LFP - Large-Format-Printing

CANON U.S.A STARTS NEW ERA OF LARGE FORMAT PRINTERS FOR THE TECHNICAL DOCUMENT AND GENERAL USE MARKETS

Thursday 30. April 2009 - Rapidly Growing imagePROGRAF Line Also Secures Number-Two Overall Market Share Position For Canon

With the popularity and use of its award-winning large format printer line continuing to grow, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging and office solutions, today unveiled four new large format printers – the 36-inch imagePROGRAF iPF755 and iPF750, and the 24-inch imagePROGRAF iPF655 and iPF650 – at the International Reprographic Association (IRgA) Convention and Trade show (Booth #825)

Specially designed to meet the demands of the Geographical Information System (GIS); Computer-Aided Design (CAD); Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC); Reprographics; and other Technical Document markets, these new, space-saving printers produce a diverse range of outputs from complex technical documents to spectacular full-color posters, faster and easier than ever before.

“The introduction of these new models extends Canon’s ability to offer an effective, efficiently designed, top-tier, large format printing solution, while helping to increase productivity with many new, user-friendly features,” said Jim Rosetta, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. “By offering versatile, compact models which maintain our highest image quality, we’re continuing to expand this highly successful and rapidly growing product line.”

imagePROGRAF Captures #2 Market Share
Canon began offering innovative large format models in 2006 with the rollout of the imagePROGRAF iPF line. Since then, Canon has built its lineup of imagePROGRAF printers to include more than 20 versatile models that address the various large format printing needs of engineers, graphic art designers, photographers, and professional printing services. Canon has quickly established itself as a major player in the large format market, capturing the number-two market share position in the wide format aqueous inkjet market above 24-inches wide, in 2008, according to InfoTrends, a leading worldwide market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industry.

“Capturing the number-two overall market share position is a testament to Canon’s commitment in the large format printing market,” said Tim Greene, director, Wide Format & Jetting Technologies, InfoTrends. “With its dedication to large format printing, Canon has developed some of the most advanced large format devices available.”

New Model Features
The new, ENERGY STAR-certified models were developed to maximize productivity with limited user intervention by incorporating features such as media loading and ink replacement from the front of the machine, a new sub-ink tank system which ensures uninterrupted printing, and a new stackable media catch basketI that enables users to print continuously without removing each output as they finish. Combined with the new space-saving design, the capability to load media from the top of the device enables flush wall installation in almost any type of working environment.

Prior to this release, Canon U.S.A. provided Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers, LLC with one of the new imagePROGRAF models to test and sample the many new features included on the new devices. “The new imagePROGRAF models definitely raise the bar in terms of a well designed, user-friendly plotter,” said Rajen Patel, IS/CADD manager, Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers, LLC. “The new compact design and fast print speeds make them an ideal upgrade for most large format printing environments.”

Recognizing image-quality and productivity are always among the highest concerns, the new, five-color imagePROGRAF iPF755, iPF750, iPF655, and iPF650 feature a new magenta ink for brighter reds and blues and utilize a new, super-high-density print head with redesigned nozzles that eject 4 picoliter droplets of ink, consistently producing up to 2400 x 1200 dots-per-inch (dpi) output with precise lines that are accurate to ±.10%II and as fine as 0.02 mmIII. All new models are capable of printing a D/A1 color line drawing in approximately 28 secondsIV, thanks in part to a standard gigabit network interface and a new, independently-driven, dual-blade cutter. The imagePROGRAF iPF755 and the iPF655 also ship with a built in 80GB hard drive to streamline workflow for a medium-sized networked environment or for those printing larger sized files with complex images.

In addition to several new features that improve productivity and maximize space, the new models come bundled with enhanced accounting functions that collect printer job log information such as client ID, ink and media consumption, media type and output size. Users will now be able to obtain estimated printing costs from this technology as an easy way to track in-house usage or for billing customers. A Print Plug-in for Microsoft Office also ships with all new models, enabling users of any skill level to create large format printouts of documents, images or illustrations that were created by Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint programs. Also included with the new imagePROGRAF iPF755, iPF750, iPF655 and iPF650 is a new version of the popular PosterArtist Lite, a simple poster creation software program. In addition to the features on the current version of PosterArtist Lite, the new version offers additional choices for basic design layout and WYSIWYG text editing that allows you see text at the correct size and font as you type.

Canon is also very focused on providing complete workflow solutions for the imagePROGRAF line. With this concept in mind, the imagePROGRAF Alliance Partner Program was designed to join forces with leading digital imaging and printing software developers to create workflows that enhance the capabilities of the imagePROGRAF devices and provide end-users more control. With the introduction of the new models, the following Alliance Partners have already completed software development and are compatible with the new devices:


Onyx
EFI
RATIO
SA International
SCP
Sepialine
PLP Digital Systems
Wasatch

These new printers represent a new era in large format printing. Now a typical workgroup environment can install a large format printer on their network without concern over space or technical knowledge of printing to one of these devices. They offer the compact design and ease of use that allows any type of user to produce beautiful and quality outputs at a fast speed.

The new Canon imagePROGRAF models will be available immediately through Authorized Canon dealers and will have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $4,995 for the iPF755, $4,495 for the iPF750, $3,195 for the iPF655, and $2,495 for the iPF650. A full version of PosterArtist is also available for $795.