Choosing the right Canon printer (UPDATED: Aug 7, 2015)

There are a ton of Canon printers on Adorama, Amazon,and B&H to choose from but for this article I’m going to focus specifically on printers designed for those who wish to do professional quality photo printing typically referred to as Fine Art printing. This means I’ll skip a larger number of PIXMA printers with the “photo printing” moniker. Canon calls their pro photography printers the Professional Photo Inkjet Printers and Professional Large Format Graphics Art Inkjet Printers.

Narrowing the Selection

Canon offers a dozen printers in the aforementioned subset, but for this article I’m going to target the 4 that I believe are targeted to the high end consumer and professional photographers that read this blog. Therefore my recommended subset of Canon pro printers for photographers to consider are as follows:

Canon PRO-1 – The Best Black & White Printer Ever Made? Henry Wilhelm Thinks So!

Canon PIXMA PRO-1 Photo Printer (Adorama, Amazon, Canon Store and B&H)

This desktop printer supports a maximum of 13x19” sheet paper is very comparable to the Epson SureColor P600 and Epson Stylus® Pro 3880 and is a great choice for those doing small scale fine art prints. It does 4x6” sheet prints very well, and Canon camera users will appreciate the fantastic results they get when they do NOTHING to their in-camera JPEG images and just send them to this printer.

One thing to keep in mind about this printer is that it is surprisingly large and heavy, so do your measurements first before ordering. Definitely plan to lift it with a friend too!

Read my review here and/or order yours today at Adorama, Amazon, and B&H.

Also see my PRO-10 review if you are wanting all the goodness of a PRO-1 with wireless and AirPrint support.

imagePROGRAF iPF5100 - The pro solution for the (large) desktop

Canon imagePROGRAF iPF5100 Large Format Printer

This is a printer designed for those who might be considering the Epson 3880 or 4900. Size-wise it is larger and heavier than Epson’s 4900, so space planning should be done prior to taking delivery. This is not going to fit on your average desktop like a Canon PRO-1 or Epson 3880.

Feature wise the iPF5100 is a 17” wide pro printer featuring roll paper support and technology from the last generation of Canon printers so it offers Lucia inks (instead of Lucia EX) and previous generation control panel and processor technologies. This is a fine solution for those who don’t wish to go up to a 24” wide printer and who find the print quality and archival needs of this printer sufficient for the work they are doing. It’s designed for heavy duty and larger volume printing than the Pro9500, so it’s an ideal choice for the wedding or studio photographer.

Learn more here or buy one today at Amazon, B&H or Adorama.

Ink Cost: $0.58/ml (as of 9/10/2010 @ JVHTech)

Canon imagePROGRAF 6400/6450 – The 24” WOW Printer

Canon iPF6450 – Large Print Heaven!
iPF6400, iPF6450, iPF8400 and iPF9400 at B&H
iPF6400, iPF6450, iPF8400 and iPF9400 at Amazon

Let me cut to the chase and say I’m biased because I have a iPF6450 printer and love it (see my review). I also adored my iPF6300 that I had before it! This is an outstanding 24” wide format printer that is pure joy to use, but it is very big so space should definitely be a consideration before considering a printer this large. However, it is smaller and lighter than Epson’s 7900.  

This is is a true wide format printer designed for those who want to go large with fine art prints. It’s primarily designed to print from rolls. It can print cut sheets, but it’s just less enjoyable as you have to eject your roll paper and feed them one at a time. However, given the nature of fine art work, it’s common to do that even on printers that support multiple sheet feeders. It’s a fantastic choice for “wow” panoramas too (I did a 24”x51” borderless print of Seattle that still has me giggling like a school girl years later).

The 12-Color LUCIA EX ink based printers are the latest in print technology offered by Canon and feature an ink which Henry Wilhelm has declared as the greatest invention for printing since the invention of the ink jet printer (source: Randy Hufford & Canon USA).

