Canon PIXMA PRO-10 A3+ Professional Printer Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification



The PIXMA PRO-10 replaces the PIXMA Pro9500 MkII and features a 10-ink pigment-based system with Chroma Optimizer, making it ideal for semi-professional and serious amateur photographers looking to work with a wide range of media. The PRO-10 boasts print speeds of approx. 3 minutes 35 seconds for A3+ bordered images, whether colour or black and white.

Canon PIXMA PRO-10 Features

The Canon PIXMA Pro-10 features a total of 10 ink tanks, with 3 dedicated to black and white printing, and 1 dedicated to chrome optimiser, which helps produce glossy and even photo prints.



The Pixma Pro-10 features a 10-ink pigment system which Canon say has been improved since the Pro9500 MkII, now featuring Canon’s latest LUCIA inks and an updated colour set. The PRO-10 includes Chroma Optimizer ink inherited from the PIXMA PRO-1. Applied on top of prints, this clear ink expands colour gamut, increases black density and gives uniform glossiness for prints.

Like the PIXMA PRO-100, the PRO-10 supports media sizes up to A3+ and features a new manual rear paper-feed path with gradual curve design, making it easier to feed Fine Art Media up to 14” wide into the printer.

The model is compatible with an extensive range of ICC profiles. In addition, Canon has introduced a new Photo Paper Pro Luster (LU-101), which features a smooth texture and consistent look under display lighting, for a professional finish.

There are two rear paper feeds, one larger and curved for large paper. One front feed for card or printable CD/DVDs using the provided tray.

The printer uses pigment based ink with just 14ml in each cartridge. Replacement cartridges cost around £88 for a set of 10 genuine Canon ink cartridges. The cartridges consist of 6 colours: Photo Magenta, Photo Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Red, Cyan, 3 blacks: Photo Black, Matte Black, Gray and 1 Chroma Optimiser.

Key Features

• A3+ printer
• Gallery-quality A3+ photo printer
• 10-ink pigment-based system
• Quality greyscale prints with 3 mono inks
• 4800dpi, 4pl droplets
• Photolab quality print head
• Professional colour and mono prints
• Uniform, quality gloss and deep blacks
• Outstanding image permanence
• Print plug-in for efficient workflow
• Wide range of media support
• Enhanced connectivity, Wi-Fi certified, Ethernet
• 10 Single Lucia inks, Chroma optimizer clear ink
• Print directly onto CD/DVD discs

Canon PIXMA PRO-10 Handling

The Canon PIXMA Pro-10 is a large well built printer with large buttons helping to disguise how large the printer is. It is solidly built with thick plastics used for construction. Six large rubber feet on the bottom of the printer stop it from moving around when printing.



Software setup didn't take too long, roughly 10-15 minutes connecting the printer via the wireless network. It insisted on running a print head alignment which delayed setup slightly, and instructions didn't appear as easy to follow as other printers. Setup is easy to perform using the quick connect Wi-Fi button on the printer and wireless router, you simply press the button on the router, then press the button for three seconds on the printer. The Canon install software guides you through this process on screen, and when you're setup you can print a test page to make sure it's working correctly.

During setup it's possible to choose whether you are using a USB cable, ethernet or wireless. This means you can setup the printer without the need for a USB cable, although one is included in the box if needed.



At the front is a paper feed drop down flap, where you can also place the CD/DVD tray for printing on compatible discs.

Canon PIXMA PRO-10 Performance

The printer has a good number of options and settings in the printer control screens on the computer.

Print Speeds: Printing a large 36mp image on A3 with the photo fit to A3 (borderless), gives a print at 444ppi, and this takes roughly 12 minutes to print, using the highest quality settings available in the printers settings. A full page (borderless) photo print on A4 takes roughly 7 minutes at the highest quality settings, or 6 minutes at the standard photo quality setting (B+W prints are quicker at 4 minutes). We used Canon's Pro Platinum Photo paper (PT-101) which causes slower print speeds.

Ink use is noticeably high when printing A3 photos using the highest quality setting, with 1 ink tank saying it is running low prior to printing 1 A3 photo, followed by 3 additional cartridges reporting as running low afterwards! During printing the printer is extremely quiet, with effort needed to actually hear whether it is printing or not, however paper feeding into the printer is quite loud in comparison.

There is an option for "Black and White Photo Print" in settings. This has printed our black and white test image with a very slight sepia tone. The colour prints are very true to the originals with excellent colour gradation (see the brown hair), neutral greys (see the grey background in the model shot), and aren't overly contrasty.

Colour reproduction - these images show colour reproduction:

Canon Pixma Pro-10 large A3 print taken with the Nikon D800E.


Prints Black and White / Colour Reproduction


Prints Colour Reproduction

Canon PIXMA Pro-10 Sample Photos

Value For Money

The Canon PIXMA Pro-10 is available for around £500 - making the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 (with 9 larger ink tanks) the nearest competitor A3+ photo printer, available for around £575. The Canon PIXMA Pro-100 also offers monochrome inks for black and white prints, so to save money you could look at the Pro-100 with 8 ink tanks, available for around £349. The next step up from the PRO-10 is the PRO-1 with 12 inks and a price starting at around £689.

Canon PIXMA PRO-10 Verdict

The Canon PIXMA Pro-10 is capable of excellent photo lab quality prints, with excellent glossy prints. Colours are particularly impressive with accurate recreation of photo colours, as well as excellent handling of subtle skin tones and hair colour. With dedicated black and white inks we were hoping for better black and white prints, as ours came through with a slight sepia tone.

There aren't a massive selection of A3 photo printers available at this price point, with models coming in at much cheaper with less ink colours, or more expensive for larger ink tanks as standard. However with small ink cartridges it could quickly add up if you plan to print a lot of A3 colour photos, as a fresh set will set you back around £88. The printer has good Wi-Fi connectivity that is easy to setup, and it didn't mind printing large 36 megapixel photos from Photoshop. The Canon PIXMA Pro-10 feels like a well built product that should last well, producing excellent colour prints, although at quite a high price.

The Canon PIXMA Pro-10 delivers excellent quality large photo prints.

Canon PIXMA PRO-10 Pros

Easy Wi-Fi setup
CD printing tray
Excellent photo quality colour prints
Decent black and white reproduction*
Quiet printing

Canon PIXMA PRO-10 Cons

Quite small ink cartridges
Not the quickest at printing full size prints
Expensive for a full set of ink (~£88)
*Black and white prints have a very slight sepia tone

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

Canon PIXMA Pro-10 Specifications

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