Global Graphics extends relationship with HP Indigo

The Harlequin RIP has been chosen as the RIP engine inside the HP Production Pro for Indigo Labels & Packaging. This is the new HP digital front end (DFE) designed to drive all HP Indigo digital labels and packaging presses. The HP Indigo WS6800 will be the first press that comes optionally equipped with the HP Production Pro and this will later be extended to the HP Indigo 8000, the HP Indigo 20000 and the HP Indigo 30000 presses. These presses produce labels, folding cartons, flexible packaging and shrink sleeves, and require a powerful digital front end to produce the performance and versatility that converters print shops need, especially as more and more variability is used in this sector.

The Harlequin RIP already provides the RIPping power for the DFE that is used across the entire HP Indigo commercial press range.

Gary Fry, Global Graphics’ CEO, commented: ‘We enjoy a longstanding relationship with HP Indigo. We are delighted that the Harlequin RIP, as well as our partnership approach to engineering and support, has so impressed HP Indigo in the commercial print space that they are now expanding its use into their labels and packaging presses.’

Roy Faigenbloom, HP Indigo product manager, said: ‘Global Graphics technology is proven in the field. We have thousands of customers today whose commercial presses use the Harlequin-based HP Production Pro. Harlequin offers the needed processing power to drive labels and packaging workflows and Global Graphics has proved itself to be a very responsive technology partner.’

Global Graphics and HP Indigo have collaborated to ensure that converters who install a new press alongside an existing model will be able to match the weight of output, regardless of their pre-existing HP system, an important factor for regulated markets. They will also be able to achieve the same color, including emulated brand colors, while benefiting from the speed advantages that the Harlequin RIP brings. 

HP Production Pro is built on the foundations of Production Pro with the Harlequin RIP, Esko Color Engine, and PrintOS cloud connectivity. The Production Pro provides a single point of control to the press operator to streamline and manage the print workflow. It allows extra performance to be added to HP Indigo digital presses when required because it offers the capability of scaling up the RIP hardware up to 8x the basic configuration to increase RIP capacity even further and control multiple presses from a single server.