You can read more here about some of the benefits of these new printers, but what I can tell you is that every pro who I’ve talked to who has used one of these new *300 and *400 series printers has said great things about them. Starting with the *300’s many have stated (including former Epson Stylus® Professionals – off the record) that Canon is “finally in the pro printer game” (meaning these are as good as anything else out there). Their words were less kind about the prior generations, so beware of great sales right now on outgoing models as there’s a reason for it! They may look the same, but print quality-wise they are in a league of their own in the Canon print lineup thanks to improved processors, ink, print head improvements and much more.

iPF6400 versus iPF6450

The ONLY difference between the iPF6400 and iPF6350 is that the later has a hard drive which is handy for a number of reasons – mostly doing re-prints. My recommendation is to spend the extra bucks and get the iPF6450 if you can. Everything is besides the hard drive is identical between these two printers, so if you want to save a few bucks then the iPF6400 is a great choice – just be prepared for iPF6450 envy when you see someone using one and their print job frees up their computer very quickly!

Learn more here or buy one today at B&H or Adorama.

Ink Cost: 61 cents per ml for the 130ml ink tanks versus 47 cents per ml in the new larger 300ml ink tanks (as of the time this article was written)

imagePROGRAF iPF8400

Image Courtesy of Canon USA

Like its competitor, the Epson 9900, this 44” wide printer is a beast designed for a high end print masters and print shops, but not your typical photographer. Sure, it’s just as easy to use as the other printers, but the size is closer to a smart fortwo! It’s effectively just a larger version of the fantastic iPF6450, so if you need the extra width then this is a great choice.

Learn more here or buy one today at B&H or Adorama.

Ink Cost: 61 cents per ml for the 130ml ink tanks versus 47 cents per ml in the new larger 300ml ink tanks (as of the time this article was written)

Get a FREE Print Sample

Click here to get a using LUCIA EX inks and Canon papers. In the past you’ve been able to submit your own image and choose to do prints from each of the printers provided, but I haven’t tested this offer so you’ll have to check it out for yourself.

Attention Northwest Shoppers – JVH Technical – A GREAT Place to buy local

Talk to anyone in the Northwest who is serious about printing, and odds are they’ve come across the path of John Harrington (no, not this one) and his company JVH Technical, LLC. When you do, the first words out of their mouth are always “John is a great guy”, and after meeting him myself I have to agree. John and his son Ryan are a big volume printer sales and supplies company with home grown service – literally – they run the business out of their really cool classic Northwest home!

Now, I know to some this business operated from John’s home might be a turn off, but the reality is that when John talks about printing people listen. Industry greats like Canon Explorer of Light Greg Gorman (featured on my Top Photographers list) , John Paul Caponigro, Randy Hufford, and Bambi Cantrell have been in attendance to his past open houses (sponsored by Epson and Canon). His printer sales blow away even local big shots like Glazers and Kenmore Camera, so it may seem small but it’s really quite big. Their annual digital print festival is a great treat to attend too!

This is no small mom and pop shop either, as John carries an inventory of over $400,000 in fine art papers and a huge selection of the latest printers from Epson and Canon that are available for immediate delivery. Not only that, they’ll deliver and install them for you at no charge! In fact, even if you didn’t buy your printer from John, if you have questions or are having problems odds are they’ll come out to your house and help make things right again – usually at no charge! In addition, John’s always happy to provide free samples of the papers you’ve wanted to try, but are wondering if they are worth the expense! This is the kind of customer service that simply doesn’t exist very much in the world today, but it is also why everyone loves JVH! I can’t recommend them enough as a great local resource for printers and supplies, and if you do go visit John or Ryan as a result of this article (or series) please be sure to tell them that I sent you. They may just have something special for you for doing so - wink wink

Here’s more in John’s own words as to why you should buy from JVH.

PLEASE READ

If you have any interest in printing, you must check out my Printing Series page. It has a wealth of information which you are sure to enjoy. You will probably also find my article entitled Which Printer Should I Buy? Epson or Canon? to be helpful as well.

Disclosure

Canon has provided me with a PRO-1, iPF6300, iPF6450 paper and extra ink so that I may bring you this series on printing. I do not get any monetary compensation from Canon, but I do get a commission if you use my links to Adorama, B&H, or Amazon so thanks for supporting the blog! I have no specific arrangements with JVH for a commission, but please mention this blog as a token of my appreciation to John & Ryan for their assistance in this series.

