PALO ALTO, Calif., June 25, 2009 – HP today announced that GLS Companies, an offset and digital print service provider (PSP), has strengthened and solidified its end-to-end production capabilities by becoming the first PSP to implement a new HP Indigo General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography (GRACoL®)-certified solution.

GRACoL, a proven specification for quality color printing that is managed by the printing industry organization IDEAlliance®, is widely recognized as a benchmark for proofing in North American sheetfed printing. The HP Indigo 5000, 5500 and 7000 digital presses are the only digital presses in the world certified to meet IDEAlliance’s exacting GRACoL testing criteria.

Developed in conjunction with graphic arts color software provider CGS, the HP Indigo GRACoL-certified solution uses CGS ORIS pearlDIGITAL™ 170 proofing paper, CGS ORIS Press Matcher Pro™ color management software, and the X-Rite iSis XL spectrophotometer.

“When HP and CGS pursued this important certification earlier this year, we knew it would offer a tremendous advantage to our customers,” said Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager, Americas Graphics Solutions Business, HP. “Together, we created a solution that leverages HP Indigo presses’ unrivaled quality, one that will help leading-edge customers like GLS maximize profit potential in digital and hybrid offset and digital production.”

The GRACoL solution gives PSPs the added convenience and confidence of using an HP Indigo digital press as a certified proofing device, and then using the same press for the actual production run. The press’s ability to meet GRACoL specifications also means a proof created on the press can be accurately and reliably used for digital production jobs, offset production jobs, or jobs that require production split between both printing methods.

GLS: Offering only the best in prepress, offset and digital

GLS Companies, a 25-year-old firm based in Brooklyn Park, Minn., installed its first HP Indigo press in 2002, based on the image quality the press’s liquid HP ElectroInk offers compared to dry toner. Company officials learned about the new certification when they attended the annual conference put on by HP’s graphic arts users group, the Digital Solutions Cooperative. GLS’s management quickly realized that the certification offered an important, differentiating, and marketable benefit for the company’s client base of Fortune 500 firms and other discerning print buyers.

“If you are not wowing your customer the first time you work with them, you’re not going to get a second chance,” said Gary Garner, GLS’s president and CEO. “For our clients’ sake, we do not compromise on color quality, so the ability to produce proofs on our HP Indigo press 5000 and use them as the reference for our clients and all of our press operators saves us time, enhances quality, and sets us apart.”

GLS built its reputation on offering the consistency and repeatability available through proven industry specifications. Meticulous about the production of high-quality print, the company incorporates GRACoL in its offset proofing environment, plus it meets IDEAlliance’s G7® grayscale calibration/ISO ink specification in its offset pressroom.

Trevor Haworth, president and CEO, CGS Publishing Technologies said, “CGS is committed to industry standards. Together with HP we have taken a leadership role providing a GRACoL-certified digital printing solution. The ability to produce GRACoL proofs on an HP Indigo press provides real advantages to owners of HP Indigo presses like GLS. ORIS Press Matcher Pro provides the added benefit of assuring consistent color on offset and digital presses once the proof is approved.”