ANYONE CAN PUBLISH, THANKS TO THE POWER OF BLURB AND HP INDIGO DIGITAL PRESSES

Publishing for the peopleIn 2003, Eileen Gittins set out on a mission to publish her own photo essay book—with two conditions. She wanted it to look like a book you’d buy at the bookstore, and she needed only 40 copies. It turned out that was enough to stop her mission cold. Gittins realized there was simply no cost-effective way to produce a small number of bookstore-quality books.

Gittins became determined to find a way to let anyone create stunning books, complete with a professional dust jacket, library bindery and superior image quality. Inspired, she founded Blurb, a creative publishing platform. With easy-to-use drag-and-drop book design software, Blurb enables anyone to create professional-quality books that can be shared or sold for profit.

For her fledgling company to succeed, Gittins needed a cost-effective method to print high-quality books that would impress even the most discerning clients, from picky parents to professional photographers. After evaluating different options, she chose the print-on-demand capabilities—and consistent offset and photo quality—of the HP Indigo press 5500 and the HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press.

“You can’t do this type of business with today’s offset technology,” explains Gittins, now Blurb’s CEO. “The economics don’t work for an order of one, ten or

even 100 books. The quality and economics are only possible because of the HP Indigo’s print-on-demand technology.”

Creating a global printing networkBlurb was lucky enough to receive global attention even before its official launch. It was then that Gittins realized the company needed international printing and fulfillment capabilities. Rather than develop a manufacturing operation in addition to its web software development, Blurb formed partnerships with independent digital print service providers worldwide, often aided by introductions by HP.

Today Blurb works with a network of print service providers in more than 60 countries, operating more than 80 HP Indigo digital presses. This allows Blurb’s customers to receive the high-quality books they expect in a matter of days. With more than 5,000 HP Indigo digital presses installed worldwide, Blurb can easily expand its network to increase capacity as business grows.

“We only have 55 people on staff at Blurb, so there is no way we could have feet on the ground in every location that our customers are in. HP has been instrumental in our search to find experienced print vendors around the world,” says Gittins.

To learn more, visit www.hp.com/go/graphicarts©2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. 4AA2-8268ENW, July 2009.

“You can’t do this type of business with today’s offset technology. The economics don’t work for an order of one, ten or even 100 books. The quality and economics are only possible because of the HP Indigo’s print-on-demand technology.”—Eileen Gittins, chief executive officer, Blurb

CHALLENGEEileen Gittins wanted to offer anyone the opportunity to create a stunning book that looked like something you could buy at the bookstore, at a price that allowed them to easily share or sell the book for profit.

SOLUTIONGittins founded Blurb, a creative publishing platform. And she chose the HP Indigo press 5500 and the HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press for the print-on-demand capabilities—and consistent offset and photo quality.

RESULTS Blurb’s year-to-date revenue is up 185 percent compared with this time last year.

The HP Indigo enables Blurb to attract an international customer base by offering the opportunity to create affordable, professional-quality books.

Customers are able to make highly personalised books and order only a few copies, avoiding high upfront costs and unnecessarily large print runs.

Blurb reduces the carbon footprint of its shipping by locating print operations close to its customers instead of shipping globally from a central location.

customers’ custom colour requirements, matching up to 97 percent of Pantone colours.

First-quality printing for first-quality workBlurb’s unique publishing platform allows its customers to save money too, particularly small businesses looking for cost-effective ways to market themselves in today’s economy. Thanks to print-on-demand technology, companies can make highly personalised books and order only a few copies, avoiding high upfront costs and unnecessarily large print runs.

And, as Blurb’s Photography.Book.Now competition demonstrates, these books will have the same level of quality that attracts the best and the brightest in photography, including famous fine art and Magnum photographers. The international competition offers participants the chance to win a $25,000 grand prize sponsored by HP.

Gittins explains that Photography.Book.Now celebrates artists and their work, and it brings together the best work with the highest-quality printing capabilities. “The caliber of work showcased in Blurb books in this competition demonstrates the quality that anyone can achieve using Blurb and HP Indigo technology. There is nothing better than showcasing first-quality work using first-quality printing,” says Gittins.

In addition, HP technology has been instrumental in Blurb’s ability to offer customers more control over the books they make—from the number of pages in the book to the number of copies ordered. The HP Indigo digital press is designed for the production of customised jobs with run lengths from one to 1,000 or more.

Compete on qualityBlurb prides itself on quality, another area where HP technology plays a vital role. Initially, the company used both the HP Indigo press 5500 and on a non-HP press to print colour books, but customers quickly noticed. Side by side, the HP Indigo’s output clearly won them over. Unwilling to settle for quality that was “just okay,” Blurb now prints every colour book on an HP Indigo digital press.

“Our decision to standardise on the HP Indigo has been one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. The HP Indigo really drives a different level of image quality,” says Gittins.

The HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press offers printing with up to seven colours, providing the widest digital colour gamut with 4-, 6- or 7-colour Pantone® emulation, including Pantone Goe®. Plus, the HP Indigo Ink Mixing System offers a consistent, accurate match for