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Wide Format
HP has expanded its
Designjet range of large
format printers with new
entry-level models targeted
at small and home offices.
Costing less than £1,000 and
with a cost per print ten times
less than you would pay in
a print shop, these versatile
inkjet devices have numerous
applications in a range of
industries.
To date, HP has shipped
more than 3 million Designjet
printers – eight times more
than its closest competitor
– and claims that 90% of all
AEC (architecture, engineering
and construction) projects
are created with the help of a
Designjet. They are also suitable
for graphics jobs, including high
quality photography, and for the
creation of posters and signage
that you might find in office
environments.
The launch of HP’s new
models comes against the
backdrop of a continuing crisis
in the construction industry that
has forced many architecture
and design firms to downsize or
go out of business. According
to HP, firms now occupy smaller
offices with less room for large
format printers; have to go
further afield to find business;
need to improve the productivity
Going places
Wide format printing is moving into the home
and small offices. James Goulding reports
of travelling professionals; and
want to cut costs by bringing
printing in-house and moving
from a print and distribute to a
distribute and print model.
These are the same
pressures faced by office
workers, but the difference for
the AEC community, according
to HP, is that they still depend
on hard copy output. “Paper still
plays an important role in design
processes,” explained Emre
Ozgul, worldwide marketing
director of the HP Large Format
Design Business. “There’s no
digital alternative to an A1 or
A0 print-out. There is no better
way to make mark-ups or
corrections.”
HP believes that its new entry-
level large format printers meet
the evolving needs of the AEC
community: a) by making large
format printers viable for small
office and home office users,
such as students, freelancers
and entrepreneurs – Ozgul said
he expects 50% of Designjet
T120 customers to be first time
large format printer users; and
b) by enabling smartphone
and tablet users to improve
their productivity by wirelessly
accessing, sharing and printing
drawings stored in the cloud.
Web and WiFi
The new models are the compact
HP Designjet T120 ePrinter for
SOHO users (24in output, €848);
and the T520 for small studios
and workgroups of 3-5 people
(available in 24in and 36in
models for €1,294 and €2,075).
All have touchscreens and
WiFi connectivity and are web-
connected, which enables users
to view, zoom in on and print
files stored in the cloud using a
tablet, smartphone, notebook or
the printer’s own touch-screen.
With HP Designjet ePrint &
Share web services, you can also
keep an encrypted, password-
protected online record of
everything you print, with the
ability to share any file with
colleagues and clients simply by
generating and emailing a URL.
In addition, like HP’s office
machines, each of the new
wide format models has its
own unique email address
and the ability to print emailed
attachments so that mobile
workers can email files straight
to a device for output.
Another useful feature is the
built-in B+/A3 paper tray, which
allows the same printer to be
used for cut-sheet output and
wide format printing from a roll.
This feature was a big attraction
for beta customer Peter Zellner,
founder of ZellnerPlus, a small,
LA-based firm of architects
specialising in the design
of commercial and public
galleries, as it allows him to
use a single printer for different
types of output. “The ability to
swap media out on the fly is
remarkable and really speeds up
production,” he said.
ZellnerPlus has many of the
characteristics of HP’s target
market: it has recently down-
sized to a small office; it has a
workforce of two to five people
and scales staffing levels up
or down on a project-by-project
basis; it sometimes partners
with other firms on big jobs;
it is a niche operator that has
to compete with larger, better
resourced firms; and it pitches
for work throughout North
America, including Mexico, so
staff are often travelling.
Historically ZellnerPlus
outsourced the printing of wide
format documents, but having
an HP Designjet 520 in-house
means that Peter Zellner
no longer has to waste time
collecting drawings before a
client meeting. It enables him
to output the latest corrections
instantly and has also improved
collaboration as designs are
much easier to discuss when
viewed in hard copy. In his words,
“It has been transformational: it
has changed the culture of the
office.”
An added attraction for
users who don’t pass the costs
of printing on to clients is that,
according to HP, the new devices
are roughly ten times cheaper
than a repro house and typically
have an ROI of less than six
months.
www.hp.com/go/
eprintandshare
www.hp.com/go/
DesignjetFall2012