At HPG, we are always on the lookout to update and expand our printing equipment to stay ahead of customer needs.

Toward that end, we just installed a new flatbed printer in our signage department.  Called an HP Scitex 700FB, this new sign printer allows us to print directly on rigid substrates that are up to 2 1/2″ thick.

Because the HP Scitex exclusively uses UV ink, heavy duty signage is no longer a multi-process print job at HPG. We now print directly to the panel, which eliminates manually mounting the print to a rigid substrate. This new printer also allows us to print more quickly, reducing at least two steps in the printing/ finishing process.

We can print on extra large signs, too with a 98″ maximum width — over three feet wider than our prior capability. Our new flatbed printer runs six color (CMYK) plus white, which helps assure darker signage can be read from farther away.

The signage department at HPG can design, print and/or install your next sign, whether you need it inside or out. And with UV inks together with our new flatbed printer, your sign will hold up in all kinds of weather and every type of lighting.

It’s what you’d expect from HPG.

UV printing has been around for enough time now for our clients to become familiar with its benefits – like being able to print on all kinds of unusual substrates and uncoated stocks.

Together with our clients, HPG is using more unusual substrates and wilder color combinations – and – now with our ability to print on materials up to 2 ½” thick and up to 98” in length, we’re seeing larger, more creative, and certainly, bigger and better results.

Depending on the properties of substrate, HPG uses precisely the right amount of ultraviolet light to set the ink while not breaking down the material we are printing upon. In the past few months, HPG has successfully printed UV inks on:

• Polystyrene
• Foil
• Holographic stocks
• Flexible vinyl
• Polypropylene
• Magnets
• Adhesive-backed paper and vinyl
• Nylon
• Rigid vinyl up to 40 gauge thick

There are virtually no limits to what materials can be printed upon. Got an interesting or unusual printing idea? HPG can make it to work for you.

Sometimes the way the printing industry talks about different methods of printing can be a little confusing.

When we refer to digital printing, we mean the method of storing, processing and transmitting print information through electronic pulses. Digital printing has simplified printing in so many customer-friendly ways. For instance, digital printing methods are less expensive and more reliable than printing used to be.

Digital printing is inherently more flexible, too, since it is compatible with many other digital systems. That flexibility comes in handy when it comes to printing your next project. We can use just about any digital source for information – from computer print outs to QR codes – and use UV inks to create razor sharp digital photographs or graphics from any source, too. On virtually any substrate, too.

Worried about size constraints? HPG has wide format digital presses and the ability to print on an huge variety of materials, too, including posters and vehicle graphics, signs and banners, floor graphics, brochures, DVDs… you name it! Not only that, but HPG can not only print your next digital project, but we can design it and install it, too.

If it involves digital communication, there’s no confusion at HPG. We can make it happen.

By any measure, tradeshows are expensive. To get more bang for your tradeshow buck, consider adding QR codes to your trade show printed materials.

QR codes, sometimes called “mobile barcodes,” can be printed on all types of promotional trade show materials to make it easy for your smart phone-using clients and customers to follow up with you – or learn more about your company.

Even better, you can quantify the reach of this new media marketing method and provide hard data on new potential customers. Not only does QR code technology quantify the interest in your products, but it also shows your exhibitors that you know what you are doing in today’s marketplace.

Here some useful tips to using QR codes at your next tradeshow:

• Put your QR code on every single piece of promotional material – merchandise tags, press kits, posters, stickers, brochures, signage – even tee shirts. Don’t miss a marketing opportunity.
• Your QR codes can simply contain a URL directing back to your mobile web presence — or create a special trade show QR code with a free service like bit.ly or goo.gl,
• Get creative! Make potential customers a valuable offer once you have them at your site. Make sure you are offering something worth their time to scan and download.

QR codes are easy to create and print on virtually everything at HPG. Ask you rep for QR code samples and a demonstration of the technology – and maximize your impact at your next corporate tradeshow. 

Go ahead, walk all over them. Digital floor graphics can stand up to serious foot traffic and still command attention with bright, precision-matched UV colors and clear, super-sized digital imagery.

Using the right materials and inks are important, as is proper installation. That’s why HPG digital floor graphics are printed on wide format machines with UV technology. We can print one-piece floor graphics up to 54” widths and 150 foot lengths, or match several lengths together to form virtually any size finished piece.

And, to hold up under the heaviest of traffic, HPG can add a top layer of scratch-resistant laminate to suit the particular needs of your floor, whether it’s concrete, tile or laminated wood.

Take your signage underfoot to get your message noticed. Floor graphics are a fantastic, attention-getting marketing vehicle. 