COMPARISON: Canon iPF6450 -vs- iPF6300 – Part I

My iPF6450 began its life at PhotoPlus Expo 2012

If you followed my printing series and/or read my Printing 101 eBook, then you probably know how found I am of my Canon iPF6300. It is a great printer and certainly part of a family of Lucia EX based printers that really got Canon into the same game as Epson. However, as great as it was, there was room for improvement as the gradients and tonal range were marginally better on the higher end Epson printers.

With the new iPF6400, iPF6450, iPF8400 and iPF9400 Canon worked hard to address the feedback from customers about how to make the the ultimate Canon printer for photographers. Some of the improvements include:

• A new multi-sensor for better accuracy and faster performance
• Gallery wrap feature built into the driver
• Calibration Linking (link multiple printers together and calibrate together - see pdf for more info from one PC)
• Improved driver with support for variations like the PRO-1 (woohoo, this is a great addition that won’t be back ported to the iPFx300 printers.
• An optional integrated Spectrophotometer for the iPF6450 only – shown below

My iPF6450 is shown here with the optional onboard SU-21 Spectrophotometer accessory ($1795)

Of course there’s the marketing improvements mentioned above, but there’s also living with the new printer. I’ll dive more into what it’s like to own the iPF6450 based on my experience owning the following professional quality printers:

• Epson Stylus® Pro 3880 
• Epson Stylus® Pro 4900
• Canon PRO-1
• Canon iPF6300

Why are you comparing the 6300 to the 6450 and not the 6300?

Since I know this will be a FAQ, let me state up front a few important facts:

1. The 6300 & 6350 are functionally identical, but the 6350 adds a hard drive.
2. The 6400 & 6450 are functionally identical, but the 6450 adds a hard drive.
3. The 6300, 6350 and 8300 are functionally identical and print exactly the same. The differences are only the paper size and the absence of the hard drive on the 6300.
4. The 6400, 6450, 8300 and 9400 are functionally identical and print exactly the same. The differences are only the paper size and the absence of the hard drive on the 6400.

With these facts in mind I decided that since I covered the iPF6300 base model so well in my first review, that it made more sense to cover a model with a hard drive for the review of the new models. THE PRINT RESULTS ARE THE SAME, but the *50 models have the added convenience of a hard drive which allows you to reprint jobs very easily without using your computer.

The iPF6450 is unique in this line up in that it is also the only printer that supports an optional integrated spectrophotometer (SU-21 for $1795). I do not have a SU-21 and am not sure if I’ll get one to review, but that was also another consideration for me choosing this model.

Physical Differences

Canon iPF6300 - PCMag.com Readers Choice
39.1 x 46.4 x 34.3" (99.3 x 117.9 x 87.1cm) with stand
Approx. 146 lb (66.2 kg) with stand

Canon iPF6450
39.4 x 48.3 x 34.3" (100.08 x 122.68 x 87.1 cm) with stand
154 lb (69.85 kg) including stand

Size-wise these two printers are roughly identical in size with the 6450 being a little heavier and slightly larger. If you look carefully though you’ll notice one big difference and that has to do with the size of the ink reservoirs shown below:

Canon iPF6300/6350's Ink Reservoir

Canon iPF6400/6450's Ink Reservoir

Here’s views of them open:

iPF6300/6350 Ink Reservoir supports only 130 ml Ink Tanks

iPF6400/6450 Ink Reservoir supports both 130 & 300ml Ink Tanks

As you can see the older model only supports 130ml ink tanks, but the new model supports both 130ml (PFI-106) and 300ml (PFI-206) ink tanks which is great because you can upgrade without wasting ink and you can take advantage of the value savings of larger ink tanks. That comes out to about 61 cents per ml for the 130ml ink tanks versus 47 cents per ml in the new larger 300ml ink tanks (as of the time this article was written). That’s can be a pretty significant cost savings!

Cost Savings with the iPF6400/6450

Now you take that cost savings and you add the fact that the iPF6400/iPF6450 uses less ink (from what I’m observing – using identical settings) and the larger tanks and this can be significant over the year. Let’s just say you print five portraits similar to the one below at 13x19” each week (or any combo thereof) and you do that for a year.

