HP Updates Hardware, Software and Services for Creative Pros

Z by HP is a collection of high-powered computers and accessories for artists, designers, photographers, and video editors. The portfolio includes a 3D scanning camera, combination laptop/tablet computers, desktop workstations for virtual reality, color-calibrating displays, and wide-format printers with built-in spectrophotometers for color management. All of these tools deliver the productivity, versatility, and security that creative professionals need to do their best work

“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 Inc. “We are listening to creative pros and investing in innovation that makes it easier for them to unleash their creativity.”

HP ZBook Studio x360
HP ZBook Studio x360

At the 2018 Adobe® MAX conference for creative professionals in October, HP Inc. introduced powerful new hardware and feature-rich software and services to reinvent how the world creates.

Improvements to Z by HP Portfolio

At Adobe MAX, HP announced that 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 allows users to work faster with large amounts of data. To provide greater peace of mind, the RAID 1 mirrored SSD storage feature provides automatic backup of valuable data. Both the HP ZBook Studio and Studio x360 gain a boost in graphics performance and the ability to seamlessly render and edit with the NVIDIA® Quadro® P2000 graphics card.

The HP ZBook Studio x360 is one of the most powerful convertible PCs in the world. By providing the comfort of a laptop with the convenience of a tablet, users can reimagine the creative process. HP ZBook Studio features an optional new anti-glare touchscreen, so you can continue to be productivity whether you are working outdoors on a sunny day or in a brightly lit environment. The latest generation of Corning Gorllia Glass provides enhanced durability.

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 display.

“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.”

To view all of the products in Z by HP product line, go here.

HP SmartStream Designer for Designers

HP Inc. makes dozens of digital printers for design and technical documents, signage and decoration, general and commercial publishing, labels, packaging, and textiles.

According to Doris Brown-McNally, global brand innovation manager, digital printing is changing how design and brands behave. Digital print technologies can take a core design and change its colors, copy, images, and composition from print to print.

To unleash the limitless, creative possibilities of digital print and packaging, HP now offers a plug-in for Adobe Illustrator CC called SmartStream Designer for Designers (D4D).

HP Smartstream D4D

HP SmartStream D4D is a suite of “light” design solutions that empower designers to customize and personalize any design through the use of variable text, color, and images. With the SmartStream Mosaic feature in the D4D software, designers can create seed files that can be infinitely manipulated through the use of algorithms to create endlessly unique designs 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.

With SmartStream Designer software, every package can have a different design.

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

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

Education Technology Firm Uses Augmented Reality to Bring Alamo to Life

Designers and visual communicators with skills in creating augmented reality experiences will find opportunities in a variety of fields, including marketing, packaging, entertainment, gaming, training, and education. For example, the education technology company Experience Real History™ is using augmented reality (AR) to help change how students learn about history.

The Experience Real History: Alamo Edition is a series of interactive AR products that give users the power to visit the Alamo as it was in 1836. The products include two sizes of an AR-enabled Reality Board™ and interactive AR trading cards.

The collection of products in the Experience Reality: Alamo Edition are available on Amazon.com with prices ranging from $8.99 to $34.99.

Audiences who view the 3D augmented reality board through a free app on a smartphone or tablet can launch a 3D animated diorama and immerse themselves in history like never before. Thanks to stunning 3D photorealistic recreations, users can create their own personal journey through the Alamo. You can watch the epic battle unfold from different angles and proximities.

The colorful, two-sided AR trading cards feature key figures in history who “come to life” in 3D with full 360-degree animation when used with the free app. The cards provide facts about Alamo defenders such as James Bowie, William Travis, and David “Davy” Crockett, and Mexican Army Generals Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and Martin Perfecto de Cos and others.

Augmented reality provides an interactive window that doesn’t just tell a story, but also shows it. It’s like a living textbook, in which users can see and hear the battle as a narrator explains the saga taking place before their eyes.

“Experience Real History is utilizing technology to bring history to life in an accurate and engaging way,” said Michael McGar, president of Experience Real History. “We’re at the forefront of creating how history is shared for future generations.”

Experience Real History will release a set of products about the Civil War/Gettysburg later this year.

New App Helps Independent Fashion Etailers Avoid Size-Related Returns

In the U.S., the online clothing market is valued at about $72 billion. Even so, about 32% of consumers don’t purchase fashion online because of uncertainty about size and fit. And, about 70 percent of the online apparel returns each year are due to improper size, and 32 percent. 

A new mobile-measurement app called MySizeID™ can help independent fashion etailers who use third-party e-commerce platforms such as Shopify and Magento avoid these problems.

