Wide-format Printing Takes Off at the University of Washington.

The University of Washington has not even started marketing its new HP Designjet Z6100 wide-format printer and already it’s grabbing the attention of customers. The 42˝ printer was placed in the copy center at the undergraduate library, where it is visible to passing students.

“They go there for other things and they notice the posters,” says Patrick McNelly, operations manager.

Students have been ordering a lot of posters for class projects and presentations, he says, with demand peaking around midterms and finals.

“We’re now starting to see some repeat customers, and we’ve gotten a lot of good feedback on the quality,” he says.

The in-plant decided to add a wide-format printer when McNelly’s supervisor, Katy Folk-Way, attended the Association of College and University Printers conference and heard other in-plant managers gushing about how much wide-format printing has helped their businesses. So far, they’ve been right, McNelly says. The in-plant plans to build this business even more in the months ahead.

“This fall, we’re really hoping to ramp up our marketing of the service,” he says.

University of Washington Creative Communications, the largest U.S. in-plant according to sales, recently opened a copy center in a new university building just off campus. Find out more here: www.creatcom.washington.edu