This image printed at 13x19” was printed the exact same paper and settings on both printers
Accounting Manager reported 2.152ml with the 6300 vs 1.7155ml with the 6450

Accounting Manager reported 2.152ml of ink was consumed with the 6300 vs 1.7155ml with the 6450. That would mean that using the smaller 130ml tanks in the iPF6300 it would cost me ($0.61 * 2.152ml per print * 5 per week * 52 weeks) about $341.31. For the iPF6450 with the larger 300ml tanks it would cost me ($0.47 * 1.7155ml per print * 5 per week * 52 weeks) about $209.63. That’s a $131.67 savings for even the most casual user, whereas working professionals and printing business will see HUGE savings worthy of an upgrade.

Control Panels

For printing businesses looking to integrate some of the newer printers in with their older printers, you’ll be happy to notice that the new control panels are identical to their predecessors:

iPF6300 Control Panel

iPF6450 Control Panel

There’s nothing new to learn here and under the covers they seem functionally the same.

Setup and Overall Usage

I’ll cover this topic in more depth in future articles, but fundamentally both printers work the same way. Your workflow won’t be any different, but the new x4xx printers have some great new features that you are sure to enjoy.

The one I’m most excited about is the variations feature which users of the PRO-1 will enjoy. Be sure to see my PRO-1 review if you want to see right away what variations works like – it’s identical in these new printers. You can also click here to see a sample of what one of these sheets looks like (and you can print as large or as small as you want).

Image Quality

I’m finding that the Canon paper profiles that ship with it seem to be better than those in the iPF6300, but it could be the printer itself is just better. I haven’t done enough testing to determine which one it is. All I know is that I am getting better prints that are visible to the trained eye, but it’s not so drastic that I think clients would really notice. What’s more I don’t think it’s so drastically different that you couldn’t print jobs with old and new printers and not feel comfortable mixing the prints together in the same package. If you are a print master you’ll see the difference, but customers won’t. I consider this a very good thing!

A word for Epson users

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve got what I think is a good understanding of the Epson platform as well. While I don’t own a 7900, I have used it and I often use my 4900 which is very similar. While Epson does have the edge on the vast number of great paper profiles out there, I find that I’m very satisfied with the Canon prints. On identical paper with identical quality paper profiles, I find the Canon results to be just as good. However, I do appreciate on the Canon platform that I don’t waste tons of ink on clogged heads, the driver is so much easier to use, and I have the Accounting Manager to track my costs.

Conclusion

Click here to learn more in the second part of this review.

Where to order

If you are in the Seattle area then my friends at JVH Tech are a great local business to purchase from and get great personal support. However, most of my readers aren’t local so you’ll probably find the white glove service from B&H a great choice. Click one of the links below to research or order your new printer today:

iPF6400, iPF6450, iPF8400 and iPF9400 at B&H

iPF6400, iPF6450, iPF8400 and iPF9400 at Amazon

If you look carefully on both sites you’ll see that there are very rebates available from time to time that really make these printers ridiculously cheap compared to their Epson counterparts.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Printing Series – This is where I keep an index of all of my printing related articles
• Printing 101 – My eBook for those new to fine art printing
• Canon iPF6300 Overview Review

• Canon Fine Art Bright White 330gsm Review
• Canon Premium RC Luster Photographic Glossy Paper Review & Tutorial
• How to print a 4x6 strip of prints without wasting paper
• Lucia EX Ink Rain Test

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

How to Print a 4x6 sheet of prints with the Canon Print Plug-In (UPDATED: 1/1/2012)

How to Print a 4x6 sheet of prints with the Canon Print Plug-In
Start by Exporting an Image Strip from Lightroom (or QImage)

WARNING: In this example I’m using a 24” wide roll of paper, but if you are using a different size (i.e., 17” or 44”) then you should replace every occurrence of 24 with the width your paper roll.

