HP has announced a free, downloadable software application for the HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer series that enables professional photographers to generate large format photo negatives for the production of high-quality, black and white silver halide photo prints.
HP is showcasing the Large Format Photo Negative solution for the first time at Les Rencontres d'Arles 2011 in Arles, France, during a conference titled, "The Best of Both Worlds: Digital Negatives for Black & White Silver Prints" on Tuesday, July 5 at 6 p.m. in Cour des Rencontres, Rue Fanton.
Available in September, the Large Format Photo Negative software package includes a paper preset for the HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer series that allows photographers to print a digital negative from a film, scanned or digital capture file onto a transparent substrate. Once printed, these large format photo negatives can be used as masters to produce high-quality black and white fine art prints through a contact process. The final print size is the same as that of the transparency, allowing an original 35 mm negative to be blown up as large as a 44-inch print.
"Last year, HP introduced a solution for creating high-value platinum prints, combining the best of conventional and digital techniques for the benefit of photographers and their fine art clients," said Santiago Morera, vice president and general manager, Designjet Large format Printing Solutions, HP. "Once again, HP is meeting photographers' needs with an innovative solution for more popular and affordable silver halide prints, demonstrating our commitment to helping photographers produce, showcase and archive their work."
While writing on film from digital data is not new, the Large Format Photo Negative solution offers one of the simplest, least expensive and highest-quality options available on the market. Users only need to have access to an HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer, the correct media and the free software package from the HP website to produce photo negatives. The Large Format Photo Negative solution can be used with any silver halide papers, including fixed or variable grade, and can be used to produce large format prints from 35mm images, enhance images from old or damaged negatives or archive digital files physically on film and paper.
Picto, a professional photo lab based in Paris, has been using the solution to produce large format photo negatives and meet their photographer clients' needs for a simple way to create silver halide, large format prints or hardcopy image archives from negatives.
"The Large Format Photo Negative solution from HP meets a long-standing demand we have heard from our clients," said Philippe Gassmann, chief executive officer, Picto. "We tried several options, but this is by far the most flexible and easy to use, allowing us to offer top-quality, affordable silver halide prints from original negatives."
[photo shows negative being printed on HP Designjet Z3200ps]
