BERLIN, Germany – May 15, 2018 – HP Inc. unveiled its new DesignJet Z Printer series at FESPA Global Print Expo to showcase innovative large-format technologies offering amazing image quality and fast, simple output for print service providers (PSPs), retailers and creatives to deliver beautiful photos, impactful graphics and technical applications.
The market for large photo merchandising grew 7% in 2017 with nearly 1.3 trillion photos taken in the same year. The demand for simplicity and unrivaled photo quality is growing, fueling the need for printing solutions that remove bottlenecks and increase time savings.
The new HP DesignJet Z6 and Z9+ Printer series is designed to easily maximize printing performance for amazing photo output. By tightly integrating the materials, hardware and software together, the new printers offer amazing photo quality and print permanence with fewer inks to simplify manageability and reduce costs. New vertical trimmer is featured on select models to optimize output in addition to other innovative technologies for rapid high-quality production from professional photo quality prints to retailer signage. The result is printing 2.5 times faster and post-production 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,” says Guayente Sanmartin, GM and Global Head, 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.”
HP DesignJet Z Printer series, both available in 24- and 44-inch formats, are built to give PSPs a competitive edge by enabling the fastest printing capabilities available on the market today. As an industry first, the HP DesignJet Z6 and Z9+ offer a premium option with onboard vertical trimmer for fast and efficient production. New color technology, HP Pixel Control, now for the first time manages colors in a truly digital way to help customers embrace new opportunities for color-rich and dynamic printing.
For print service providers who rely on amazing professional photographic quality prints, the HP DesignJet Z9+ printer allows for a broad range of graphics and technical applications.
The DesignJet Z6 Printer series is designed for Geographical Information Systems (GIS) creators and users, print service providers and retailers who require a simple to use solution for high-quality technical and graphics applications with water/fade resistance. The new print series is designed to handle even the most complex files with powerful processing architectures and the Adobe PDF Print Engine.
Specific technologies and features include:
- HP pixel control: Achieve true-to-color prints and an expanded color gamut with RGB HP Vivid Photo Inks, featuring chromatic red, chromatic green, and chromatic blue, the i1 embedded spectrophotometer and HP Pixel Control. HP Pixel Control is truly digital color pipeline designed for outstanding, consistent image quality delivered by controlling every print-ready pixel. Combining HP HDNA with HP Pixel Control, users get amazing image quality with just 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: Produce prints with clear details and high-contrast color with dual drop technology powered by HP Nozzle Architecture (HDNA) and high-definition printheads. The HP DesignJet Z9+ features an upgradable configuration for a higher gloss output.
- Tools to create: Simplify large-format printing with a redesigned poster application in the HP Applications Center, which also includes Adobe Stock, Unsplash, Vecteezy and Pattern Design, offers customers access to the necessary tools for creating beautiful, original signs and posters. The HP Applications Center also embeds augmented reality (AR) technology to ignite the creation of more meaningful and engaging content for print.
- Indoor and outdoor durability: Create prints with highly-stable pigment HP Vivid Photo Inks that provide water-resistant, fade-resistant prints8 for long-term indoor display and, when printed on suitable water-resistant media, outdoor display. HP Vivid Photo Inks gives PSPs the assurance that the prints they make for their customers will last as long as possible.
- Security: Take advantage of the industry’s most secure printers with HP Secure Boot, whitelisting, authentication solutions, and HP JetAdvantage Security manager to safeguard printers and data for enterprise and government.
- HP PrintOS: Remotely manage the print production environment from anywhere at any time with HP PrintOS now offered on the HP DesignJet Z Printer series.
HP is also announcing enhanced HP DesignJet Z6x10 Printers for a better user and output experience. Boasting a new fresh design, the new printers have new labeling indicating the printer colors to simplify ease-of-use. The printers have new printheads and Chromatic Red Ink formulation to deliver sharp detail and precise line quality. Optimized fast and normal print modes for heavyweight coated, polypropylene and canvas to speed-up production and enhance image quality. Lastly, the new printers will have 500 GB HDD with more virtual memory to process complex and graphic intensive prints.
HP offers a wide variety of innovative media including the new:
- HP Recycled Satin Canvas is a 17.4 mil (443 micron), 370 gsm crack-resistant canvas for HP aqueous inks, made from 100% recycled water bottles making it the first of its kind in the HP Wide Format Media Portfolio.
- HP Everyday Blockout Display Film with a unique construction of three layers of polypropylene, polyester, and polypropylene film for an added suppleness and superior lay-flat properties. HP Everyday Blockout Display film is a thicker film compared to 100 percent polyester, costs less, and has a coating for dual ink technology.
The HP DesignJet Z6, Z6x10, and Z9+ Printers are expected to be available on June 1, 2018. The 44-inch HP DesignJet Z6 and Z9+ with dual roll and vertical trimmer are expected to be available on July 1, 2018.