1. In Lightroom (I’m using 3.6), you need to create a new Single Image/Contact Sheet layout style with rotate to fit. For the layout section all the margins and cell spacing must be zero, the rows should be 1 (but it can be more if you want) and the columns should be 6. The cell size should be 6.00 in height by 4.00 in width. See the photo above for my settings.
2. In Lightroom you won’t print to the printer but instead you’ll choose Print To: JPEG File and set the file resolution to 300, the JPEG quality to 100 and the custom file dimension to 24.00 in x 6.00 in. Since I’m printing to JPEG I just choose sRGB for the profile and Relative for the rendering intent. Some will argue with my settings, but honestly for 4x6 prints this is fine as I don’t consider 4x6 to be fine art. :)
3. You can now open this JPEG up in Photoshop (required – both CS4 and CS5 work for me). DPP should work but doesn’t because it has a 6000x6000 pixel size minimum requirement for some stupid reason.
4. In Photoshop you have to choose File | Export and in my case I’ll choose iPF6300 Print Plug-In…
5. Go to the Page Setup tab and choose Borderless Printing (Input Image Size should say Width 24.00in x Height 6.00in – if it doesn’t, go create your JPEG again in Lightroom). Orientation must say Portrait and Paper Source must be Roll Paper. The Roll Paper Options must say Automatic Cutting Available and the checkbox for No Spaces at Top or Bottom (Conserve Paper) MUST BE CHECKED!
   

   

6. For the Main tab choose your settings as usual. Again, for something like this I’d usually use the Canon Premium RC Photo Luster paper with the Print Mode set to Highest and Output Profile to Auto (Color) (because it’s a Canon Paper) and Matching Method set to Perceptual (People, Dark Areas) (only available with the Auto (Color) option). You can set this page to anything you like as only the Page Setup is important here.

Here’s how I configure my Main tab

Here’s how I configure my Page Setup tab

Conclusion

I hope this helps people. Use the comments below if you have any questions. I’ve only tried it out on a iPF6300, but it should work on anything that uses this plug-in. The key thing to remember is that I’m using a 24” wide roll of paper. If you are using a different size (i.e., 17” or 44”) then you should replace every occurrence of 24 with the width your paper roll.

If you enjoyed this article please consider making a donation. You may also enjoy my Printing 101 eBook and my printing series articles.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using the links in this article I may get a commission.

Canon Premium RC Luster Photographic Glossy Paper Review & Tutorial

I love, love, love my Canon iPF6300 printer. It’s been a joy to use that has been much less hassle than my Epson 3880 and 4900 (which are excellent in their own way), but I’ve missed my beloved Epson Exhibition Fiber paper (EFP).  I know from feedback from my readers and sales reports that many of you are switching from Epson to Canon so you’ve probably been wondering the same thing I have – is there an equivalent to EFP from Canon?

From my research I’ve found Canon Polished Rag to be the closest thing to EFP and honestly I think it is just as good, but I haven’t been able to get it in 24” rolls. As a result I’ve been using Canon Premium RC Luster which is excellent too and doesn’t have the same issues with curling that EFP and Polish Rag do. I’ve found the built-in profile to be great for every day prints – especially in-camera JPEG’s with no post-processing (it’s amazing with those), but for those with a fine art color managed workflow you’ll want to generate your own with something like ColorMunki or i1XTreme for the most accurate results as the built-in profile does take some liberties with saturation and some minor color hue shifts.

A Word About Rendering Intents

On Epson I generally find that Relative Colormetric is my preferred rendering intent, but on the iPF6300 I have a strong preference for Perceptual. In fact, some papers such as this one offer a Perceptual (People, Dark Areas) rendering intent (only in the print plug-in) which I find to be fantastic most of the time. I choose that option whenever it is available. This extra rendering intent does take the liberty of making some adjustments to your image so some may not like it, but I find that it makes for great skin tones and offers a much greater tonal range of blacks than the other rendering intents (at least for the built-in profiles).

Products Tested

I have tested this paper with Photoshop CS4 for Windows, Photoshop CS5 for the Mac as well as Lightroom 2 & 3 for the Mac and PC and finally QImage. For everything but Photoshop  you are stuck with using the OS driver rather than my preferred Export Module / Plug-in which is available for Microsoft Word, Canon DPP, and Photoshop. The Export Module / Plug-in produces the most accurate print jobs because the software doesn’t interfere with the data sent to the printer so your soft proofing from it can be accurate if your display has been calibrated. When using the driver the third party software products can sometimes introduce color shifts which can be pleasing (as is the case with QImage) or horrific (as is the case with Photoshop CS5).

