Pre-PMA 2006: Canon has announced a new series of A3+ professional-quality inkjet printers, comprising the PIXMA Pro9500 and Pro9000, aimed at professional photographers. The Pro 9000 features an 8-colour ink system and has a max colour print speed up to 15ppm. The Pro 9500 uses a 10-colour pigment ink system and a colour print speed of up to 8ppm. Both printers have a 4800x2400 dpi resolution.

Press Release:

Professional quality PIXMA Pro series

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 21 February, 2006: Canon announces the launch of the PIXMA Pro9500 and Pro9000 for professional photographers. A new series of A3+ professional-quality inkjet printers, PIXMA Pro offers users a choice: the Pro9500, using a 10-colour ink system featuring new formulation “LUCIA” pigment ink, meets the most exacting commercial photographic requirements and delivers high quality, durable colour and monochrome output; the Pro9000 employs 8-colour dye inks and is suitable for general printing, especially high quality gloss photographs. PIXMA Pro printers leverage core Canon technologies – including FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) print heads – and benefit from the company’s experience in both consumer and professional print and capture markets. As a professional-quality range, new PIXMA Pro complements Canon’s EOS series of D-SLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras and broadens the PIXMA line up.

Availability from Autumn 2006

“The D-SLR market has experienced record growth in 2005 and is expected to show a sales increase of up to 264% : The PIXMA Pro series therefore meets the increasing demand for professional quality print output,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. “PIXMA Pro introduces the key technologies and brand values of PIXMA into the professional sphere: not only FINE print head speed and quality, but also outstanding design and ease of use. PIXMA Pro provides an enhanced imaging workflow to all photographic and imaging professionals shooting with D-SLR .”

The PIXMA Pro range features:

• A3+ 4800 x 2400 dpi resolution at 3 picolitre drop size3 or smaller for outstanding, professional quality photographic output
• 10-colour ink system with “LUCIA” pigment ink (Pro9500) for commercial-level longevity, with a 3-ink mono system for enhanced black and white output, low metamerism and reduced graininess
• Wide gamut, 8-colour dye ink delivery (Pro9000), with ChromaLife100 system for exceptional longevity and support for Canon’s glossy media range
• Single ink tank system, maximising efficiency and minimising wastage
• New design concept, sharing professional features with EOS DIGITAL, including textured metal access cover (metal lid: Pro9500 only)
• Tough and durable construction for professional use, using high grade internal and external components, including metal eject rollers and increased plate thickness
• Flat paper path, for heavyweight print media, with convenient front paper feed in addition to automatic top sheet feeder
• New software for professional photographers, including Easy-PhotoPrint Pro , an Adobe® Photoshop® CS/CS2 plug-in for a professional imaging workflow
• Advanced colour control available directly from the printer driver, including support for ICC (International Colour Consortium) colour profiles
• Optimised for EOS DIGITAL with Picture Style, Canon’s in-camera application that simplifies control of image processing parameters, with enhanced pro grade direct print functionality
• Compatible with Mac and PC systems

Dye or pigment ink delivery systems

Pro9500 and Pro9000 printers offer photographers a choice of two ink systems.
The Pro9500 uses a 10-colour ink system with new formulation “LUCIA” pigment ink. “LUCIA” ink is also featured on the new imagePROGRAF iPF5000, a professional 17” large format printer, and provides exceptional image permanence. Pigment ink is considered to be the industry standard for commercial output for photographic professionals and fine arts applications. Photo Black, Matte Black and Gray ink deliver higher contrast images with reduced metamerism and markedly diminished graininess, as well as outstanding neutral black and white prints. The Pro9500 also produces exceptional high-quality full colour output.

Employing an 8-colour dye ink delivery system – and benefiting from Canon’s ChromaLife100 technology – the Pro9000 is ideally suited for photo professionals and experienced amateurs whose priority is the production of a wide range of high colour output, including mirror gloss A3+ professional-quality photographs.

Professional printing and digital workflow

The PIXMA Pro Series is intended for use in professional studio environments and provides a streamlined workflow for faster, easier results when used with any digital SLR camera.
Both Pro9500 and Pro9000 printers are supplied with advanced software applications, including Easy-PhotoPrint Pro, an Adobe® Photoshop® CS/CS2 plug-in for seamless integration into a professional imaging workflow in Photoshop®.

