News release

HP Introduces Industry's First 24-inch Multi-format Printing System for Graphics Professionals

HP Designjet 120 Printer Bridges the Gap Between Narrow and Large Format Printing to Keep Design Work In-house

HP (NYSE:HPQ) today introduced a six-color printing system for designers who want the flexibility of printing standard and large-format projects at their desktops with the look and feel of professional comps.

Whether making a brochure or a banner, creative professionals using the HP Designjet 120 printing system can spend more time designing outstanding work and less time worrying about the technical printing process.

"HP is leading the way for enterprise companies and creative agencies that want to develop high-return, innovative marketing programs," said Ignacio Fonts, vice president, inkjet commercial division, HP Imaging and Printing Group. "Part of that process requires streamlining the workflow for creative professionals so they can do what they do best -- create. With the HP Designjet 120 printing system, designers not only have the ability to print large-format work in-house, but they can do it with the confidence of consistent, vibrant color for striking results."

The HP Designjet 120 printer is an affordable system that bridges the gap between desktop and oversize printing with the combination of a standard media tray and a 24-inch paper path. Its automatic closed-loop color calibration system also ensures consistent color from print to print and printer to printer with 2,400 dots per inch (dpi) and HP's color layering technology.

In addition to producing consistent, vibrant color, the system's printing drivers are designed specifically for RGB (red, green, blue) workflows plus an optional Adobe® RIP (raster image processor) for CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color matching and emulation.

"The HP Designjet 120 supports industry standards, such as Adobe PDF® and PostScript®, which provides a continuous, seamless workflow for Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign users," said Don Walker, general manager, print workflow products, Adobe Systems. "Adobe's close collaboration with HP is delivering outstanding solutions that benefit creative professionals worldwide."

Key features of the HP Designjet 120 printer include:

Colors that Convince: Color Image Quality That Brings Ideas to Life

• Automatic closed-loop color calibration ensures color consistency from print to print and printer to printer, saving time and supplies spent on reprinting.
• Superb image quality from the 2,400-dpi writing system, HP color layering technology and a four-picoliter drop system that provides continuous tones, sharp detail, smooth color transitions and area fill uniformity.
• Six-color ink system uses specially formulated, high-quality dye inks to ensure higher contrast, a wider color gamut, better color uniformity and better surface gloss consistency.
• Optional HP RIP -- support for standard automatic PANTONE calibration, color emulation standards (Apple ColorSync, ICC profiles) and offset press emulations (EuroScale, SWOP, DIC, JMPA and TOYO).
• Optional HP software RIP ensures maximum color accuracy and image quality, and it supports true Adobe PostScript workflow for CMYK printing. The HP RIP supports both the Mac OS and Windows®.
• Supports other manufacturers' software RIPs.

Postcards to Posters: No Need to Cut and Paste or Outsource

• Eliminate pasting sheets together with the ability to print common sizes like letter, tabloid and custom sizes from 3 by 5.6-inches to 24-inches wide from a single, in-house printer.
• Convenient media handling: Use the standard tray to load up to 100 sheets of common and custom sizes up to tabloid+; Use the front bypass slot for cut sheet media up to 24 inches; Use the rear bypass slot for rigid media up to 80 lbs. or .0155-inches thick; Use the automatic roll feed to print up to 600-inches long.
• Forget storing and feeding bulky cut sheet media in larger sizes. Use an optional automatic roll feed to print on rolls up to 24-inches wide and 50 feet long. The automatic roll feed allows users to switch between already loaded media types and sizes without intervention.
• Print with support for a full range of media weights up to 80 lbs. and media types such as coated, heavyweight coated, photo and glossy to save time and money by printing projects in house.
• Ability to print up to full-size 2 x 3-foot proofs on HP Proofing Matte, Semi-Gloss and Glossy media enables production of quality proofs for client jobs.

Time to Design: Spend More Time Designing, Less Time Printing

• Print work for client approval right away with text, lines and images that print at up to 10 pages per minute (ppm) for letter size in fast mode on plain paper and 2 minutes per page for tabloid images in normal mode.
• Individually replaceable ink cartridges in six colors reduce the time spent interacting with the printer. Printheads are also separate and can be replaced individually.
• In addition to standard office features, drivers for Mac OS X v10.2 and Windows include graphics features for color control of CMY.
• Easy setup with support for parallel and USB connections. Add a network card to share the printer. An HP Jetdirect print server card (included with the Designjet 120nr) provides high-speed Fast Ethernet networking with a data transmission speed of up to 4.5 MB per second.
• Improve productivity by adding an optional stand and bin for even more convenient printer operation.

Media Options

Several new media options are available for the Designjet 120, including HP Proofing Gloss (13 x19-inch, 18 x 24-inch and 24 x 36-inch cutsheets; 24-inch x 100-foot rolls), HP Proofing Semi-Gloss (13 x 19-inch cutsheets; 24-inch x 100-foot rolls), HP Proofing Matte (13 x 19-inch cutsheets; 24-inch x 100-foot rolls) and HP Coated Paper (18 x 24-inch and 24 x 36-inch cutsheets; 24-inch x 100-foot rolls).

The system is available now for the following estimated U.S. street prices⁽¹⁾:

HP Designjet 120 printer     $1,295

HP Designjet 120nr printer     $1,895

Additional information on HP large-format printing products and services is available at http://www.designjet.hp.com.

About HP

HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

⁽¹⁾ Actual prices may vary.

Adobe, PDF and PostScript are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. Microsoft is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.