Fine Art Reproduction is nothing new to HP. In fact, they started with reproducing Thomas KinKade's famous artwork.

Now, HP is working with Kyoto International Culture Foundation to preserve 800-year old fine art from 3,500 temples and shrines in Japan. The Kyoto Foundation selected HP to help them create digitized prints of the deteriorating artwork.

If you're in the NYC area, you can check out the first digitally created prints at the ART Expo in the Jacob Javits Center, March 2-6. On display will be "The Five Great Guardian Gods of Buddhism" from the Daigo-ji Temple; "Tigers," (shown here) including "Tiger Drinking Water," from the Nanzenji Temple; and "Landscape of Katata" from the Zuihouin House, Daitokuji Temple.

I had the chance to meet with several HP executives today who told us about the long and tedious process of creating digital prints. It involves capturing the image with a special camera; reproducing the image on Japanese Washi paper made from the inner bark of mulberry and other trees; printing the image using HP's designjet 5500 UV 60-inch large-format printer; applying gold leafs; and mounting and framing for public display.  

This wasn't an easy task, however. Color matching, especially with the color black, was difficult to match. But HP worked closely with the Kyoto Foundation, developing color profiles. Their efforts worked, because these reproductions look exactly like the originals. Now HP is wondering if this process should be commercialized.

Other HP products used during the process are: HP xw4300 Workstation, HP Compaq nx7200 Notebook, HP mp2210 Digital Projector, HP Officejet 6210 All-in-One printer, ProCurve Networking by HP Switch 2724, and HP ProLiant ML100 server.

So if you're in Japan, visit the World Heritage Site in Kyoto to witness firsthand these beautiful reproductions. For more info on HP's art reproduction methods, visit their page on the Spirit of Kyoto.