Easy-PhotoPrint Pro includes:

• Pattern Print, where multiple images are printed on a single sheet, automatically applying different colour balance, brightness and contrast levels to each, allowing photographers to evaluate multiple print parameters
• Direct access to ICC colour profiles, ensuring images remain faithful to the subject
• RAW image printing – in conjunction with Canon Digital Photo Professional version 2.1, removes requirement to save RAW images in TIFF/JPEG format prior to printing

In addition, PIXMA Pro9500 and Pro9000 printers provide professional grade direct print output for Canon EOS DIGITAL cameras with Picture Style. This Canon advantage allows direct manual colour adjustments to be made, ensuring that images can be printed directly via PictBridge with precisely controlled characteristics.

New Media types

Canon’s competitive advantage in printer hardware technology is fully realised when genuine Canon photo grade media and inks are used.

PIXMA Pro is suitable for use with a range of high quality Canon media. In addition, two paper types are available in the new Fine Art Paper Series: Fine Art Paper Photo Rag™ (FA-PR1) and Fine Art Paper Premium Matte (FA-PM1).

Premium Matte is available in A4, A3 and A3+ (13” x 19”) sizes. A smooth textured heavy weight paper similar to Canon Matte Photo Paper MP-101, it has a weight of 210g/m2 and is ideal for production of the highest possible quality photo prints and other fine arts materials.
Photo Rag™ is a luxurious 100% cotton, acid free paper at A4, A3 and A3+ (13” x 19”) sizes. It has a subtle, textured surface at 188g/m2 and is a customised version of popular fine arts paper made by Hahnemüle. Exceptionally responsive to ink colours, Photo Rag™ is ideal for printing photo art.

Additional Information

Each printer comes bundled with the following software:

• Easy-PhotoPrint Pro – advanced imaging plug-in for Adobe® Photoshop® CS/CS2, allowing PIXMA Pro to be seamlessly integrated into the imaging workflow. Features include:
• RAW data printing (with Canon Digital Photo Professional version 2.1)
• Pattern Print, for free customisation of colours and contact printing
• Direct access to ICC colour profiles
• Monochrome mode, for printing colour data in black and white, with rich gradation and without colour shift
• Easy-PhotoPrint – provides three easy steps to printing photos. Assisting with options such as media selection and scaling, it includes features such as Face Sharpening for out-of-focus face correction, Red Eye Correction and Digital Face Smoothing to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
• Easy-WebPrint (Windows only) – sits on the Explorer toolbar and takes the frustration out of web page printing, saving time, ink and paper by correctly scaling output to prevent the common problem of having the right-hand side of web pages cut off.
• PhotoRecord (Windows only) – guides users through printing a personalised photo album, including assistance with printing on Canon's new double-sided media.
• CD-LabelPrint – simplifies printing directly onto print-ready CD-R and DVDs.

Compatibility

PIXMA Pro Series printers are compatible with Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, Mac and OS X v10.2.1 or later.

Technologies Explained

FINE

Canon's patented FINE semi-conductor manufacturing technique creates extraordinary print speeds for both photo as well as document printing by producing exceptionally long print heads with extremely high nozzle count and density. These get more ink on the page in less time than is possible with traditional inkjet technology, delivering fast borderless photo prints up to A3+ size. Colour nozzle numbers and print head length of both printers is twice that of previous models.

FINE also achieves virtually grain free photolab quality by delivering millions of microscopic 3 picolitre or smaller droplets (depending on model) each second with extremely high consistency and accuracy from 10 µm diameter Micro-Nozzles.

ChromaLife100

For improved fade resistance, the printer supports Canon’s ChromaLife100: a system of genuine Canon dye-based inks, which deliver exceptionally broad colour gamut, and specialised photo paper designed to work together with FINE print heads. This technology ‘triangle’ of nozzle design, ink and media produces prints that rival silver halide quality and longevity. Prints resist fading for 100 years when album-stored, 30 years when displayed under glass and 10 years when exposed to the effects of the air.