ABOVE: Detail from Tigers, from a series of panels from Nanzen-ji Temple; the deteriorating paintings will be replaced soon with high-tech reproductions.

HP, the company that is taking us all to the cleaners with every overpriced inkjet cartridge we buy, is partnering with the Kyoto International Culture Foundation in Japan to make high-quality reproductions of irreplaceable and delicate artworks from temples across Japan. The Kyoto Digital Archive Project will make reproductions of 3,500 pieces of art, spanning between the 13th and 17th centuries, and the originals will be moved to special climate-controlled storage so their forgeries stunt doubles can take their place.

HP is reportedly pursuing fine art reproduction as a growth area for their business: CNN Money says the art reproduction racket is a $7.5 billion per year industry and growing fast. Making the high-resolution digital scans of the art, and then using cutting-edge printers to make the repro is persnickety work, the kind of skilled work that you can charge an arm and a leg for. Better keep those ink cartridges, then.

LINK: CNN Money > HP’s new big business: art reproduction?