Registration for retailers is simple and can be completed in less than two minutes. (PRNewsfoto/My Size Inc.)

The MySizeID™ app is a turnkey solution that helps any merchant’s customers choose the appropriate size for that specific brand, based on the shopper’s real measurements. With the app’s innovative technology, consumers use their own smartphones to take their measurements. When they shop with an online retailer that has incorporated the MySizeID app, the online store will automatically match the correct garment size with the customer’s own measurements.   

According to Ronen Luzon, CEO of My Size Inc., “The problems of sizing and returns for online retailers is not new. While large retailers are better equipped to withstand the high cost of size-based returns, these costs are a far bigger burden for smaller and independent retailers.”

The MySize solution gives any internet retailer a more accurate and efficient sizing solution to increase sales and minimize returns.  

If you sell apparel through Shopify or Magento, you can add the MySizeID app to your storefront. MySizeID will provide full back-office services and data security and a process for consumers to create their own personal sizing profile. 

To watch a video about how the process works, visit the company’s website or  YouTube.

Large-Format 3D Printer Creates Models for Events and Exhibit Promos

If you want to design some head-turning decorations for a big event, consider what’s possible with the Massivit 1800 3D printer.

Larger-than-Life Skeleton

Mexico-based print service provider, Moti Digital 3D printed this towering, head-turning skeleton for the Mexican Festival of Light celebrations in Guadalajara.

The four-day event explored how light and art work in perfect harmony and encapsulates the culture of Guadalajara. Moti Digital used its Massivit 1800 3D Printing Solution to create a model that would ‘wow’ visitors to the event and demonstrate the impressive capabilities of large format 3D printing technology.

 

Measuring 27 ft  long and 11 ft high, the breathtaking skeleton was produced in just four days. The painted skeleton was positioned inside the Plaza Tapatía fountain pool and illuminated at night, where thousands of festival-goers were able to sit in its arms.The experience generated huge amounts of conversation and photos that featured prominently across social media platforms.

Life-Size Triceratops

METROPOLE, a visual-communications company in France, used a Massivit 1800 3D printer to produce this ultra-realistic, full-size triceratops to promote a paleontology exhibition at the Museé national d’Historie naturelle in Paris. Measuring 5.9 ft. wide x 7.6 ft. long x 9.8 ft. high, the dinosaur model is currently displayed at the Gare d’Austerlitz railway station adjacent to the museum.

Thanks to the 14-inches-per-hour print speeds of the Massivit 1800 3D printer, the visually striking dinosaur was brought to life in just two days. The model was printed in eight components. Once assembled, Metropole’s production team strengthened the construction with ballast to guarantee its ability to withstand sustained interaction with the public. The cinematic artistic team at Metropole covered the dinosaur with a textured surface to replicate natural-looking skin. They also produced realistic eyes to enhance the appearance.

“When it comes to producing giant attention-grabbing models that truly turn heads and capture people’s attention, our Massivit 1800 is the solution of choice,” said Denise Zanet, executive partner at Metropole. She says the museum staff “was completely blown away by how astonishingly lifelike our 3D-printed triceratops looks. It’s generating huge buzz at the train station with many passengers asking how it was created.”

The Massivit 1800 3D Printer is the first of its kind to produce super-size, crowd-stopping signage, displays, and props for visual communication. Offering unprecedented printing speed, can build objects up to 57 inches wide, 44 inches deep, and 70 inches high.

Massivit 1800 3D Printer
Massivit 1800 3D Printer

Augmented Reality Is Coming to Printed Books and Magazines

With augmented reality technologies in digitally printed books and magazines, readers will be able to use their smartphones to access explanatory videos, supplementary websites, and online discussion groups. Authors, designers, and publishers may have to change the way they plan their content if readers begin to expect “connected books,”

At the PRINT 17 show, I picked up two books and a magazine that demonstrated augmented reality technologies that publishers could use to make printed publications more interactive.

Book: Introduction to Graphic Communication

Two leading experts in printing and publishing technologies showed a prototype of an updated edition of the popular textbook, “Introduction to Graphic Communication.” The goal is to show designers and publishers how they can combine the permanence of print with the vitality of interactive communications.

The key to making the hybrid print/digital book possible is a new Clickable Paper technology from Ricoh. Unlike scannable QR codes that only connect readers to a single website, Ricoh’s Clickable Paper Technology makes it possible to connect with multiple online experiences, including video, social networks, audio content, and live chat.

