HP Pushes the Boundaries of Digital Creativity

News highlights:

• HP ZBooks add powerful new features to boost performance and productivity
• Z Club invites elite creators to experience the power of Z by HP cutting-edge solutions
• HP SmartStream Designer for Designers provides limitless possibilities for print and packaging

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today at Adobe® MAX, HP Inc. announced a bold new push to deliver the next generation of technology solutions for the world’s creative professionals. HP is combining the power of its Z by HP portfolio of high-performance computing systems with its industry-leading print and packaging capabilities to curate the ultimate experiences for creators.

“Today’s creatives need specialized tools and solutions to help them stay in the creative zone, increase their productivity, and create whenever and wherever inspiration strikes,” said Xavier Garcia, vice president and general manager, Z by HP, HP Inc. “We are listening to the needs of creative pros and investing in innovation that makes it easier for them to unleash their creativity. With the most powerful hardware, feature-rich software and services, as well as innovative programs for creators, HP is reinventing the way the world creates.”

Z by HP Changing the Way the World Creates
The new Z by HP portfolio including ZBook mobiles, Z desktops like the mighty HP Z2 Mini or the powerful HP Z8, and the award-winning HP DreamColor displays deliver the powerful productivity, versatility and security today’s creative professionals need to do their best work. The HP ZBook Studio, HP ZBook Studio x360, HP ZBook 15 and HP ZBook 17 have been enhanced with greater processing power, innovative security features and bright displays. The performance increase, with six-core Intel® Core™ i9 processors, will enable creatives to tackle heavier workloads, such as video editing and 3D rendering. The expanded memory option up to 32 GB of memory (expandable up to 128 GB depending on model¹) allows users to work faster with large amounts of data. New security feature RAID 1 gives users mirrored SSD storage, providing peace of mind by always providing back up for valuable data. Also, both the HP ZBook Studio and Studio x360, gain a boost in graphics performance to seamlessly render and edit with the NVIDIA® Quadro® P2000 graphics card.  

With the HP ZBook Studio x360, the most powerful convertible PC in the world,² users can reimagine the creative process with the comfort of a laptop and the convenience of a tablet. HP ZBook Studio x360 features a new optional anti-glare touchscreen, allowing users to work outdoors or in bright lighting situations, as well as enhanced durability with the latest generation Corning® Gorilla® Glass. The immersive HP DreamColor anti-glare display supports 100 percent Adobe RGB, has 600 nits of brightness. This is 20 percent brighter than the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch Retina display and 50 percent brighter than the Dell XPS UltraSharp 4K display³.

“With HP bringing new powerful options to the Adobe community, creatives can select from a range of new products that best fit their digital workflows,” said Bryan Lamkin, executive vice president and general manager, Digital Media at Adobe. “The combination of Adobe Creative Cloud® and Z by HP hardware and HP printing products will help our community continue to push the boundaries of their creativity.”

Z Club for Elite Creators
HP also announced Z Club; an exclusive program for elite creators to upgrade their studios. A group of 100 creative professionals will be selected as initial members and will be outfitted with custom-made photographer, video editor, graphic designer or artist bundles. HP will take the guesswork away from finding the right tools by providing a tailored hardware and services solution to meet the needs of each creator’s specific workflow.

HP will provide this bundle free of charge for three months, encouraging creators to experience the full power of Z. For the first time ever, HP will offer a subscription-based hardware and services bundle for these creative customers. For a monthly fee, the Z Club will provide powerful computers bundled with pro-grade displays, printers and accessories. Additionally, HP experts will be available to help members along the way. Creators interested in joining the Z Club and making the switch to powerful Z by HP portfolio can go here.

A growing number of creators are turning to the power of Z by HP, including Ringling College of Art and Design, a world-renowned art college that is poised to be THE preeminent art and design college worldwide.

“The world has changed over the past 12 years. Specifically, computer technology has evolved, and our students’ projects have become more complex and challenging,” said, Larry R. Thompson, President, Ringling College of Art and Design. “To enhance and strengthen our current notebook program, instead of providing new freshmen the Apple MacBook Pro, Ringling College will now be providing each new freshman an HP ZBook x2. This product is ideal for Ringling College students because it has the power of a high-end computers with the flexibility of a pen display for drawing, sketching and painting.”

Uniquely Creative with HP SmartStream Designer for Designers
To unleash creative potential and make the limitless possibilities of print and packaging possible, HP is announcing global availability for HP SmartStream Designer for Designers (D4D), a new plug-in for Adobe Illustrator® CC. HP SmartStream D4D is a suite of “light” design solutions to empower designers to customize and personalize any design through the use of variable text, color, and images, enabling them to take more creative control of the process. In addition, the HP SmartStream Mosaic feature within the D4D software allows designers to create seed files which can be infinitely manipulated through the use of algorithms to create endlessly unique outcomes in real-time. HP SmartStream D4D is now available as a free download plug-in app, for both Mac and PC platforms, on Adobe Exchange.

“HP Digital print has the ability to make packaging and print more agile and limitless, but until now there has been a gap between concept and creation,” said Nancy Janes, global head of brand innovation, HP Inc. “With HP SmartStream D4D, designers can for the first time, play with the powerful software in Adobe Illustrator CC to create memorable and impactful packaging campaigns for global & local brands.”

HP SmartStream D4D will debut at Adobe MAX 2018 in HP’s booth and attendees will have the opportunity to engage with users like The Yarza Twins, whom benefited from the HP digital print technology by pushing the creative boundaries to produce stunning individualized designs for Diageo’s Smirnoff. The creative will be brought to life through digital print on the HP Indigo, HP Scitex, HP Latex, and HP PageWide presses showcased at the PrintFest booth (#301).  HP will also host several sessions with the creative community to illustrate how the agility of digital print is changing the way brands and designers are making every day unique. To view HP’s D4D educational sessions with industry leading creatives including Eva and Marta Yarza of the Yarza Twins with Silas Amos, go here.

To learn more about HP SmartStream D4D and view stories from creatives on how the software transformed how they design for print, go here. 

Pricing and Availability

• The HP ZBook Studio x360 is available now for a starting price of $1,499
• The HP ZBook Studio is available now for a starting price of $1,349
• The HP ZBook 15 is available now for a starting price of $1,349
• The HP ZBook 17 is available now for a starting price of $1,349

About HP

HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our portfolio of printers, PCs, mobile devices, solutions, and services, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information about HP Inc. is available at http://www.hp.com.

Footnotes:

1. 128GB memory planned to be available in December 2018
2. Based on HP's internal analysis of convertible non-detachables as of February 2018, and power based on maximum processor, graphics, memory.
3. Based on maximum configurations and Geekbench 4 score as of February 2018.