Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6100 printer

Press release:
Canon UK, world leader in digital imaging technology, today announced the launch of the 24in. imagePROGRAF iPF6100 large-format printer (LFP), aimed primarily at the photography, fine art and graphic arts markets. Canon's overall market share has increased significantly year-on-year from 5% in 2005 to 13% in 2006 with an expected forecast increase of 20% by the end of 2007, and this latest product launch highlights its commitment to the market.

Boasting industry-leading technologies, the imagePROGRAF iPF6100, which is available from July, is designed to deliver high quality output at high speed.  The 12-colour LUCIA ink system includes additional red, green and blue colours to give an exceptionally wide colour gamut, which is well-balanced with clear, vibrant colours and smooth gradation making it suited to high quality printing - essential for the photography and fine art sectors.  The machine also incorporates four new monochrome inks: black, matte black, grey and photo grey, to further enhance the quality of prints, which are more durable and scratch resistant. The inks minimise the bronzing effect that can sometimes occur in certain light conditions. The imagePROGRAF iPF6100 has two high-density print heads that can deliver an outstanding print resolution of 2400x1200dpi.

Anne Sharp, Product Marketing Manager LFP, Canon UK said: "Last year was a record year for Canon in the LFP sector launching six new large format printers, enabling us to nearly treble our share of the market. The launch of the iPF6100 demonstrates that Canon continues to invest in its LFP portfolio, which will be expanded further in 2007."

The imagePROGRAF iPF6100 has a new colour calibration tool that adjusts colour differences caused by ageing print heads, or slight variances between different printers, for more stable colour reproduction. This means that there's no need for external colour calibration devices, saving time and money.  The in-built tool, which is easy to use, performs an accurate adjustment in approximately 10 minutes and once calibrated, all media types are set.

"The accuracy of the imagePROGRAF 6100 is enhanced by Canon's new colour calibration tool.  Where customers run a number of machines side-by-side or with similar content, the colour differences between machines can be easily corrected.  Colour accuracy and consistency is essential to the photography and fine arts markets and the imagePROGRAF iPF6100 delivers just this, print after print," Sharp said. "Also, with Canon's new next-generation colour management technology, Kyuanos, they can adjust how the image is printed, so that the poster reflects colours as the designer intended when it's on display. A poster can appear reddish under incandescent lighting, or look blue under fluorescent light, but with Kyuanos you can compensate for that during the printing stage."

The imagePROGRAF iPF6100 comes with a range of features to ensure that set up and operation are as simple as possible.  These include image input and selection with the imagePROGRAF Image Viewer and an Adobe Photoshop plug-in.  Canon's new high quality poster creating software, PosterArtist 2007, is also available as an option.