CANON U.S.A. DELIVERS FOUR NEW HIGH-SPEED COLOR PRODUCTION LARGE FORMAT PRINTER MODELS

Four New imagePROGRAF 44-Inch Large Format Printers - iPF810, iPF820, iPF810 PRO and iPF820 PRO Break New Ground for the Inkjet Color Production Technical Documents Market

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., September 10, 2008 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leading provider of office imaging systems, inkjet technology and digital photography equipment, today introduced four new high-speed color production imagePROGRAF large format printer systems – the iPF810, iPF820, iPF810 PRO and the iPF820 PRO – designed for the Geographical Information System (GIS); Computer-Aided Design (CAD); Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC); Reprographics; and other Technical Document markets.

The new models address mid- to high-volume color technical document production needs of medium to large-sized corporations and reprographic establishments. All models are capable of printing two full-density D/A1-sized (23.4 inches x 33.1 inches) color plots in less than a minute, and finishes E/A0-sized (33.1 inches x 46.8 inches) plot in just 45 seconds including cutting time1, and are capable of producing 117 D/A1-sized plots per hour2. The new printers can be paired with an optional inline 44-inch 300-sheet capacity plain paper stacker to neatly stack collated sets for unattended printing and easier distribution. The iPF810/iPF810 PRO have a single input roll configuration, supporting up to a 500-foot 20-lb. bond roll, whereas the iPF820/iPF820 PRO comes with an automatically switching dual roll feeder supporting up to two 500 foot rolls. The iPF820/iPF820 PRO can simultaneously accommodate two media rolls of different size and type.

Allowing maximum productivity with limited user intervention, all models can be equipped with 330ml or economical 700ml hot swappable ink cartridges (pigment-based Matte Black, and dye-based Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black), 80GB hard disk with secure erase (DOD compliant) and up to 29 password protected user-inboxes. In addition, all models also come with a high-capacity portable output media basket, self-driven dual rotary blade cutter for accurate and reliable media cutting, USB 2.0 High Speed interface, and 10/100 Base-T/TX connectivity.

All models deliver superb image quality even at the highest speed mode, offering true 1200 dpi high-resolution printing with 0.02 mm minimum line width3, precise ±0.1% line accuracy4, and a large printing area with only 3 mm (0.12") of margins all around with roll feed paper. With select paper types (coated and glossy/semi-glossy paper types) four-sided borderless printing is possible up to 42 inches.

The completely redesigned HDI driver for the new models outputs AutoCAD data in a vector format resulting in quicker spooling times. The new in-printer processing feature offers auto-rotation to minimize paper waste, multiple job nesting, color emulation modes to match internal color palettes of current and legacy inkjet plotters from other manufacturers, as well as allows the hard disk to be used as virtual memory to prevent memory overflow commonly seen in other RAM-based standalone inkjet plotters.

"These new imagePROGRAF models will give the high volume technical document user the opportunity to print quality and precise large sized prints easily and efficiently," said Jim Rosetta, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A.

The iPF810 PRO and iPF820 PRO models come bundled with CAD|STATION PS+, an Adobe® PostScript® workflow software solution developed by RATIO, that is essential for those in the technical documents and color reprographic production market. The software is a server-based application supporting printing of not only PostScript and PDF files, but also popular technical drawing formats such as JPEG, TIFF, TIFF Multipage, HPGL, HPGL-2, HP/RTL, and DWF, just to name a few.

Since printing sets of drawings is an important element to creating an efficient workflow, CAD|STATION PS+ makes this process seamless by providing batch printing and nesting capabilities, options for Web-based job submission, as well as job and print queue management abilities. The software also has the capability to track usage information for cost and account management so business owners are able to specifically target where costs are being incurred. The added features and functionality enabled by the addition of CAD|STATION PS+ makes a truly effective solution for end users looking to streamline their workflow.

All models come with a full set of five 330ml ink cartridges (one cartridge each for Matte Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black), Windows and Macintosh printer driver, a stand, and a portable media basket.

The new Canon imagePROGRAF models are scheduled to be available in October 2008, and will have a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $5,795 for the iPF810, $7,795 for the iPF810 PRO, $7,495 for the iPF820, $9,495 for the iPF820 PRO, and $2,295 for optional inline 44-inch 300-sheet plain paper stacker.

Source: Canon U.S.A., Inc.