Why Choose a Color Wide-Format Printer for Your Construction Business?
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The use of color in printing has long been a standard in advertising, education, and marketing. Even newspapers, long known as black-and-white publications, have switched over to color, citing the fact that color advertisements generate 43% more sales.
Construction, on the other hand, has not completely jumped on the bandwagon of color printing. However, new color wide-format printers are making the case for the industry’s cutting-edge firms. According to HP, 65% of construction professionals find color documents easier to understand when compared to monochromatic.
How Does Color Change the Game?
No construction project can succeed without precision and clear communication. There is no room for error. HP’s study confirmed that color documents reduced errors by an impressive factor of 80%. Many people find monochrome documents harder to comprehend. Color adds more dimensionality to a document by making it possible to highlight spaces, sections, and key items.
Color prints make it much easier for workers to understand documents that show three-dimensional spaces. With black-and-white print, black is the color used for all lines – it’s not uncommon for the people interpreting those lines to get lost, like in an M.C. Escher illusion.
Color documents not only work well for employees but also serve a better purpose during pitches to clients. Color documents are far more impressive than black-and-white ones, and further enhance the clients’ understanding of the structure itself. Explaining documents and the overall design is a lot easier when colors are employed.
Color does more than help establish clear communication. It also helps construction firms make sales:
- Brightly colored prints and renderings stand out in clients’ eyes. Clients who are willing to spend huge sums of money building structures want to feel like they are getting their money’s worth.
- Color helps clients retain key information. Drafts people who want something to stand out about their planned structure can color that element bright red or yellow.
- Color is already standard in the world of CAD design renderings. Clients are used to seeing beautiful 3D renderings in full color.
Color printing can also provide a higher return on investment for construction engineers. Color drafts can eliminate up to 3.9% of building site costs. Most of this reduction is due to the fact that contractors don’t have to spend money correcting workers’ errors. When a major construction project can cost upwards of $10 million, those percentage points add up.
HP DesignJet Technology Makes Color Accessible
HP wide-format printers offer both color and monochrome capability, giving construction firms the ability to choose between fast, cost-effective draft printing and bright, impressive color. The DesignJet series is the most powerful asset a construction manager could ask for, combining speed and on-site durability with the versatility to handle any workload.
- The entry-level DesignJet T120 printer is the smallest of the series. Unlike its larger cousins, it fits squarely on a desktop, making it ideal for mobile offices where space is at a premium.
- The larger, more full-featured HP DesignJet T1700 printer is a powerhouse capable of easily handling the most complex workflows with PostScript automation and dynamic security features.
Most of the mid-level T-series DesignJet printers also offer multi-functionality – the ability to print, scan, copy, and edit documents directly from their easy-to-use user interface. This can be a lifesaver on busy construction sites where your entire workforce is constantly on the move.
What Makes HP DesignJet Series Perfect for Construction?
The HP DesignJet series is built with the construction environment in mind. All of the printers feature a robust design that is both compact and portable. They can also be fitted into the smallest of offices on site, yet won’t break down even when exposed to dust, dirt, water, and waste.
The print capacity of the series is also superior to most. Using water-resistant pigment-based ink, the printers can print on vinyl and produce prints that resist damage. These high-resolution printers can deliver drafts, blueprints, sketches, and surveys with up to 1200 DPI resolution and feature options for scaling down to lower resolutions as well.
Every printer in the DesignJet line comes with HP Mobile Printing as a standard feature. Any device can be connected to the printers to print documents wirelessly. While an office may overlook the benefits of mobile printing, on-the-move construction professionals absolutely need to be able to download and print new drafts the second they arrive.
HP is one of the most reputable providers of print and imaging technology in the industry. The DesignJet series demonstrates that fact, giving construction professionals an accessible means for harnessing the power of color. HP color plotters give life to CAD drawings, blueprints, survey maps, and more, transforming their complexity into beauty.
You can begin using state-of-the-art HP technology on your construction site today. Call Kelley Create to get started!