Stochastic technology is perfect for printing photographic images when detail is important. Stochastic colors are more vibrant and the textures more pronounced than conventional printing, even at higher resolutions.

What’s different about stochastic printing? It’s a highly precise screening process that reduces printing variations that normally occur during the printing process.

During regular offset printing, subtle variations can occur as magenta, yellow, cyan and black are printed onto paper as a pattern of dots, forming images. Each ink color spreads before it dries. This, together with ink absorption into the paper results in some loss of photographic detail.

This does not occur with stochastic printing because the screening process varies the placement of the dots. Because there are no regular patterns of dots, the risk of misaligned pictures is greatly reduced. Images appear sharper, colors and textures, more near-photographic in quality.

Next time you need sharp, crisp printed detail for a catalog, magazine, or important photographic images, consider stochastic technology.

Time to reconsider what a banner can do. Thanks to wide format printing, banners can now extend across bridges, football fields, and ocean liners — in lengths from one to 100 feet — and widths from 12 to 60 feet!

But it’s not just size that changes what banners can accomplish. Vinyl laminate for banners comes in endless colors, every color in the rainbow, including DayGlo® colors and custom-matched. And with UV inks, today’s banners hold up to direct sunlight and every temperature imaginable. Produce a banner on heavy duty vinyl (up to 14 millimeter thickness), and that banner will stand up to what Mother Nature dishes out, year after year.

Don’t limit banners to just outside. With inkjet technology and digital graphics, banners are being mounted inside, too. Digital photos enlarge clearly and beautifully with no loss in quality. And UV colors pop, too – even under harsh fluorescent lighting.

Consider mounting heavy-duty vinyl banners on gatorboard for a more polished look. Or hand stitch or machine stitch canvas and fabric banners to underscore a traditional feel. Banners can be magnetized, hung with grommets, invisibly mounted, either permanently or semi-permanently.

Banners command attention and make a lasting impression. Put them to work in unexpected places!

 Watermarks are those ghosted images or patterns found in high quality paper that appears as various shades of lightness or darkness when held up to the light. The images are caused by thickness or density variations in the paper. Watermarks vary in their visibility. Some are obvious and others are purposefully harder to see as features in paper money, passports, stamps, and other documents where security or counterfeit protection is an issue.

Watermarks can be used for

• Authenticating
• Dating
• Identifying sizes, trademarks or locations
• Preventing duplication, copying or counterfeiting
• Boosting security
• Establishing paper quality

HPG uses specialized watermarked paper for high quality printing jobs when the finished look and feel of a printed piece is particularly important. Although true watermarks are actually embedded in the fiber of paper, there are many ways to get the look of a watermark by using digital printing techniques that are much less pricey than high-fiber watermarked paper.

With access to both offset and digital printing capabilities, HPG can use inks in varying intensities, working with graphic designers to create shadow detailing and even metallic inks to create hologram-like images. By creating “shadows,” employing 3-D like designs and “burn-out” artwork, faux watermark designs can be utilized to get the look of watermarks at a fraction of pricey papers.

Ask your HPG printer rep for examples.

Each year, HardingPoorman Group tests our staff members color vision.  We initialed the testing from our work with the G & Master Certification process.  We use the  Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Test to make sure team members working closely with proofs and color match detailing maintain their expert ability to perform these vital functions.

Although statistics say that color vision decreases as we age, what HPG has actually found over the years is that our staff’s ability has gotten better!  In fact, we have several staff members who’s color visibility has increased over time.  G7 Certified Master Professional Jim Wachob, our Prepress Systems Manager, says our atypical results are likely due to HPG’s commitment to continuous staff education.

Because of our color testing, our staff members now know which hue variations they see best. They also know if there are colors that they don’t see as well. With this understanding, we can put the best team members on the right color matching projects, matching ability with subject matter.

You might say, at HPG, our color vision is 20-20!

When you have a dedicated staff that does fantastic work, you want to thank them for their talent and celebrate their hard work! At HPG, offering our thanks is something we take to heart.

Our staff Social Committee coordinates many HPG internal events throughout the year. They organize events like pitch-ins, holiday parties, and ice cream socials, as well as plan our community service projects and volunteer days for staff members. The committee does a great job letting our staff know that they are vitally important and HPG appreciates everything they do.

On March 16^th, in celebration of St.Patrick’s Day, the HPG Social Committee asked “A Cup Above” to help us celebrate. For a couple of hours that Friday afternoon, HPG staff members could choose from a variety of delicious smoothies – all “on the house.” A barista from A Cup Above has joined HPG several times in the past for coffee drinks, but this was the first time we used A Cup Above for smoothies –and they were great!

What unique things does your company do to show appreciation?