Canon fires up new flagship

PrintEx11 will be the ideal showcase for the launch of Canon’s new flagship colour press, the imagePRESS 7010VP, as well as highlighting the results of its joint development work with Océ.

There will be not one but two imagePRESS 7010VP machines on display at PrintEx. One will be on the Canon Australia stand and will mark the official launch of Canon’s latest flagship digital colour press. The other one on the Océ stand will be the Océ imagePRESS C7010VPS series, the first jointly-developed product from Canon and Océ combining the image quality and productivity of the Canon imagePRESS 7010VP with the processing power of the Océ PRISMAsync workflow software.

“As the first jointly-developed product it is an important demonstration of Canon and Océ’s existing R&D synergies and our ability to develop leading technology that ultimately will drive better solutions for customers,” said Craig Manson, director, Canon Business Imaging, Canon Australia. “With this launch we will begin to show how our R&D program, our broad range of products and our collective industry knowledge will help us to grow our customers’ businesses and become the global leader in the print industry.”

The imagePRESS 7010VP will provide customers with greater profitability through increased productivity and flexibility as well as the traditional imagePRESS benefits of exceptional quality and maximum performance on all media types and weights. New features include faster simplex and duplex output on a wider range of stocks (from 60-325gsm) and higher productivity on mixed-sided print jobs, offering commercial printers, print-for-pay businesses and print rooms a broader array of applications.

The new imagePRESS series also builds on Canon’s heritage and expertise in digital colour with the inclusion of X-Rite iProcess Control V3, an enhanced version of its colour management software. New features help to maximise the colour capability of the new press and deliver significant user benefits. Spot Colour Optimisation allows users to add specific spot colours into the profiling process and tune the imagePRESS to be able to hit them with greater accuracy.

Océ’s imagePRESS 7010VPS series takes colour production printing and workflow efficiency to the next level, offering customers the unique benefits of a press that combines Canon’s proven digital colour press technology with Océ’s PRISMAsync operation management. Damian Schaller, marketing manager at Océ said: “For print professionals, the merging of front-end and printing press into one integrated system delivers offset-quality print and improves production efficiency with the convenience, shorter run lengths and cost benefits of digital production.”

The Océ imagePRESS VPS series introduces a number of unique productivity-boosting features including an intelligent job scheduler and a media-based workflow that minimise downtime and increase the user’s freedom to plan ahead.

Wide range of products
In addition to the new imagePRESS machines, Canon Australia will be demonstrating two of its imageRUNNER Advance Pro series of devices –a full colour imageRUNNER Advance C9000 Pro and a monochrome imageRUNNER Advance 8000 – the latest in easy-to-use printing technology for light production environments with a range of output speeds.

In the large format print market, Canon will also be introducing the imagePROGRAF 8300s which is also the official launch of this product. Built for the photography, proofing and production markets, the iPF8300S delivers high quality imaging while increasing overall productivity. Equipped with an eight-colour LUCIA EX ink set, 160GB hard drive, built-in calibration and 44-inch borderless printing, the iPF8300S is an excellent solution for portraits, advertisements, retail signage and contract proofs.

The newly-formulated eight-colour ink set increases the achievable colour gamut by approximately 20 percent compared to previous imagePROGRAF eight-colour printers and provides for smooth colour gradations, improved scratch resistance and minimised colour shifts.
“From a technology point of view, we’ve got a wide range of products and can cover a large number of areas,” said Paul Thompson, general manager, production printing systems, Canon Australia.

“Digital is becoming stronger and stronger in terms of where it fits in these shows. For those traditional commercial printers who haven’t seen the light already, PrintEx is going to be an opportunity for them to see what’s on display and get a better understanding of what digital technology they can bring to their business to complement what they do.”