As you read through the book, you can use the free Clickar app on your tablet or smartphone to access video and other media that helps clarify the content. You can also connect and chat with other people who are reading the book.

This updated version of “Introduction to Graphic Communication”  is being coauthored by Dr. Harvey Levenson, former Head of Graphic Communication at California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo, and John Parsons of the Intu Ideas non-fiction writing and publishing consultancy firm. The prototype book distributed at PRINT 17 contained two chapters: Chapter 2 covers the History of Printed Communications. Chapter 8 discusses various types of Printing Processes.

The authors said the ability to marge print and online media changed they way they wrote. Parsons said, “Adding multimedia has made me a more visual writer.” The ability to include links to external media meant they could put less on each page.

“We found no shortage of ways to use the printed book as a ‘platform’ for directing the reader to curated digital content,” said Parsons. For some content, they captured webcam video (using several takes) and edited the results. For other content, they sought permission from creators of YouTube videos and collaborated with Viddler, a developer of video-based training technology.

“We’re not publishing an e-book,” Parsons emphasizes. “This is about a new way to demonstrate the inherent strengths of print.” The authors note that print is a stable medium that can point the way to selected content or interactive connections. They believes digital media isn’t an replacement for printed books, but as a potential extension of a a centuries-long history of innovation.

Book: The Third Wave

The book “The Third Wave” by Joseph W. Webb and Richard M. Romano uses HP Link technology to help owners of printing businesses understand how smarter mobile phones, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things will affect printing businesses.

Readers who download the HP LinkReader can scan hyperlinked text and images to get more information, watch a video, or listen to a song. At the end of each chapter, the authors include a short series of survey questions. The answers enable the authors to learn more about the types of business owners who are reading the book.

In addition to engaging book readers, HP Link Technology can be used on packages and other printed products. The HP Link technology delivers serialized marks that enable creators of printed products to securely track individual products throughout its entire lifecycle. These marks can help prevent thefts and diversion of products, reduce counterfeiting, and assist with product recalls,

The pages of the book were  printed on an HP PageWide WebPress T240HD and the cover was output on an HP Indigo digital press. “The Third Wave” interactive book was published by King Printing Co., a Lowell, Massachusetts-based company that provides short-run book-printing services for more than 10,000 authors and publishers.

Magazine: Out of Chaos

“Out of Chaos” is a digitally printed version of the online magazine published by the color-management experts at Rods and Cones.  The printed articles are enhanced with Stampatech “Print Infinity” technology.

Stampatech augmented-reality technology recognizes photographs and logos on printed books, labels, marketing literature, or packaging and triggers interactive content. Users of the app can learn more about the product, give feedback, or even make purchases.

An article in “Out of Chaos” magazine features excerpts from the white paper “Has Augmented Reality Really Gone Mainstream?” by Cindy Walas and Kevin Keane.

The Spring 2017 issue of the magazine was printed, bound, and trimmed on the Canon imagePRESS C10000VP digital press.

Hologon Technology Helps Brand Marketers Blend Physical and Digital Worlds

Fusion92 LogoFusion92 is a Chicago-based independent marketing innovation agency. The company helps growth-stage and Fortune 500 companies with marketing, media, creative services, innovation and consumer engagement.

One of the newest marketing innovations from Fusion92 is the “Hologon,” a brand-engagement technology that allows consumers to experience holographic videos with a mobile device and Fusion92’s patent-pending viewer.

When the mobile device is directed to a designated URL and the viewer is placed on the surface of the horizontally held tablet or smartphone, the hologram comes to life before your eyes.

Hologen - Fusion92Because the “Hologon” viewer is designed to pop-up and self-assemble, it can fold flat for insertion in magazines, direct mail, or product packaging. To optimize the user experience across various mobile devices, Fusion92 also developed a custom video player.

“We’re extremely excited about the launch of Hologon. It’s a great representation of our skills, and we believe it has enormous market potential,” said Matt Murphy, Fusion92 president and CEO. “Creating innovative products and solutions is what we do. Hologon™ is another tangible example of how we help our clients break through the clutter ahead of their competition.”

“While the concept itself isn’t unique, the amount of R&D that went into this product to make it user friendly, scalable and accessible across all mobile devices was immense,” said Jacob Beckley, VP technology and innovation. “This product further demonstrates Fusion92’s commitment to the convergence of the digital and physical worlds.”

