Anaheim, Calif. – HP today announced that its retail publishing solutions and Indigo digital presses received six Digital Imaging Marketing Association (DIMA) honors at the PMA 2010 International Convention and Trade Show, including three DIMA Printer Shoot-Out Awards and three DIMA Innovative Digital Product Awards.

The 15th annual DIMA Digital Printer Shoot-Out Awards test manufacturers' digital printers, ink and media using a DIMA-supplied test file for evaluation and judging by a panel of experts. HP products receiving top honors include:

- The HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press in the "Dry Production Printers" category for electrophotographic devices printing 71+ ppm.

- The HP Indigo press 5500 in the "Dry Production Printers" category for electrophotographic devices printing 21-70 pages per minute (ppm). The HP Indigo press 5500 was the winner of this same category in 2007.

- The HP Photosmart ML 1000D Minilab printer was also originally recognized as the winner in the category "RA-4 Digital Printer, Digital Minilab, up to 12 includes wide," scoring higher than all silver halide systems in the category;  however, it was further deemed ineligible by DIMA for the award as it is a dry, inkjet minilab. The HP Photosmart ML1000D Minilab printer is the industry's first dry, inkjet minilab designed to drive retailer profitability by enabling in-store, one hour production of both traditional single-sided photo prints in an array of sizes and duplex photo book pages and calendars of the highest quality in a single machine. The printer also significantly frees up labor, saves energy and reduces chemical and water waste.

- The HP Photosmart ML 1000D Minilab printer was also originally recognized as a winner in the category "RA-4 Digital Printer, Digital Minilab, up to 12 inches wide," scoring higher than all silver halide systems that entered. Due to an error by DIMA organizers in entering the HP Photosmart ML 1000D Minilab printer into an RA-4 category, it was further deemed ineligible by DIMA. The HP Photosmart ML1000D Minilab printer is the industry's first dry, inkjet minilab designed to drive retailer profitability by enabling in-store, one hour production of both traditional single-sided photo prints in an array of sizes and duplex photo book pages and calendars of the highest quality in a single machine. The printer also significantly frees up labor, saves energy and reduces chemical and water waste.

Now in its 14th year, the DIMA Innovative Digital Product Awards recognize products or services using new technologies or applications that make the product either distinct or the first of its kind. HP received this prestigious award for three products:

- ARTtrust, a joint development between HP and Prooftag, helps photographers and artists maintain the authenticity of their work by providing individual identity to any HP Designjet Z series pigment print produced using HP Vivera Pigment inks on compatible media or paper.

- HP Photo Center 5 Premier, a versatile and scalable system that can be plugged into a retailer's existing lab infrastructure or serve as a complete solution. Offering high-quality, high-margin photo products – including photos, professional-looking photo books, calendars, greeting cards and posters – that consumers can create in-store in a one-hour service environment, the HP Photo Center 5 Premier also helps reduce photo department labor.

- The HP Instant Print Solution, a self-serve, front-of-counter system that lets consumers place orders for prints and creative products for pickup in minutes or at a later time using a secure order storage and release feature. The unattended system allows retailers to increase photo center traffic and revenue from high-margin products without dedicated labor.

"HP is honored to win these awards, as we're committed to providing customers with superior-quality products that serve their very different needs within the photo industry," said Glen Hopkins, vice president and general manager, Printing and Technology Platforms Research and Development, HP. "The entire photo community, including consumers, retailers, labs, portrait studios and professional photographers, benefits from HP continually raising its standards for quality, innovation and the overall customer experience."

HP quality on display in the DIMA Photo Book Showcase
HP photo books appear in the DIMA Photo Book Showcase at PMA 2010, a multivendor exhibit that gives show attendees the opportunity to make side-by-side evaluations of the different types and methods of photo book production.

This year's showcase includes photo books that consumers can create in the retail environment using the HP Photosmart ML1000D Minilab printer and HP Premium Photo Book Media; photo books available from Snapfish by HP; and HP Indigo customers' independently produced entries including:

- Elaine O'Neil and Julia Hess's "Mother Daughter: Posing as Ourselves," a book that the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Printing Applications Laboratory produced on its HP Indigo press 5500. The fine art professional photography title – the first to feature only gray and black spot-color HP ElectroInks in a four-color process setting – uses an RIT-developed imaging method to extend the tonal range of the authors' black-and-white photos.

- "Europe," a book of images by photographer and photo instructor Travis Gugelman. Photofinisher White House Custom Colour of Eagan, Minn., produced the book on its HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press.

Award-winning HP solutions are on display in HP booth 3120 at PMA 2010, Feb. 21-23 in the Anaheim Convention Center.