more environment conscious, a breakthrough technology like this is the need of the hour,” emphasised Puneet Chadha, director, Graphic Solutions Business, Imaging & Printing Group, HP India at a recent press conference in Pune.

Apprising the gathered crowd on the market potential through a presentation, Chadha reiterated the need to digital as opposed to analog for environment purposes by highlighting the sheer volume of printing in the years to come. “By 2010, worldwide, there will be a market of 57 trillion A4 pages, of which 86 percent will be graphic arts pages. At the moment, only six percent of these will be printed digitally,” he remarked.

Paresh Shetty, country business manager, Commercial and Industrial Large-Format Series, Imaging and Printing Group, HP India, led the audience through an interesting presentation of the machine’s operation. “The Latex technology prints can achieve outdoor permanence of up to three years un-laminated and are scratch, smudge and water resistant on a range of media. The ink life of Latex prints is up to 3 years un-laminated and 5 years with lamination on a range of media for indoor and up to 5 years in-window un-laminated, up to 10 years for laminated on a range of indoor media,” he added.

Applications of the Latex technology include wall murals, floor signages, building wraps and even signage on vehicles.