New large format printers target GIS professionals with focus on colour quality and precision
HP has launched two new large format printers, the HP DesignJet Z6 Pro and Z9+ Pro, specifically designed for those that place a big importance on wide colour gamut and colour accurate printing. This includes GIS professionals and design visualisation artists.
With chromatic RGB HP Vivid Photo Inks, HP says DesignJet Z Pro users can now achieve 93% pantone coverage – 26% more gamut compared to the previous generation – and produce prints with the image quality of a 12-ink printer with just nine inks.
Additional features such as the High-Definition Nozzle Architecture (HDNA) printheads and dual drop technology, which is designed to reduce visible grain and eliminate the need for light coloured inks, are said to promise prints with ‘clear details and dazzling-contrasts’.
The HP DesignJet Z9+ Pro features an embedded spectrophotometer to help ensure colour accuracy and consistency. In terms of calibration everything is automatic. According to HP, the spectrophotometer will calibrate and ensure that the colour profiles are accurate and consistent printer to printer and print to print.
HP says the DesignJet Z6 is particularly well suited to GIS professionals who need to produce ‘very precise maps, print sharp contour lines and text with close attention to keeping data secure.’
Meanwhile, the Adobe PDF Print Engine is said to enable ‘excellent transparencies and layer reproductions’, while HP’s HDNA printheads and HP Pixel Control deliver ‘high precision, smooth gradients and distinct shades of colour that are particularly useful for printing complex maps.
Both the HP DesignJet Z6 Pro and Z9+ Pro are also designed to reduce time offline with spindle-less and automatic roll feed.
The HP DesignJet Z6 Pro is said to print twice as fast on plain paper at the same quality while the HP DesignJet Z9+ Pro allows users to print up to 18% faster, with better quality, on satin photo media.
The printers are fully compatible with HP Eco Carton Cartridges, achieving up to 80% reduction in plastic. The outer carton of Eco-Carton cartridges can be disposed of through local cardboard recycling.
The launch of the HP DesignJet Z6 Pro and Z9+ Pro marks the 30-year anniversary of the very first DesignJet product, which this AEC editor actually used in a previous career as a CAD operator to replace an ageing Calcomp pen plotter.
