BARCELONA, Spain – HP today announced the expansion of its large format portfolio to help technical design professionals to spearhead and enhance the value they bring to their customers. By leveraging HP's portfolio, technical design professionals can easily shift from cumbersome, hard copy-based project workflow to an intuitive flawless digital workflow solution, where print communication is more efficient, easily integrated and fully accessible.

The range of new workgroup printers, software solutions and media choices are designed to help technical firms that specialise in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), geographic information systems (GIS) applications, and mechanical computer-aided design to drive new business opportunities. Benefits include:

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      Three new additions to HP's line-up of large format printers – including the HP Designjet T1200, HP Designjet T770, and HP Designjet T620 Printer series – that offer an improved workflow experience.
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      Four enhanced software solutions designed to increase customer's productivity, reduce costs and deliver high-quality results to capture more business.
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      New and improved HP bond papers with ColorPRO Technology and HP Recycled Bond Paper, made of 100 percent recycled base paper.
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      An HP carbon footprint calculator utility that has been updated to support HP Designjet large format printers

"We recognise that digital information is essential to the way our customers work, from developing their ideas and winning bids to interacting with peers and clients," said Santiago Morera, vice president and general manager, HP Designjet. "At HP, we have transformed the way we look at the Design & Graphics industry to bring to market best-in-class products and solutions that enable our customers to collaborate, innovate, and achieve success while simplifying the way they manage and communicate beyond printing."

A simplified user experience with new large format printers

From winning bids and developing plans to interacting with peers and clients, digital information sharing is essential to the way AEC/GIS/CAD firms operate. A wide range of HP large format printers and multi-format devices now make it seamless to turn digital designs into documents and to digitize documents back into the design-and-make process again, helping shorten project cycles. HP devices are designed to minimise the number of manual operations and easily integrate into customers' workflow and are 3-D/BIM ready.

Additionally the latest printers from HP offer new features and deliver faster print speeds, a powerful in-printer processing architecture, while also delivering the thinnest lines in the industry with exact detail, crisp text, and clear and accurate drawings, enabling professionals in the architecture, engineering and GIS workgroups to make a real impact in their presentations and projects.    

Designed for medium-sized CAD and GIS workgroups, the new HP Designjet T1200 Printer series is like having two printers in one with new features and capabilities that enhance productivity and versatility, such as two online rolls with smart switching media length tracking and high-volume ink cartridges, including the new Original HP 726 Matte Black Ink Cartridge, to offer a continuous printing experience at speeds of two D-sized prints per minute. The double roll technology helps to flexibly manage the changing demands of customers according to the phases of different projects, radically reducing downtime and solving different printing needs.

"The new HP Designjet T1200 would be a great addition to any office. We have sent some of our largest, most problematic drawings to this system and it handles them without issue," said Randall Young, software quality assurance engineer, AutoCAD test development, AutoDesk. "With its multi-roll capability, you can have photo and regular bond papers ready to go at all times. You can also load the paper from the front, saving time and space."

Offering a 6-ink printing system with two HP Vivera blacks and a grey ink, this printing system achieves rich, dark blacks and detailed lines to produce highly accurate output that increases technical professionals' ability to communicate.

"The HP Designjet T1200 Printer offers the convenience of two printers in one, and saves us time and money," said Goncalo Santos Carvalho, senior architect and IT manager, Ideias do Futuro. "We've achieved exceptional photo quality and the two-roll option allows us to load two different types of media so there is no interruption to change media when one team is printing line drawings and another is printing renderings."

With the new HP Designjet T770 Printer Series, a reliable plug-and-play 44inch printer using HP Vivera inks, small teams will experience fast, easy CAD/GIS printing capabilities with an easily accessible top loading roll and expandable memory. With new features, including built-in networking for easy sharing, memory upgrades, and the ability to print without opening applications, users can put their energy into designing rather than focusing on printing.

"With 15 architects and draughtsmen working on a range of projects there can be no hold ups. Speed and reliability are extremely important when printing drawings and plans. We send CAD or PDF files and it starts printing immediately. The printer doesn't pause while printing and every single detail is sharp. I get my drawing in the time it takes to walk over to the printer," said architect Daniel Guerra at BAAS Jordi Badia architect studio in Barcelona, Spain.

The third addition in the portfolio, the HP Designjet T620 Printer has been designed specifically for small CAD and GIS workgroups. The device delivers truly professional results while also enabling small workgroups to do more in less time, with an easy set up, and easy sharing with a built-in networking, convenient batch printing, compatibility with the latest applications and operating systems, and Original HP Vivera inks and HP printing materials. Customers can have peace of mind and focus on their projects with this reliable printer.

Innovations beyond printing enable an end-to-end communication experience
HP is also announcing four enhanced software solutions that support the new HP Designjet T Printer series to increase productivity, reduce costs, and deliver high-quality results to help customers to capture more business:

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      Large format printing has never been so easy. HP has redefined convenience with HP Instant Printing Utility 3.0. Users now can print and preview a wide range of files, whether these are office documents (PDF, PPT), architectural or mechanical designs (HPGL2/PLT, DWF, PDF) or images (TIFF, JPEG).  And the new included plug-ins for MS Office 2007 brings large format printing within reach of any office user. The HP Instant Printing Utility offers the same easy experience to a range of HP Designjet printers, including the new HP Designjet T1200, T770 and T620 Printer series.
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      Serif PosterDesigner Pro for HP tailored for HP printers gives office users in small and medium businesses and enterprise and public sector environments, all the design power needed to achieve high-quality posters and banners. Now supporting the HP Designjet T1200 and T770 Printer series, the software solution is also available in German, French, and Spanish and supports borderless printing on the HP Designjet T1200 Printer series.
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      SCP Reprocontrol for HP is powerful software new for the HP Designjet T1200 Printer series that empowers production operators to flexibly automate, standardise and manage colour consistently within the production workflow. Quick preflight preparation reduces errors and results in less ink and paper waste. Print settings can be automated, mixed print jobs easily handled, and file submission and configurations managed remotely.
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      HP Designjet Accounting Tool now supports the HP Designjet T1200 and T770 Printer series, enabling users to remotely view and create a report of the advanced usage tracking information of the printer, making it easy for administrators to invoice departments, projects or clients for the correct amount of printer usage. Printers can automatically send usage reports via e-mail that customers can manage through the free tool.

Enhanced media quality with ColorPRO Technology
Papers with ColorPRO Technology perform to a strict set of quality specifications that define colour excellence and provide noticeably enhanced print quality compared to untreated bond papers.

The first ColorPRO Technology media includes HP Universal Bond Paper and HP Bright White Inkjet Paper, designed for use with HP Designjet large format printers. These papers use additives that interact with HP pigment inks. These additives treat the paper to provide precise control over ink behaviour at the paper surface. As the ink penetrates the paper, the colorant is immobilised at the surface, producing prints with sharper, finer detail and an extended range of colours, and providing professional quality and striking results at production speed.

A big step forward in reducing the carbon footprint of large format printing
HP, which has the industry's broadest portfolio of large format printers, is also announcing the expanded functionality of the HP Carbon Footprint Calculator to include the HP Designjet printer line-up. The calculator, which has been available for users of HP Inkjet and LaserJet office printers since May 2008, gives users the power to evaluate their energy consumption, paper use, carbon output and the associated monetary costs of their printing environment to understand how they can reduce their environmental impact through responsible printing.