14 DAY TRIAL // Canon today released its new 12-color imagePROGRAF iPF5000 pigment ink large format printer, developed to provide to professionals an enhanced image quality and high speed, informs Hardware Zone.
The imagePROGRAF iPF5000 model uses Canon's new dual print head design that has a total of 30,720 ink nozzles. More precisely, it employs 2,560 nozzles per color for rapid print speeds, a maximum resolution of 2400 x 1200 dpi, and a four picoliter droplet size, and, furthermore, a wide range of print options ranging from glossy to canvas.
Canon's recent technology - the L-COA controller - is said to process the data directing the rapid printing process, enabling the iPF5000 printer to operate at fast print speeds and lay ink in a plain layer for an optimal image quality.
Because it is combined with other capabilities of the printer such as the dual print head design and the ink nozzles per color, the L-COA controller is able to deliver print speeds of under three minutes for 16.5" x 23.4" (A2) size prints with 1200x1200dpi resolution on a glossy photo paper.
The printer also comes with a built-in rotary media cutter standard and an optional roll feed, which comes with two and three-inch core adapters to house all 17-inch Canon roll-stock media.
"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 Andrew Koh, Director & GM, Consumer Imaging and Information Division of Canon Singapore. "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."
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, as the wide color gamut provided by 12 ink colors allows the iPF5000 printer to reproduce enhanced shades and tones. Furthermore, the iPF5000 printer loads all 12 ink tanks at once and utilizes automatic switching between Regular Black and Matte Black, diminishing the quantum of wasted ink.
But Canon's printer comes with several dedicated software tools such as the Print Plug-in for Digital Photo Professional (DPP), an export module that bypasses the operating-system-dependent print driver processing of 16-bit RGB images, which increases gradations and, of course, the overall image quality. Moreover, DPP is believed to enable users to directly process and print RAW image file from their DPP software.
For professionals, the printer driver has advanced color control capability, including ICC Color Matching to enable the use of custom output ICC profiles and Monochrome Photo mode to produce a monochrome output with a capability to fine-tune gray balance and tonality of highlights and shadows. (The driver is compatible both Windows and Macintosh operating systems.)