HP Launches Printers Network

HP announced the launch of the HP Creative Printers Network to provide an online forum for professional labs and print service providers (PSPs) serving the creative segment and their customers.

The association, open to HP Indigo-equipped PSPs addressing the creative market, will offer both marketing support and know-how training exclusively to the members.

The HP Creative Printers Network also makes it possible for publishers, organizations and self-publishing end-users to find information on HP Indigo owners who produce six-color, premium-quality digital printing and fine, sewn bindings for their books. Using a web-to-print interface, books created with standard professional graphic design software can be sent as PDF files to printers for production.

"My Premium Book" (www.mypremiumbook.com) is the first business tool available for this new association and can be leveraged by members for marketing and selling high quality, digitally printed art books, catalogs, manuals and other books. My Premium Book's resources help users locate the most suitable services for their production requirements.

With book production runs falling at the same time that the number of published titles is rising, digital book printing is a fast and cost-effective way to bring books to market. The ability of HP Indigo digital presses to print on a wide variety of substrates means that publishers and book designers can specify coated and uncoated papers of their choice. Book durability is no longer a concern, either: tests carried out by Wilhelm Imaging Research have rated HP Indigo print on Felix Schöller E-Photo Paper for >200 years in Album/Dark storage conditions.

Beginning with the book publishing section of the network, HP is supporting its customers and helping them to leverage the growing demand in self-publishing. The self-publishing trend, already strong in the United States, is spreading to Europe. In France, "l'auto-edition" services, websites and web-to-print facilities are now a part of the publishing scene. Helping printing houses and professional labs capture business from this trend is one of the goals of the network.