AshKCanon New Zealand has announced the launch of its new flagship PIXMA Pro series model, the PIXMA PRO-1, the world’s first A3+ printer to feature 12 separate inks. Featuring a design inspired by Canon’s EOS DSLR cameras, the PRO-1 is intended to produce the highest possible print quality in colour and monochrome, and is ideal for professional and serious amateur photographers. The PRO-1’s high levels of productivity also make it ideal for studio use and commercial exhibitions.
The PRO-1 features a unique 12-ink system, which significantly expands colour gamut in most areas and features a new Chroma Optimizer for increased black density and uniform glossiness. Five monochrome inks produce professional quality black and white prints with excellent detail in shadow and highlight areas, as well as smooth tonal gradation and suppressed graininess. Next-generation LUCIA pigment inks are used for outstanding image permanence, enabling photo-album archival life of more than 200 years.
The PRO-1 supports 1200 pixel-per-inch (ppi) input resolution (double that of previous generations of PIXMA Pros) to reflect the increasing number of pixels available on professional cameras and produce smoother prints with high resolutions of up to 4800×2400 dpi. The new Optimum Image Generating (OIG) system analyses the photo colour and precisely calculates the optimum ink combination and volume of ink droplets, which are then accurately placed on the paper by Canon’s FINE print head with 12,288 nozzles.
Smooth tonal gradations in colour and monochrome prints are achieved through 16-bits per channel printing capability. The PRO-1 also features three colour modes, including the new Photo Colour print mode which reproduces fresh blues and greens to match people’s memory of colours. Linear Tone mode reproduces colours with linear tone curve, while the ICC Profiles mode means users can utilise paper-specific colour profiles or create their own for added convenience.
The PIXMA PRO-1 can produce a gallery-quality A3+ print in approximately 2 minutes 55 seconds, down from 7 minutes 55 seconds for the PIXMA Pro9500 MkII. A 2.5x larger ink tank capacity compared with the nearest PIXMA model ensures longer running periods can be maintained between ink changes. Front-opening panels enable easy access to the tanks either side of the main printer body, and for efficiency the rear tray takes up to 20 sheets of photo paper, while the manual feed slot accepts photo paper up to 356mm (14”) wide and heavier fine art papers.
For saleable prints, real-time droplet volume control stabilises colour and ink density ensuring consistency of colour output from print to print. Reliability in a commercial environment is assured through the use of features commonly found on wide format professional printers, including a mist fan with an air circulation system and a tubular ink supply system separate to the print head for faster print speed. An Ethernet connection ensures the PIXMA PRO-1 can be shared easily over a network enabling multiple device connection for enhanced efficiency.
The PRO-1 comes with Easy-PhotoPrint Pro plug-in software which simplifies printer settings and allows batch printing. Support has now also been expanded to the full Adobe Photoshop family, including Lightroom . The printer can also automatically select the correct ICC profile for each Canon paper, and an expanded range of ICC profiles is available for Fine Art papers from well known manufacturers. The Colour Management Tool Pro software, which will be available by downloaded and supports x-rite colour management tools, including Colour Munki Photo and Colour Munki Design, and enables users to create custom ICC profiles to ensure the optimum output quality. The PRO-1 also includes the Ambient Light Correction feature so that users can select the type of lighting under which a print will be displayed. The print colours are then automatically adjusted to ensure the very best colour reproduction under different viewing conditions.
The PIXMA PRO-1 will be available nationally in New Zealand from early November 2011 (RRP: $1,849)
