Martin Parfitt
Art editor • 600D
“I’m rather partial to a panorama, so was amazed to see that the Canon IMAGE PROGRAF PRO-2000 printer can churn out prints up to 18 metres wide.”
As a Canon EOS DSLR photographer, you’ve already experienced the spectacular image quality delivered by their world-class cameras. What’s more, digital images don’t have to lose anything in the translation from computer screen to paper prints, when you create them on one of Canon’s equally excellent photo printers.
Over the years at Photoplus, we’ve been continually impressed by the evolving Canon PIXMA range of printers. They’ve repeatedly won us over with their sumptuous print quality, speedy output, long-term reliability and value for money. Then the Canon IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000 arrived at our test lab earlier this year and, frankly, blew us away. With 12 individual inks, including a Chroma Optimizer for an even finish on glossy paper, the Canon IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000 creates stunning large-format colour and mono photographic prints on all sorts of media, at up to A2 size – at 23.4x16.5 inches, that’s twice as big as an A3 print.
But to go extra-large, a Canon IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-2000 will take your photo printing to a different dimension, and give you the ability to produce incredible large-format prints ideal for you to sell online or in galleries.
Instead of using pre-cut sheets of media, the Canon IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-2000 incorporates a roll feeder that delivers a continuous supply of paper up to 24 inches wide. This enables even larger format printing; up to 36x24 inches for regular aspect-ratio images captured on a Canon DSLR or mirrorless camera. For an even more upscale bonus, you can also create huge panoramic prints of up to 18 metres wide.
The Canon IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-2000 is attractively designed and finished in black with a red line, in keeping with Canon’s prized top-end camera equipment. With dimensions of 111x98x117cm, it’s compact for a large-format printer. Build quality is outstanding, ensuring the level of stability and rigidity that’s essential in creating top-quality large-format prints. This is achieved by a new and ingenious chassis structure, which virtually eliminates vibrations and maintains the ultimate precision in ink and paper transport.
A truly high-tech device, the Canon IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-2000 features a brand-new and immensely powerful processing engine, an incredible 18,432 nozzles in the print head, sufficient to deliver a print resolution of 2400x1200 dpi (dots per inch), which is highly impressive for a large-format printer. A 320GB hard drive is built in, and the printer is well connected with USB and Ethernet ports, as well as full Wi-fi capabilities. Operation is quick and easy, thanks to Canon’s typically intuitive printer drivers and the inclusion of a 3.5-inch colour touchscreen LCD.
Optional extras include a dual roll unit. Adding versatility, this can be used as an additional feeder loaded with alternative media, or as a collection unit to roll finished output with the printed surface on the inside or the outside.
In our tests, print quality has often exceeded that of commercial print labs
Advanced photographers will enjoy the inclusion of Canon’s Print Studio Pro plug-in. This ensures ultimate fidelity when printing direct from popular high-end image-editing programs, such as Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, as well as from Canon’s own Digital Photo Professional software.
The bottom line comes back to fantastic print quality. Matching its impressive high-precision hardware, the Canon IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-2000 uses LUCIA PRO inks, which have been engineered to deliver richer colours and deeper blacks. Indeed, there are no less than four black and grey inks in the 12-ink lineup, enabling fabulous quality for black-and-white photo printing, as well as boosting the gamut and tonal range in both mono and colour output. In our tests with this range of inks and Canon’s range of glossy, matte and fine art papers, print quality often exceeded that of commercial print labs. And, of course, you get finished output in just a few minutes, while retaining full control over the whole process.
For getting your Canon EOS images out of the digital domain and into the real world, Canon’s large-format printers are the perfect way to display your photos.