Great for Printing with No Post-Processing

In my article entitled Printing Family Photos for Normal People I used this paper with QImage to print a bunch of in-camera JPEG’s with no additional post-processing and the results were excellent. They weren’t theoretically accurate from a color managed workflow perspective, but what I’ve discovered is that Canon has tested its printers against its in-camera images and knows that workflow well. If you simply shoot an image and send that in-camera JPEG to your Canon printer (in my case a iPF6300) without doing anything else you’ll get an excellent print when using Canon papers. For photographers doing high volume work like school sports or school portrait/prom work you may find the results to be satisfactory enough that you can eliminate post-processing from your workflow (assuming there are no distractions that require the content-aware healing brush or clone stamp tools). This also assumes you got your in-camera settings right – including the crop.

This silly shot was an in-camera JPEG
with only text added in Photoshop
It printed perfectly on this paper at 24x36 with life-like results

Now I’m super picky about my workflow so I wouldn’t do this for my fine art or commercial work, but those are images that sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars so those customers deserve a much more exhaustive end-to-end solution. However, if you are selling $14.95 Santa photos or something then you’ll get a fabulous end-to-end result that allows you to save a bunch of time and avoid the headaches of post-processing so that’s a huge benefit. Canon proved this point to me when I was at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, but I’m a true believer now that I’ve done it myself with over 300 of my own personal photos.

Specifications

Here are the key facts that I have gathered about this paper:

Basis Weight	255 g/m²
Thickness	10 mil
Surface Finish	Luster Gloss

Canon’s full PDF on this paper can be found here.

Paper Profiles

This paper has an excellent color gamut  with the Canon paper profile
Graph via ColorThink Pro

For this printer I only used the profiles that Canon provides with my Canon iPF6300 printer and I was pleased enough with the results that I didn’t feel compelled to generate my own paper profile. I also did not try to use this with a RIP. 

As  you’ll see later in the walkthrough I also found that when using the Canon plug-in that if you have the media type listed that choosing Auto for the Output Profile is acceptable because the software is intelligent enough to choose the proper ICC profile based on the settings you choose in the dialog (i.e., highest max passes versus highest require different ICC profiles). Based on advice from Eddie Tapp I tested this feature and found it to work enough that I trust it now.

Tips

I preferred Canon’s Export Module’s “Perceptual (People & Dark Areas)” rendering intent the most for my people shots. When doing my black and white prints I found Auto Mono Neutral to be my preferred choice (much more so than printing in color – but for color printing of black and white images Relative Colormetric was better).

When soft proofing in Photoshop I found that the Relative Colormetric rendering intent most closely resembles the result I see when printing using the Perceptual (People, Dark Areas) rendering intent. However, I didn’t like like the Relative Color metric rendering intent for actual printing.

Video Tutorials on the Mac

To help demonstrate how to use this paper I have create these videos which take you from start to finish on how to print using this paper on the Mac in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. In the Lilghtroom video I show how to locate the printer profile and print using the printer driver:

Play in HD

In Photoshop I also demonstrate soft proofing and how to use the Export Plug-in:

Play in HD

Windows Screenshots

Usage on the PC is identical to the Mac but the OS driver dialog looks a bit different. You should still watch the videos above, but here’s some screen shots to help make sure you set everything properly.

Lightroom settings on PC & Mac is nearly identical

The OS Driver on Windows feels like the Export Plug-In but it is different

A cool feature on PC only is the “Rotate 90 degrees” to save paper
I stumbled in the video looking for this but it doesn’t exist on the Mac

Photoshop (All Versions)

The Mac and PC are identical when it comes to printing from Photoshop so the video is very helpful. Remember for Photoshop you must choose File | Export (DO NOT USE FILE | PRINT). Once you do then you see the same dialog no matter which version of Photoshop you are using. Here’s what to do in the print plug-in:

Highest (Max No. Passes) isn’t required – just Highest is good too

Click here for a full gallery of screen shots visit

Conclusion

I had this paper for several months before I really began to appreciate how good it is. It’s thick, but not so thick that it curls like crazy. It feels very professional and prints from it look great. It’s much cheaper than Canon Polished Rag (back when you could buy it) so it’s a great value too. I feel that it is much more substantial than Epson’s Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster which feels much more flimsy and cheap, yet produces excellent color prints as well.

