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March 03, 2007
[ TURNING YOUR PHOTOS INTO A BOOK ]
FANCY TURNING YOUR FABULOUS PHOTOS INTO A BOOK? Or putting them on a calendar? Or would they look good as collage on a huge poster?
All of these creative applications of photography have been available before but Hewlett Packard have brought them all together in one big system that they call the Photosmart Studio.
We took a trial run on the new HP system at Camerahouse in Lonsdale street and came away with a 22 page book, a twelve month calendar, a 60 by 97 cm poster and three birthday cards, all in about an hour.
Glynn Lavender, the store manager, was adamant that we get the full customer do-it-yourself experience so he stood back, hands in pockets and mouth more or less closed, while we navigated through the setup process on the large “kiosk” screen.
First, put your medium in the slot -- either a CD or a memory card. Next, choose your output: book, calendar, poster, greeting card or personalised CD/DVD. From that point on it is a doddle because HP have created one of the best customer DIY interfaces we have ever seen.
The heart of the HP Photosmart Studio is a computer and two printers -- a high quality laser printer for output up to 30 cm by 30 cm and a wide format inkjet for large posters. So far HP have installed systems in Melbourne and Sydney with other cities to follow as units become available. The system has been up and running in the US since May last year so it is truly mature.
The laser printed pages for albums, calendars and greeting cards are on heavy, low sheen, coated paper and the reproduction is akin to very high magazine quality. The system does best with pictures with good contrast and, for skin tones, tending to warmer rather than cooler.
We were a little sceptical about laser printer output but this is a superior machine that reproduces colours accurately and preserves the smallest and most subtle detail in the prints.
Blacks are particularly rich and free of any printing artifacts, such as bands, lines or uneven toner distribution. Black and white reproduction is sensational. And the calendars have to be seen to be believed.
Prices are formidable but reasonable. A 30 by 30 cm album of ten pages (five sheets of paper) in a hard cover costs $40. Each additional page costs $1.25. For a high quality, one off book with such a high degree of customer control at the layout stage this is exceptional value for money. Smaller album sizes are cheaper. And greeting cards cost $3 each, which means that you won’t be paying much more for a personalised birthday card than for the commercial item at the newsagent.
The 30 by 30cm calendar, spiral bound, costs $35 and posters range from $20 for 40 by 50cms up to $50 for the largest size. The posters are printed on heavy paper stabilised with what feels like a fibre backing. Poster colour output tends to cool, so warmer images look best.
We are really impressed! Our recommendation is to start with one of the small format books to get a feel for the system and then, once hooked, go for the big one.
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Posted by terry at March 3, 2007 12:00 AM
Worth Checking Out
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