HP Indigo 7500

Louis Francis, the managing director of Photo Park Digital Press in Kochi, says the low print projection feature makes the photo-album light in weight

16 May 2013 | By PrintWeek India

Describe your company?
Photo Park Digital Press is part of the Photo Park Color Lab, a chain of photo print and photo album lab, established in 1983. Photo Park Digital was established  three months ago with the installation of the HP Indigo 7500, a first in India. With the conventional photo printing shrinking to almost 20%, the move into digital colour production was a natural progression for the photo print specialist.

What does the machine do?
The HP 7500 is a high-speed press, which can print 4,000 sheets in sizes of 13x19inch per hour. It’s a seven-colour press which can print at a resolution of 2,400dpi on paper media like non-tearable paper, transparent as well as ordinary coated or uncoated paper.
 
What were the reasons to choose the machine?
We had a toner-based press, but the demand for high-end wedding album business was one of the reasons, why we decided on buying the Indigo 7500. The other reason was that there were a few Indigo 5500s in Kochi, but I wanted to be the first to bring in a higher model of Indigo in Kochi.
 
Did you look at any other similar machines?
Yes. We did look at similar machines, but we liked some of the features like sharpness of print and the speed with which it prints and the low printing project, which is 0.02mm. It makes the photo-album really light.
 
What features do you particularly like?
Besides the low print projection (ink deposition), its ability to print on media like transparent film and media as thick as 400gsm, are the features we like.
 
Is there anything that you dislike?
No, not anything in particular.
 
How fast is it?
It can prints 4,000 sheets in size 13x19inch per hour. It’s the fastest digital printing press in Kerala.
 
What’s the quality like?
I’ve been in the business of photo printing for more than 25 years. The 7500’s print has a photo-like quality.
 
Is there anything that you wish it had that it doesn’t?
I wish mastering the operations was a bit easier. It takes time to learn the entire operations.
 
How reliable is it?
It’s been in use for the last three months and we have not faced any major downtime.

How much time or money has it saved?
It’s a little early to gauge how much money it has saved, but it does save time. We can now produce photo-albums in double quick time.
 
Has it won you any new work?
Yes. We have added offset printers as our clients for their short-run jobs.
 
Would you say that it offers value for money?
Yes. We get lot of enquiries based on the quality of print.
 
Where there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
No. The installation was smooth.
 
What about the pre- and after-sales service?
HP has taken care to ensure that the press is not down, even for a single day.
 
Who do you think the machine is right for?
For photographers and offset printers. 
 
Under what circumstances would you buy another?
Once we have enough work from an area which is away from our present location. It can be any model, but it will be a first for that area.

Conclusion
User’s verdict
Speed 5/5
Quality  5/5
Reliability 5/5
Value for money 4/5