DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS

Canon Introduces New 44-inch imagePROGRAF iPF8000: Large Format Printer for Fine Art and Photography

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y.-- September 26, 2006 -- Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leading provider of office imaging systems, inkjet technology and digital photography equipment, today unveiled the new 12-color imagePROGRAF iPF8000 pigment ink large format printer. Designed to produce stunning color for professional quality giclee prints and photographs, the iPF8000 utilizes Canon's proprietary LUCIA pigment inks to print borderless images up to 42-inches wide, with a maximum paper width of 44-inches at amazing production speeds with outstanding archival image quality. The iPF8000 debuts at SGIA, (Booth #0534) September 26th, in Las Vegas.

Canon's Graphic Arts line of large format printers now includes the imagePROGRAF iPF5000, iPF8000, and iPF9000 printers at 17-, 44-, and 60-inches wide respectively. This expands Canon's large format portfolio which includes their recently announced Corporate and CAD line of large format print solutions. The new iPF8000 printer joins its two sister products by offering an extremely wide color gamut with a full 12-color inkset featuring LUCIA pigmented inks, along with the L-COA processor to quickly and accurately process high resolution image data.

With a maximum print resolution of 2400 x 1200 dpi, the new iPF8000 is ideal for color professionals with large-format printing needs, such as professional photographers, digital artists, graphic designers, commercial printers for proofing, print-for-pays, tradeshow exhibit builders, and signage shops. Advanced professional features such as automatic clogged nozzle detection and compensation for reliability, 330ml and 700ml selectable ink capacity sizes for versatility, a large, backlit LCD panel for ease of use, and ink usage tracking for accountability are all part of the new iPF8000 to satisfy every color professionals' large format printing needs.

"With a range of printer sizes and various media options, the iPF line of large format printers allows digital imaging professionals to choose the solution that will best render their images in the size, tone, and color that they desire for optimal viewing and display," said Tod Pike, senior vice president, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A., Inc. "The 44-inch imagePROGRAF iPF8000 printer strategically rounds out our line of 12-color large format printers."

The iPF8000 printer uses Red, Blue, Green, Gray, Photo Gray, Cyan, Photo Cyan, Magenta, Photo Magenta, Yellow, Regular Black, and Matte Black LUCIA pigment inks. The 12 ink colors enable the iPF8000 printer to render magnificent color and neutral, stable grayscales. Like its two sister products, the iPF8000 printer loads all 12 ink tanks at once and automatically switches between Regular Black and Matte Black inks, helping to eliminate wasted ink and the downtime of swapping out ink tanks. Each printer is shipped with a set of twelve 330ml LUCIA ink cartridges, and the users have an option to use 700ml large capacity ink cartridges to optimize efficiency.

In order to achieve the level of productivity required by print professionals, the iPF8000 is equipped with a countless number of time-saving features. The printer loads heavy roll paper from the front, eliminating the need to move the printer when changing paper, and the printer is capable of having the ink tank replaced without the need to stop the carriage, allowing for true uninterrupted operation. Additional features such as job log report total ink usage to a tenth of a milliliter and media usage in fractions of square feet to help make managing the running cost effortless. A larger LCD panel with instructional illustrations helps guide users through printer operation with minimal training.

As the last link in the image processing chain, the L-COA processor intelligently interprets image data, directing the fast printing process. Combined with Canon's dual print head design and the most ink nozzles per color in the industry, the L-COA processor helps achieve print speeds of under seven minutes for 33.1" x 46.8" (A0) size prints with 1200x1200 dpi resolution on a glossy photo paper. The iPF8000 printer's abundant number of nozzles and automatic clogged nozzle detection compensates if a nozzle becomes clogged by having other nozzles pull double-duty. This not only contributes to the printer's speed and accuracy but also helps reduce wear-and-tear on the print heads, increasing the reliability of the printer.

To make the state-of-the-art capability of the hardware even more accessible to users, the new iPF8000 comes with Print Plug-in for Adobe® Photoshop® for Macintosh OS® and Windows®, a professional-level photo printing tool to allow printing of 16-bit RGB files, and PosterArtist (for Windows only), an easy-to-use sign and poster creation program, Digital Photo Print Pro (for Windows only), a digital photo correction and layout program. The printer driver for Macintosh® and Windows® includes a new feature called "Free Layout", in which the users can freely lay out print images from various applications on roll fed paper to maximize media usage.

The new iPF8000 printer offers digital printing professionals with a wide variety of media substrates ranging from fine art and photographic paper and canvas to banner and signage material. The variety of media available for the new iPF8000 provides the versatility and flexibility to complete any number of industry applications.

The imagePROGRAF iPF8000 printer will be available through authorized Canon U.S.A. dealers in October 2006 with a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $5,995.