PALO ALTO, Calif. – HP today announced that Atlanta-based ProGraphics Communications has installed a six-color HP Indigo press 5500  to address customer demand for offset-quality digital printing.

The newly installed press enabled the print service provider to immediately generate new business from its customer base and offer a one-stop solution to targeted potential clients. ProGraphics Communications chose the HP Indigo press because it needed a digital printing solution that could provide a level of image quality and media compatibility comparable to what the company offers in its offset pressroom.

"HP's market-leading solutions, including support and business development capabilities, are key to helping our customers secure progressive and profitable opportunities in the commercial printing space," said Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager, Graphics Solutions Business – Americas, HP. "The HP Indigo press 5500 delivers superior image quality and other features that allow firms like ProGraphics Communications to grow their businesses without compromise."

Winning a greater share of clients' work
Known for its attention to detail in offset printing, ProGraphics Communications was sometimes excluded from its clients' short-run and variable-data opportunities because it had a limited digital production offering. After completing a thorough review of high-volume digital color solutions from various manufacturers, ProGraphics executives determined the HP Indigo press 5500 best addressed client quality and consistency needs that once inhibited digital revenue growth.

"The advantage that comes with the press using a liquid electrophotographic ink instead of dry toner is significant," said John Pope, President, ProGraphics Communications. "We could see there was an opportunity to grow our business with a consistent high-quality digital solution, and now the HP Indigo press 5500 is allowing us to win more work."

Since installing the press, the company has received a number of additional opportunities from current and new clients. Within the first two weeks of owning the press, ProGraphics Communications won a job to produce personalized employee benefit booklets for one of its existing customers, a local bank.

Capturing digital print momentum in the commercial printing space
According to Martin Kendall, ProGraphics Communications' Vice President, the booklet is an example of a job the company could not have printed without the HP Indigo solution.

"We have experience with digital and variable-data, and it is a fast-growing part of the commercial printing industry," Kendall said. "The HP Indigo press 5500 helps ProGraphics Communications win even more digital printing work from customers who demand nothing less than true offset quality."

Designed for the production of marketing collateral, direct mail, photo merchandise products, books and manuals, the HP Indigo press 5500 supports an extended range of media – including recycled, FSC- certified and SFI-certified papers – and prints in resolutions up to 1,219 dots per inch (dpi).

The press offers a wide color gamut, with 4-, 6- or 7-color PANTONE-licensed emulation including Pantone Goe, as well as off-press mixing of true spot colors. In addition, the HP Indigo press 5500 incorporates HP DreamColor Technologies, a certified system of color technologies and sciences that makes it easy to produce accurate, predictable and consistent color across a series of digital color devices.