A Closer Look at the HP Designjet Z5400

HP Designjet Z5400If you run a print shop that needs quality printing and the ability to switch print media quickly, check out the HP Designjet Z5400 PostScript ePrinter at LexJet.

The big news here is the 44-inch printer’s two-roll media and automatic switching features, which reduce time spent changing media and downtime between multiple print jobs.

It works great on a variety of media for profitable applications, like posters, photo reproductions, backlits, signs, point of sale, line drawings and maps. The printer uses six HP Photo Inks with three different shades of black at up to 2,400 x 1,200 dots per inch.

The HP Designjet Z5400 features HP Multi-Dimensional Smart Drop Placement Technology. Based on automatic drop detection and intelligent masking capabilities, the technology detects then corrects ink placement errors during printing to increase efficiency and reduce waste.

Also on board is the HP Instant Printing PRO, which allows you to preview, crop and easily print PDF, PostScript, HP-GL/2, TIFF and JPEG files. The “e” designation in ePrinter means that the web-connected printer has automatic software updates, USB flash drive or email printing, and a color touch screen and print preview to quickly check prints before they start printing.

To find out more about the HP Designjet Z5400, and to find the best HP printer for your needs – whether it’s the HP Latex Printer, other Z-series or T-series printers – call a LexJet expert at 800-453-9538.

Guide to Selling Nature Photography and Travel Photography Webinar

PhotoShelter has released a guide called Selling Nature Photography, and will host a webinar with travel photographer Andrew Rowat on how to break into travel photography.

Guide to selling nature photographySelling Nature Photography, created in partnership with Outdoor Photography magazine, explores how successful nature photographers have built their businesses and the secrets to getting the attention of leading buyers.

Other subjects covered in the guide include the four top avenues for selling nature photography, how seasoned nature photographers like Art Wolfe built successful business from scratch, interviews with leading buyers, and more.

To have the free 34-page PDF guide emailed to you, go to www.photoshelter.com/mkt/research/selling-nature-photography. PhotoShelter says it won’t sell or distribute your email address, which is protected by “really mean 8th grade girls.” There it is.

In the live webinar with Andrew Rowat on Wednesday, July 25, from 4-5 p.m. ET, PhotoShelter chairman Allen Murabayashi will talk with Rowat about the challenges travel photographers face in an increasingly competitive industry.

Rowat – who was named one of PDN’s 30 photographers to watch and whose work has appeared in Conde Naste Traveler, Travel + Leisure, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair among others – will help uncover ways to make it in the travel industry by answering the following questions and more:

  • What can you do to get the attention of photo editors without a previous connection or referral?
  • How do you negotiate contracts that initially seem like an unfair deal?
  • Is it possible to continue working on personal projects, and even get photo buyers to pick them up?
  • What are the copyright issues in travel photography?

To register for the free webinar, click here.

Enhancing Customer Service by Maximizing Computer System Uptime

LexJet was recently recognized by Copia International for a perfect record of continuously running the CopiaFacts system for 398 days straight and counting without any interruption in service.

Mainting reliable computer systems
Pete Petersen, LexJet CIO

LexJet’s CopiaFacts system sends incoming faxes directly to each employee’s email as a PDF. This eliminates the need for fax machines, cuts down on paper waste and allows quicker response times to incoming fax requests.

More importantly, it speaks to the strength of LexJet’s systems and their reliability, which are meticulously maintained by a team of IT specialists led by LexJet CIO Pete Petersen.

“Ensuring maximum system uptime is an important part of our overarching goal to deliver the best customer experience in the industry. Whichever method customers want to communicate with us for help or to order products, we’re going to support it and make sure it’s absolutely reliable,” says Petersen. “We maintain a high reliability level for our critical services – like email, fax and website – to ensure customers can conduct business without having any delay in their service.”

Petersen says the key to doing that is using trusted software and hardware providers and choosing the right solutions based on customer needs. “We don’t mix and match all of our systems based on the least expensive solution available. We find the best solution that makes things easiest for our customers.”

Petersen adds that even if a system is 99.9 percent reliable, over the course of 365 days that still means eight hours of downtime during the year. That’s why LexJet’s IT department strives for 100 percent reliability year in and year out. “When someone uses LexJet’s services, they’re going to work,” he says.

ONYX Thrive for Production Printing and Adobe Workflow Now Available

Print production workflow softwareONYX has introduced Thrive, an Adobe-based workflow product for production printing, and ONYX Advantage for Thrive. The big news here is the ability with Thrive to run on multiple computers with one license, and Thrive’s Adobe PDF Print Engine.

“One of our customers was trying to drive six printers with one ProductionHouse license, but now with Thrive they can spread it out to other computers without having to buy multiple licenses and they’ve been able to double their production,” explains Mark Maynard, ONYX general manager for the Americas. “With PDF files, sometimes you have to go into Illustrator and flatten the file or save it as a TIFF, so there’s an extra step involved in that case. Since Thrive is an Adobe-based workflow solution it RIPs the file the first time around without having to do additional work to the file.”