Since 2013, Fusion92, has been filing one to two patents a year. Those patents have focused mostly on advertising and marketing technologies that blend well with Fusion92’s integrated agency services model.
Learn more at www.fusion92.com

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Epson’s Digital Couture Project Will Inspire Fashion Entrepreneurs

At their third annual Digital Couture Project, Epson will show fashion designers and fashion entrepreneurs some of the limitless design possibilities created by advanced digital imaging technology. In keeping with the theme “Textile Stories,” 13 design teams from North and Latin America will leverage Epson’s world-class textile printing solutions in a one-of-a-kind fashion presentation.

The Digital Couture Project  is scheduled February 7, two days before the official start of Fashion Week in New York City.

Digital Couture Project Logo

“In the high-fashion business, nothing stands still. The designer’s vision is constantly advancing, ultimately creating and driving fashion trends that change how we look and feel,” said Keith Kratzberg, president and CEO, Epson America, Inc. “Our goal with the Digital Couture event is to spotlight the power and potential that digital printing technology plays in the apparel industry.  From haute couture to sports team apparel, Epson technology gives designers and apparel manufacturers the digital platform necessary to launch the next great design.”

Epson Digital Couture Project

 

At the Digital Couture Project event, each designer or design team will tell a story through their collection via textiles created with Epson dye-sublimation and direct-to-fabric printing technology. These technologies enable high-quality, original prints on fabrics that will convey the signature style of each designer.

Design teams featured at the Digital Couture event include:

  1. Argentina – Vanesa Krongold
  2. Brazil – Daniel Barreira
  3. Canada – Sarah Stevenson
  4. Chile – Daniela Hoehmann
  5. Colombia – Ricardo Pava
  6. Costa Rica – Daniel Del Barco and Sonia Chang
  7. Dominican Republic – Carlos de Moya
  8. Ecuador – Miguel Moyano, Alex Polo and Maria Susana Rivadeneira Simball
  9. Mexico – Leonardo Mena
  10. Peru – Susan Wagner
  11. United States – Lindsay Degen
  12. United States – Sarah Richards
  13. United States – Kanbar College of Design Engineering and Commerce, Philadelphia University

“For the third year in a row, the Epson Digital Couture event showcases how digital textile printing helps designers expand their vision for creativity without limits,” said Agustin Chacon, Epson America’s vice president of international marketing. “The future of fashion and technology is in the process of being shaped. We are excited to be at the forefront of the industry – providing designers with printing solutions that offer a host of new and exciting opportunities.”

Technology Showcase

During the Technology Showcase portion of the Digital Couture Project, Epson’s global president, Minoru Usui, will outline Epson’s continued vision for the role that digital technology will play in fashion.

A panel of fashion and apparel industry experts will discuss market trends and the role of technology in fashion. The panel will be moderated by Anthony Cenname, vice president and publisher at WSJ Magazine.

The 2017 Digital Couture Project event will also serve as the official introduction of the Robustelli-Epson brand to the international fashion community. Based in Como, Italy, Robustelli has developed and manufactured the Monna Lisa series of digital textile printing equipment with technical support from Epson. Robustelli became part of the Epson Group in June, 2016.

Attendees at the Digital Couture Project event will see an array of textiles that have been printed on the Robustelli equipment.

 

Monna Lisa Textile Printer

Epson Digital Textile Printing Solutions

“New technologies from Epson are allowing designers to push the boundaries of color and quality while simultaneously giving creative teams incredible versatility and productivity,” said Kratzberg.

Epson’s dye-sublimation and direct-to-garment printing technologies give entrepreneurs and fashion brands the creative freedom to print on a variety of fabrics, including cotton and synthetic fibers.

The Epson SureColor® F-Series dye-sublimation printing technology gives designers an accessible means to bring their ideas and inspiration to life. The Epson UltraChrome® DS ink in these printers has an all new high density Black ink. The density of the black ink delivers printed designs with better tonal transitions, rich colors, and smooth gradations. The Wasatch SoftRIP workflow software included with the printer includes features for textile and fashion printing. The software enables designers to create and print original designs with greater flexibility and control.

Epson SureColor F Series

The Epson SureColor F2000 Series direct-to-garment (DTG) ink jet printers can print high-quality images directly onto garments. The printers can handle fabrics ranging from 100 percent cotton to 50/50 fabric blends.

The SureColor F2000 offers fashion entrepreneurs a quality, affordable printing solution. The Epson SureColor F2000 Standard Edition is a high-speed CMYK-only model and the White Edition offers the added benefit of white ink for printing on dark or color fabrics.

Epson SureColor F2000

Fashion designers and professionals interested in learning more about Epson’s digital printing technologies can visit www.proimaging.epson.com. For more information about Digital Couture, visit www.epson.com/nyfw.