PALO ALTO, Calif., May 13, 2008 – HP today announced at the International Reprographic Association’s Annual Trade Show in Las Vegas the introduction of a certification program for the reprographics industry. This program will help to ensure optimal user performance and support the unique capabilities of the HP Designjet printer line-up spanning a wide range of large-format printing applications.  The certification initiative includes workflow and accounting solutions that will provide graphics professionals, print service providers and technical designers with enhanced compatibility and added confidence in the complete solution with assured levels of functionality and interoperability when they select one of the HP-certified third-party products.

“This new certification program builds upon HP’s continued commitment in developing specific programs that offer a first-class level of assured compatibility when they select a HP-certified product from leading providers,” said Patrick Hester, director, Large Format Printing, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “Today the four new solutions successfully passed the compatibility tests, demonstrating their commitment with HP to deliver a sound, intuitive printing experience.”

Today, two workflow applications have been certified by HP including Ratio Plotbase PM and SCP Reprocontrol.net.  The production workflow solutions are certified to support the HP Designjet 4000 and 4500 Printer series, and are designed to meet essential performance and image quality expectations of the HP Designjet printers, to provide additional advanced job editing and print management capabilities.

In addition, HP has certified two accounting and job tracking software applications that support the HP Designjet T1100 Printer, 4000 and 4500 Printer series and the Z Photo Printer series including Sepialine Argos Cost Recovery System and Technesis Print Control System with iBridge for HP Designjet. The certified partner applications provide advanced accounting features that enable job tracking, billing and usage data designed to work with the HP Designjet device.  Additionally, HP Designjet printers enable reprographers to optimize CAD and graphics color production departments with pay-per-use and facility management tools.

This certification program expands upon HP’s already extensive solution development program that provides third-party software developers access to hardware, Software Development Kits (SDKs) and additional resources to assist in the creation of solutions compatible with HP large-format printers.
More information about the currently certified solutions can be found at: www.hp.com/go/designjet/solutions