Maynard adds that Thrive offers print shops a cost-effective way to grow their business by spreading out the workflow across multiple computers and streamlining the Adobe print process. Therefore, Thrive is more easily scalable as the print shop adds more printers and grows their business.

Plus, you can drive production from a mobile device, like an iPad, with the new Thrive Production Manager. With Thrive Production Manager on a secure network you simply open a browser, point it to the RIP Queue, and away you go, wherever you are.

ONYX Thrive comes in three different configurations: 211 for $3,295 (two RIPs, one large-format or grand-format printer and one Job Editor, formerly known as Preflight), 642 for $6,995 (six RIPs, four printers, two Job Editors) and 862 for $8,995 (eight RIPs, six printers, two Job Editors).

With ONYX Thrive, you can also add ONYX Advantage, a service program that includes software maintenance and Live! Web-based training – where you choose any three of a variety of instructor-led online sessions for the training that best suits your needs – and personalized training – a  two-hour personalized and custom Web-based training session for your print shop that provides the confidence that operators are maximizing the performance and automation of your ONYX Thrive workflow.

For more information about ONYX Thrive and ONYX Advantage, and to help figure out which products will work best for your business, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Canon’s Digital Learning Center Now Available on the Fly for Mobile Devices

Educational resources at the Canon Digital Learning CenterAs mobile devices become more ubiquitous, digital imaging vendors are providing mobile apps and sites so you can take their tools on the go. Case in point is Canon’s new dedicated mobile site at m.learn.usa.canon.com, which accesses the Canon Digital Learning Center (CDLC).

Canon says the new site has been launched to help make the CDLC’s educational content and resources easily available from any smart phone or tablet. The site allows mobile users to access Canon’s collection of technical articles, tutorial videos, image galleries, PDF guides and events calendar in the field or on the go.

Viewers can also register for Canon Live Learning workshops from their phones or tablets. The CDLC mobile site is optimized for use with Apple’s iPhone, as well as Android and Blackberry devices.

So, if you’re working on a Canon printer, for instance, you’re not tied to the computer and you can follow along with the tutorials on your mobile device. Click here for the Print section at the CDLC. Other sections include Photo, Video, Explorers of Light, What’s New, Workshops & Classes, an Events Calendar and Galleries.

For other helpful Canon iPF large format inkjet printing tutorials, check out the Canon iPF Printers and Workflow playlist at LexJet’s YouTube channel.

Canon also announced a new library of Wireless Files Transmitter (WFT) setup guides at its Digital Learning Center. The guides serve as a resource to professional photographers who currently use, or are curious about Canon WFTs. The step-by—step PDFs are fully illustrated and include instructions for all WFT modes, network configurations and popular operating systems.

More than 100 Educational Videos Now at LexJet’s YouTube Channel

YouTube educational videos for wide format inkjet printingLexJet’s YouTube channel has been the go-to destination for professionals in the wide format inkjet printing industry, photographers who print in-house, fine art reproduction companies and others involved in inkjet printing with new educational and how-to videos covering a wide range of topics – from printer setup and workflow to demonstrations of new products – at www.youtube.com/lexjet.

LexJet’s YouTube channel currently hosts more than 130 videos divided into nine featured playlists: Canon iPF Printers and Workflow, Epson Stylus Pro Printers and Workflow, HP Printers and Workflow, Education, Product Demonstrations, Onyx RIP, Display Hardware, Infinium and Around LexJet.

“Most of LexJet’s videos are produced based on customer requests for help with troubleshooting various print processes, from developing and preparing a wide format job in the software to finishing the graphic once it’s printed,” explains Sean McGettigan, LexJet’s video production director. “Though our customer specialists are here to provide free and unlimited product and technical support, the videos are an excellent supplement to our services.”

The Printer and Workflow playlists for Canon, Epson and HP include printer setup videos, how-to videos for printing through various applications (like Photoshop, Illustrator and PDFs), troubleshooting and demonstrations of various printer functions, like properly loading media and ink.

The Education, Product Demonstration and Display Hardware playlists include how-to videos on a number of subjects, like how to coat canvas, how to use Sunset Stretcher Bars for canvas wraps and step-by-step banner stand assembly.

The Onyx RIP playlist shows users how to use the Onyx RIP to maximize efficiency and color output in the wide-format printing process. The Infinium playlist shows how the industry’s first transportable and conformable print material can be applied to a range of substrates, from leather to wood, and the Around LexJet playlist gives an inside view of LexJet’s unique culture at its offices in Sarasota.

According to McGettigan, viewership at LexJet’s YouTube channel increased by more than 1,000 percent in 2011 over the previous year, and plans are in progress to continue this growth curve by introducing five to ten new videos per month in 2012.

For more information and to stay updated on the latest technologies and products for wide format inkjet printing and how to use them, go to www.youtube.com/lexjet.