HP has announced a new mid-volume large-format printer, the 3.2m wide Latex FS70W, which will replace the existing Latex 3X00-series.
This builds on the Latex FS50 and FS60 series models that were introduced last year, offering similar functionality but with higher productivity. As such, it uses HP’s thermal printheads together with the fourth generation of its aqueous resin or latex ink. It’s a 6-color printer with CMYK plus light cyan and light magenta as well as white. There are two further printheads for the Optimiser, or primer, and the overcoat, which improves the scratch resistance. The colors are supplied in 10-liter cartridges with the white ink in 6-liter cartridges.
It includes an embedded spectrophotometer for automated color calibration. This works in conjunction with HP’s cloud-based PrintOS Configuration Center for centralized management of print operations, including color profiles, to ensure uniformity across multiple devices in different locations.
This printer can produce up to 162 square meters per hour in a 2-pass mode though HP is quoting the 3-pass 117 square meters per hour for outdoor work and the 4-pass 91 square meters per hour for indoor applications. Naturally, the white ink slows the productivity down. Thus 60% white spot is 57 square meters per hour while a 100% white overflood or underflood is 17 square meters per hour. For a three-layer backlit the speed drops to 10 square meters per hour or 3.7 square meters per hour for five layers.
It will print to the usual substrates, including self adhesive vinyl, banners, mesh, canvas and wall coverings. There’s an optional dual roll holder that allows two rolls up to 1.6m each to be printed side by side.
At the same time, HP announced a new Latex Productivity Kit that will allow customers with the Latex FS50 and FS60 series models to upgrade their printers to the FS70 spec. This kit upgrades some of the subsystems to improve productivity by up 30% for some applications. I believe the FS70W is essentially an FS60W with the productivity kit pre-installed at the factory. However, it’s worth noting that while the FS50 and FS60 models are available with or without white ink, the FS70 is only available with white ink.
According to HP’s press release, there is an enhanced version of the PrintOS Production Hub though HP routinely offers updates to this anyway. The PrintOS Production Hub centralizes order and production management. The latest updates feature integration of design & eCommerce orders, with an order dashboard that includes incoming eCommerce orders. These updates also offer consolidated analytics and monitoring for easier access to production data, as well as enhanced collaboration tools such as roles, permissions, comments, tags, and activity feeds. It also includes automatic preflight file checks, as well as assigning jobs to printers and sending orders to RIP. HP says that these features are compatible with any printing device.
Daniel Martinez, SVP and Division president, HP Large Format Printing, commented, “Following the success of the HP Latex R530 printer and the HP Latex 730 and 830 printer series earlier this year, we are now extending the scalable FS platform to deliver even more growth, quality, efficiency and sustainability for our customers. With continuous innovation through the HP PrintOS Production Hub, we’re not just delivering technology at a single point in time, we are ensuring our customers benefit from new functionality and opportunities every day.”
The Latex FS70W printer, Productivity Kit and enhanced HP PrintOS Production Hub should appear in some markets in early November 2025, with general availability in February 2026. You can find further details from hp.com.
