PRESS RELEASE:
PRINT BRILLIANT COLOUR AND BREATHTAKING DETAIL WITH CANON'S NEW
imagePROGRAF iPF5000 LARGE FORMAT PRINTER
Canon's New imagePROGRAF iPF5000 Prints Eye-Catching Colour Images
Up To 17-inches Wide Just Minutes
2/21/06 - (2/21/06) Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leading provider of
office imaging systems, ink-jet technology and digital photography
equipment, today unveiled the new 12-colour imagePROGRAF iPF5000
pigment ink large format printer, designed to produce professional-style
prints at unparalleled speeds with outstanding archival image
quality.
This next evolution in Canon's large format portfolio provides
one of the industry's largest colour gamuts with Canon's 12-colour
inkset featuring new Lucia pigmented inks. Engineered for speed
and advanced image quality, the iPF5000 model uses Canon's new
L-COA controller and dual print heads to lay down ink quickly
and accurately using the most nozzles per-colour in the industry.
Coupled with a suite of innovative image processing software,
the iPF5000 device is ideal for professional photographers and
digital artists looking to have their images stand out in a crowd.
"The imagePROGRAF iPF5000 printer provides a range of newly
developed technological features above and beyond previous Canon
products including a large new inkset to position Canon as the
premier digital imaging solution provider from capture through
output. The iPF5000 model is truly the next generation in large
format printing," said Tod Pike, senior vice president, Imaging
Systems Group, Canon U.S.A., Inc. "Canon has capitalized
on its heritage and reputation in the digital imaging market to
bring about this outstanding print solution for the high-end digital
artist and photographer."
Radiant Colour
The iPF5000 printer's new Lucia inkset features Red, Blue, Green,
Gray, Photo Gray, Cyan, Photo Cyan, Magenta, Photo Magenta, Yellow,
Regular Black, and Matte Black pigmented inks. The large colour
gamut provided by 12 ink colours allows the iPF5000 printer to
reproduce brilliant hues and tones. The use of gray tones allows
the printer to render smooth gradation for crisp monotone output.
The iPF5000 printer loads all 12 ink tanks at once and utilizes
automatic switching between Regular Black and Matte Black, helping
to eliminate wasted ink and time swapping out ink tanks.
The use of ink colours such as gray, blue, red, and green allows
the printer to more accurately reproduce tones within these colour
ranges using significantly less ink. This new device experiences
less metamerism in its output by reducing the number of inks needed
to match colours. This is especially evident through the use of
gray inks.
"Wilhelm Imaging Research is currently testing the Lucia
pigment-based inks," said Henry Wilhelm, president of Wilhelm
Imaging Research, Inc. "A review of preliminary test data
indicates that prints made with the Lucia pigmented inks and select
Canon photo and fine art papers will have WIR Display Permanence
Ratings in excess of 100 years for colour images and significantly
beyond that for monochrome. The pigmented inks also provide excellent
short term colour drift behaviour which is critically important
for colour managed workflows and for proofing applications."
Blazing Print Speed
A technological triumph, the imagePROGRAF iPF5000 model uses
Canon's new dual print head design that has a total of 30,720
ink nozzles. The iPF5000 printer employs 2,560 nozzles per colour
for rapid print speeds, a maximum resolution of 2400 x 1200 dpi,
and a four picoliter droplet size. The increased number of nozzles
and automatic clogged nozzle detection helps reduce wear-and-tear
on the printhead.
Canon's newly developed L-COA controller enables the iPF5000
printer to operate at fast print speeds and accurately lay ink
for optimal image quality. As the last link in the image processing
chain, the L-COA controller intelligently processes the data directing
the rapid printing process. Combined with Canon's dual print head
design and the most ink nozzles per colour in the industry, the
L-COA controller helps achieve print speeds of under three minutes
for 16.5" x 23.4" (A2) size prints with 1200x1200dpi
resolution on a glossy photo paper.
With more than 30 types of Canon-branded media available and
the introduction of seven new fine art papers, the new iPF5000
printer provides users with a wide array of print options ranging
from glossy to canvas. The variety of media available for the
new iPF5000 provides the versatility and flexibility to complete
any number of industry applications.
For the high-speed high-production professional, the iPF5000
printer offers four media feed options--a front-loading cassette
for pre-cut sheet, a rear manual feed, a front straight path manual
feed for thicker media up to 1.5mm, or an optional roll feed for
longer paper lengths. The device features automatic media switching
between the cassette and the roll feed so users can keep two media
types loaded and ready to print, making their selection from the
print driver. The printer also comes with a built-in rotary media
cutter standard. The optional roll feed comes with two and three-inch
core adapters to accommodate all 17-inch Canon roll-stock media.
The optional roll feed and standard rotary media cutter help the
iPF5000 printer to provide true-borderless prints.
Workflow Software That Enhances Productivity and Image Quality
Along with exceptional printing speeds and enhanced image quality
the iPF5000 model also provides a suite of workflow software
Print Plug-in for Digital Photo Professional* (DPP) software
allows users to directly process and print RAW image file from
their DPP software. This plug-in is an export module that bypasses
the operating-system-dependent print driver allowing processing
of 16-bit RGB images, which dramatically increasing gradations
and as a result, overall image quality. The users will be able
to save colour profile and print settings to apply to future jobs
with the print history function. For those with Adobe(R) Photoshop(R)
workflow, the Print Plug-in is also available for Adobe(R) Photoshop(R)
for Windows and Macintosh with the same functionality. These two
Print Plug-in export modules combine an easy to use operation
with advanced image processing to produce extremely high quality
prints.
The imagePROGRAF Printer Driver 2006 for the iPF5000 has host
of features that enable even the novice users to start printing
like a pro. Features such as Easy Settings enables a user to print
optimum quality simply by selecting a per-configured print setting
from a list of popular poster types. For more advanced users,
the printer driver has advanced colour control capability, including
ICC Colour Matching to enable the use of custom output ICC profiles,
and Monochrome Photo mode to produce superb monochrome output
with a capability to fine-tune gray balance and tonality of highlights
and shadows. The driver is compatible both Windows(R) and Macintosh(R)
operating systems. For Windows driver, the driver has extra productivity
enhancing features such as Free Layout tool that allows for the
nesting of separate documents into a single document, and also
an imageRUNNER enlargement copy hot folder function, built right
into the printer driver.
Digital Photo Print Pro (DPPP), an image editing and management
program provides any level of user the means to create high quality
large format output from their digital images. DPPP includes tools
to correct red-eye, remove dust and fix back light problems along
with options for designing image layouts. This software also has
the capability of 2-way communication with Photoshop to give the
advanced user more flexibility in their image editing process.
PosterArtist 2006 is also bundled with the printer, providing
an easy way to create signs and posters.
The imagePROGRAF iPF5000 printer will be available through authorized
Canon U.S.A. dealers in April 2006 with a manufacturer's suggested
retail price of $1,945.
Canon will debut the imagePROGRAF iPF5000 larege format printer
in its booth (#3509) during the Photo Marketing Association (PMA)
exhibit in Orlando, Fla., from February 26th - March 1st, 2006.
About Canon U.S.A., Inc. Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer,
business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. The Company
is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America
and is rated #35 on the BusinessWeek list of "Top 100 Brands."
Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) is a top patent holder
of technology, ranking second overall in the U.S. in 2005, with
global revenues of $31.8 billion
