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HP Premieres World's First Postcard-to-Billboard Digital Graphic Arts Portfolio at Sundance Film Festival

Press release from the issuing company

SALT LAKE CITY--Jan. 25, 2006-- HP today is demonstrating the company's most comprehensive digital graphic arts portfolio for printing everything from color postcards to large, outdoor banners, here and in Park City, Utah, at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The recently expanded lineup, which now covers virtually all wide-format market requirements, enables print service providers to serve as one-stop digital print shops. Using HP equipment, they can create output from personalized direct mail pieces and high-end fine art reproduction to point-of-sale posters and super-wide billboards. In fact, HP-equipped print service providers are producing a wide variety of high-impact graphics for the Sundance Festival. By using HP systems, they can offer customers small- to grand-format graphic applications with consistently high image quality and predictable color reproduction. The festival marks the first demonstration of the new HP Designjet 8000s and 9000s Printer series that target the low-solvent, large-format digital printing market, which is estimated to grow at a compound annual rate of 27 percent from 2004 to 2009.(1) The first products developed with HP partner Seiko I Infotech, the HP Designjet 8000s and 9000s Printer series are designed for the on-demand production of banners, window graphics, vehicle graphics and decals by print service providers and sign shops. Both printer series feature a new six-color, low-solvent printing system that produces a wide variety of durable outdoor signs quickly and economically using new outdoor media from HP. "The shift to digital technology is driving the greatest growth in the graphics printing market, representing a $10 billion market opportunity for HP," said Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. "HP is the company best positioned to leverage this opportunity by offering print service providers a complete portfolio of digital printing solutions supported by shared color management technologies." A demonstration for independents At the Sundance Film Festival, the premier showcase for independent film, HP is debuting its extensive graphic arts portfolio by creating a real-world panorama of print communications throughout the event. As this year's Official Provider of Graphic Arts, HP printed and produced much of the festival's marketing collateral and signage on HP Indigo, HP Designjet and HP Scitex (formerly Scitex Vision) products. The display showcases the breadth of the portfolio by featuring a selection of small-format print collateral along with high-profile, large-format items such as window signs, event banners, exterior flags and light pole banners. "HP has provided us with another way to expand our reach and the impact of our festival identity," said Kelly Schaefer, Sundance Festival manager, Graphic Design. "The range of printing solutions provided by HP has inspired us to push our creative boundaries. With access to their premium large-format printers, we were able to visualize and invent our thoughts by bringing the elements within our environmental graphics system to life." Printers and presses, choice and confidence Leveraging its leadership in multiple printing disciplines, HP helps customers achieve consistent, high-quality images and accurate color reproduction across various graphic applications and formats using shared color management technologies. HP CMYK Plus is available for HP Designjet printers and HP Indigo presses to produce output with rich hues and vibrant tones that rival analog prints. To save the time required in fine-tuning graphic files for each printer, HP Designjet and HP Indigo products include AutoPANTONE, which assigns PANTONE color names to graphical design elements. This enables a single graphics file to feed different HP printers and presses with consistent, predictable results. Focused on high-quality output and versatility to meet a diverse range of customer needs, the HP graphics arts portfolio features: * A broad array of digital printing systems, such as HP Indigo presses for commercial printing, labels and packaging; HP Designjet printers for large-format printing of fine arts, photography, graphic design/prepress and outdoor signage markets; HP Scitex super-wide-format printers for indoor and outdoor applications; and HP Specialty Printing Systems inkjet imaging products for variable data printing applications; * Industry-leading inks for each application: HP's new low-solvent inks for vivid, durable color posters and banners; HP ElectroInk for excellent PANTONE color matching and premium color quality on HP Indigo presses; and HP Vivera inks for precise and long-lasting photo reproduction; * A strong partner network, including prepress, workflow and finishing solutions, that works seamlessly with HP digital solutions to offer an excellent customer experience; * An extensive selection of quality media, including HP Premium and HP Indigo printing papers, photographic papers, litho-quality media, new outdoor signage materials, and metallics. More information on the HP graphic arts portfolio is available in an online press kit at www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2006/graphicarts/.