HP Indigo and Vistaprint® collaborate to perfect cloud-based color control

HP PrintOS Color Beat has received the prestigious 2019 InterTech™ Technology Award for delivering automated color control based on HP Indigo digital press cloud connectivity. PrintOS Color Beat was recognized for its ability to automatically monitor and drive color excellence across fleets of HP Indigo 12000 digital presses, while keeping to Vistaprint’s stringent color standards.

The award from the independent judging of Printing Industries of America (PIA), the world’s largest graphic arts trade association, recognizes technologies that are transforming the graphics communications space.

HP PrintOS Color Beat automatically monitors and captures the color status of HP Indigo presses using the on-press spectrophotometer. It was developed by HP to transform a once time-consuming, manual measurement process into a fully automated, cloud-connected color monitoring and management solution.

“The judges recognized that effectively using the model of distributing files and printing them anywhere requires innovative technology like Color Beat,” said Jim Workman, vice president of PIA’s Center for Technology and Research. “It helps ensure that color will be consistent regardless of where it is produced.”

Color Beat was refined and perfected through collaboration between HP Indigo with Vistaprint.

“HP PrintOS Color Beat will help HP and its customers transform print into a more productive, profitable industry,” said Alon Bar-Shany, general manager, HP Indigo. “Over the last decade, the printing industry has become highly competitive. To attract and retain customers, printing companies must become increasingly efficient in all processes. One of the most important processes is color control. Color Beat is everything offline color process control systems are not: automatic, consistent, and fast. We are honored by the PIA recognition.”

The ability to match color across all devices has become a strategy for differentiation and is a unique selling point, especially to brands.

“Vistaprint’s collaboration with HP Indigo was to perfect a solution for an automatic, consistent, and faster method for color process control,” Vistaprint Quality Engineer Frank Polanco said. “Using automation features of HP PrintOS Color Beat for color on all presses was a major milestone for us. We have regained precious press operator time and are reaping the rewards of consistent and accurate color measurements.”

Key benefits of Color Beat include:

• Accurate and repeatable results with little or no dependency on operator skill.
• Fully configurable and customizable per customer specific color preferences for a wide range of substrates.
• Low cost of ownership. Color Beat is based on a relatively low-cost, monthly subscription.
• Improves overall quality control of the fleet: Color Beat customers can increase the frequency of the color control checks from once a shift to every hour or even more.