Palo Alto, CA—HP Inc. debuted its DesignJet Z printer series at FESPA Global Print Expo. The “innovative large-format technologies offer amazing image quality and fast, simple output for print service providers (PSPs), retailers and creatives to deliver beautiful photos, impactful graphics and technical applications,” HP announced. The line includes the DesignJet Z6 and Z9+ printer series.
The market for large photo merchandising grew 7% in 2017, according to InfoTrends, with nearly 1.3 trillion photos taken in the same year. As a result, HP believes the demand for simplicity and unrivaled photo quality is growing. And this demand is fueling the need for printing solutions that remove bottlenecks and increase time savings.
The HP DesignJet Z6 and Z9+ printer series is designed to maximize printing performance for photo output. By tightly integrating the materials, hardware and software together, the printers provide photo quality output and print permanence. They also do so with fewer inks to simplify manageability and reduce costs.
In addition, select models feature a new vertical trimmer. Moreover, the printers offer other technologies for rapid high-quality production from professional photo-quality prints to signage. According to HP, the result is 2.5x faster printing with postproduction being 20% faster.
“The new DesignJet Z printer series radically enhances the customer experience and reinvents printing possibilities for both professional photo and signage to ignite business growth and adapt to future needs,” said Guayente Sanmartin, general manager and global head of HP Large-Format Design Printing, HP Inc.
“We thoughtfully designed the new printers to deliver impressive photo quality without compromising time resources and output speeds with the new vertical trimmer and innovative color technologies.”
DesignJet Z6 & Z9+ Features
The two HP DesignJet Z printers, both available in 24- and 44-inch formats, are built to give PSPs a competitive edge by enabling fast printing. The HP DesignJet Z6 and Z9+ also offer an onboard vertical trimmer option for more efficient production.
Furthermore, a new color technology, HP Pixel Control, for the first time manages colors in a digital way. Also, for print service providers who rely on professional photographic quality prints, the HP DesignJet Z9+ printer allows for a range of graphics and technical applications.
The DesignJet Z6 printer series is built for Geographical Information Systems (GIS) creators and users, PSPs as well as retailers who require a simple solution for technical and graphics applications with water and fade resistance. The printer series can handle the most complex files with processing architectures and the Adobe PDF print engine.
In addition, using pigment HP Vivid photo inks, the printers provide water-resistant, fade-resistant prints for long-term indoor display and, when printed on water-resistant media, for outdoor display. Other specific technologies and features include the following.
HP Pixel Control
This technology delivers true-to-color prints and an expanded color gamut with RGB HP Vivid photo inks. They feature chromatic red, chromatic green and chromatic blue. With an i1 embedded spectrophotometer, HP Pixel Control is a digital color pipeline created for consistent image quality that is delivered by controlling every print-ready pixel, HP noted.
Combining HP HDNA with HP Pixel Control, the system uses nine inks versus 12 compared to the previous generation HP DesignJet. The new printers also offer HP Professional Pantone Emulation to match brand identity colors.
Dual Drop Technology
This technology produces prints with clear details and high-contrast color. HP Nozzle Architecture (HDNA) and high-definition printheads power this technology. The HP DesignJet Z9+ also has an upgradable configuration for higher gloss output.
Tools to Create
To simplify large-format printing, HP redesigned its poster application in the HP Applications Center. It also includes Adobe Stock, Unsplash, Vecteezy and Pattern Design, to offer customers the tools for creating original signs and posters. The HP Applications Center also embeds augmented reality (AR) technology.
HP PrintOS
In addition, operators can remotely manage the print production environment from anywhere at any time with HP PrintOS now offered on the HP DesignJet Z printer series.
HP DesignJet Z6x10 Printers
HP also announced enhanced HP DesignJet Z6x10 printers for a better user and output experience. Boasting a refreshed design, these printers have new labeling that indicates the printer colors to simplify ease of use.
The printers have new printheads and chromatic red ink formulation to deliver sharper detail and more precise line quality. Moreover, they include optimized fast and normal print modes for heavyweight coated, polypropylene and canvas to speed up production. In addition, they will have 500GB HDD with more virtual memory to process complex and graphic intensive prints.
New HP Media
Furthermore, HP now offers a wider variety of media. HP recycled satin canvas is a 17.4 mil (443 micron), 370gsm crack-resistant canvas for HP aqueous inks. It is made from 100% recycled water bottles.
Plus, HP Everyday Blockout display film has a unique construction of three layers of polypropylene, polyester and polypropylene film. This gives it added suppleness and lay-flat properties. Compared to 100% polyester, this film is thicker. It also costs less and has a coating for dual ink technology.
The HP DesignJet Z6, Z6x10 and Z9+ large-format photo printers will be available June 1, 2018. The 44-inch HP DesignJet Z6 and Z9+ with dual roll and a vertical trimmer ship July 1, 2018.
