PALO ALTO, Calif., March 26, 2008 – HP today announced that its digital graphic arts portfolio is creating a show-stopping array of printed materials in support of the first U.S. tour of South Africa's longest-running musical show, Richard Loring's African Footprint.  A collector's edition souvenir book, published by Great Circle Books, have been printed on demand with the HP Indigo press 5000 and updated with images captured at various tour stops. The outstanding print quality and color consistency of HP Designjet large-format printers, and HP Scitex super-wide-format printers are also capturing the show's vibrant color and stunning imagery. 

Through an HP sponsorship, these printed materials are colorfully promoting African Footprint's arrival to the U.S. The HP Scitex XL1500 is being used to produce outdoor signage, including 12 ft. x 16 ft. building banners, for the 20 theatres visited during the U.S. tour, while colorful, photographic-quality African Footprint posters are being produced on the HP Designjet Z3100 Photo Printer. Sales of the HP Indigo-printed souvenir books will help raise funds for the Nelson Mandela Foundation and other nonprofits that promote South African art and culture.

"We are proud to sponsor African Footprint and showcase our technologies in a context that communicates the troupe's bright, vibrant style to the American audience," said Rich Raimondi, vice president and general manager, U.S. Graphic Arts Organization, HP. "In today's market, the look organizations portray in their marketing collateral is often a consumer's first impression. We are pleased to extend African Footprint's vibrant style across a number of digital printing platforms."

Founded in 1999 by South African actor and producer Richard Loring, the troupe is a 30-person ethnically diverse group of South African musicians, dancers and choreographers. With its diversity, African Footprint presents an inherent message of co-existence and collaboration.  In addition to presenting this message through performances across the U.S., the troupe is also doing high school workshops, and had been photographing parts of its performances and workshops since arriving here last November.

"The quality of the images is key – the vibrancy of the colors, costumes and scenes that bring South Africa to life," said Corey Ross, a promoter for African Footprint's current tour.  "To be able to reproduce that with HP's print quality is critical." 

The HP Scitex XL1500 digital super-wide format printing system provides a comprehensive solution for virtually any large-format application and offers high-speed printing, consistent, high-quality performance, and additional features that enable greater sharpness and clarity, easy color switching, and vibrant, life-like color.  The 12-ink HP Designjet Z3100 Photo Printer is available in 24-inch and 44-inch models and offers breakthrough color consistency with an embedded spectrophotometer utilizing Eye-One Color Technology from X-Rite.

The HP Indigo press 5000 is designed for extremely demanding production environments. PANTONE licensed, it prints in up to seven colors, delivering offset quality on a wide range of substrates, and is supported by a complete range of specialized solutions partners. Both the HP Designjet Z3100 Photo Printer and the HP Indigo press 5000 incorporate HP DreamColor Technologies, a certified system of color technologies and sciences that make it easy to produce accurate, predictable and consistent color across a series of digital color devices.