PALO ALTO, Calif., July 27, 2005 — HP today announced that AlphaGraphics Seattle has become the first AlphaGraphics location to adopt HP Indigo digital color printing technology. AlphaGraphics plans, prints and manages visual communications for business at nearly 300 owner-operated, locally based business center locations worldwide. Chuck Stempler, owner of the second-largest AlphaGraphics business center in the country, installed a 6 color HP Indigo press 3050 to meet increased market demand for full-color variable-data printing that can be produced quickly and cost-effectively. “HP’s unique liquid ink-based digital technology allows print service providers to expand into profitable higher-end applications such as personalized, versioned sales materials and brochures,” said Alon Bar-Shany, vice president, Indigo division, HP. “The acquisition of the versatile HP Indigo press 3050 by AlphaGraphics Seattle demonstrates their belief that HP Indigo is a vital part of their ongoing growth strategy.” Like other AlphaGraphics business centers, AlphaGraphics Seattle offers walk-up retail copy and print services, and also has outside sales representatives who focus on providing commercial printing solutions to local businesses. By offering the combination of offset quality and high-speed variable data printing unique to HP Indigo presses, the company can better serve customer requests for fast turnarounds of high-quality marketing materials. ‘Virtually Indistinguishable in Appearance to Offset’ When AlphaGraphics Seattle surpassed the 200,000 monthly impressions level in digital color, company executives decided it was time to enter the next level of digital color printing and began investigating a number of digital presses with the potential to handle their growing volume. “After extensive testing, we selected the HP Indigo because prints from the press are virtually indistinguishable in appearance to offset,” said Stempler. “Many of our spot-color offset customers want short-run four-color work, and the toner-based images that come from other presses are not acceptable to them.” The HP Indigo press 3050’s outstanding offset quality and substrate selection was closer to an offset-based DI press than other digital color presses they tested, and offers the added benefit of Pantone color-matching for corporate branding requirements. Thanks to its high-speed, short-run variable-data capabilities, AlphaGraphics Seattle can also integrate customer data for personalized brochures, letters, flyers, and more, in quantities as few as one. “We want to evolve our company to the next level,” Stempler said, “and this represents an opportunity to further penetrate the high-quality personalization market.” Designed for the most demanding production environments, the HP Indigo press 3050 offers rapid turnaround times even for high-volume printing, and uses unique HP ElectroInk liquid ink technology to deliver rich, vibrant color prints and high-definition imaging. A top performer in database-driven variable-data jobs where images and text change on every sheet, the HP Indigo press 3050 is available with optional five-, six- and seven-color inking stations.