I highly recommend Canon Premium RC Luster (available at B&H). It works extremely well with my Canon iPF6300 so I’ll be using it primarily for family photos and prints I give away as gifts to friends. I feel its quality is high and its price is affordable enough to make it a great choice as a high quality high volume paper.

Disclosure

Canon has provided me with a printer and paper for the purposes of reviewing these products for my blog.I may get a commission if you purchase using the links in this article, so thanks for your support!

JVH Technical Digital Print Festival 2010 was a HUGE hit!

Attendees packed the house to view prints for the contest

I had the pleasure of being a guest of John Harrington’s at JVH Technical’s Digital Print Festival this past Friday November 12th, 2010 where over 200 people were in attendance to learn about the latest print technology and products as well as participate in the annual digital print contest.

Attendees learn about this blog while enjoying an
Epson 3880 / ColorByte ImagePrint print in the GTI light box

It felt like everyone there stopped by my “booth” to enjoy the GTI PDV-2020ex light box on display and learn about the printing series I’m currently running on my blog. Attendees had questions ranging from Color Management to Epson’s Advanced Black & White mode advice.

Canon and Epson were around to discuss their latest products

Guests were eager to learn about the new iPF6300, iPF6350 and iPF8300 printers from Canon as well as the highly anticipated Stylus® Pro 4900 from Epson. They were able to enjoy one on one assistance from experts from both Canon and Epson on topics ranging from sales to technical inquires.

The GTI PDV-2020ex was a HUGE hit with attendees as were the
Canon iPF6300 prints on LexJet’s Sunset Photo Metallic paper

ColorByte was on hand to discuss ImagePrint as well as printing the first public print of their upcoming update for Canon printers (that’s right, it’s no longer vaporware now). The print I saw from the iPF6350 using this private build of ImagePrint was fantastic, so soon Canon users will be enjoying the same great RIP that Epson users have been enjoying for years.

I was also showing examples of LexJet Sunset Photo Metallic paper which I’m certain was the hit of the show as everyone was wanting to know more about this paper and take advantage of the 30% discount offered by this blog.

Randy Hufford used three of my raw images, edited them using his
workflow, and made massive prints from his
Canon iPF8300 and iPF9100 printers

Color expert, Pat Herold from Chromix, was on hand to show users what my readers already know – that ColorThink Pro is an incredible product and a blast to use to learn more about the quality of your profiles and how to use the results to make better decisions before sending your job to the printer.

Guests enjoyed several great presentations from industry experts,
including master printer Randy Hufford!

Randy Hufford had an all-day workshop the day before where he demonstrated his workflow much like you’d see in his fantastic DVD series The Perfect Print. During this presentation he elected to use some of my raw images and show users how to edit those images. In addition to this he filled the wall with three massive canvas prints of my images which was pretty neat as I’ve never seen my work printed so large! The best part was that Randy let me keep these prints, so now I get to enjoy them at my own home – thanks Randy!!!!

John Harrington was like Santa giving away laptops, iPads,
Nano’s, Wusthof knives, flat panel TV’s
and more to print contest winners!

John Harrington, founder of JVH, was great for putting on this wonderful event and even gave away some amazing prizes to the winners of the contest. He was also reminding everyone of our partnership where you can save 10% on ColorByte ImagePrint between now and the end of the year when you mention this blog when ordering (see the discount coupon code page for more details).   

Randy Hufford tries a new look while showing off one of the Honorable Mention Prints

I’d like to thank both John Harrington of JVH and Randy Hufford for all their support during this event in promoting this blog and my work as a Photographer. I also had a great time talking to so many wonderful people about printing on the fantastic printers by Epson and Canon.

If you ever get a chance to attend one of these events, I’d highly recommend it! It was super informative and FREE (including a fantastic five-star lunch that even included salad and dessert)! John easily had to spend several dollars per head for those in attendance, but this just another example of how he really loves his customers and works hard to give something back to them each year. Ask yourself before the next time you buy printers or supplies, what has your merchant has done for you? If it isn’t the first class treatment like this then I’d highly recommend you contact JVH and learn why they are the best place to buy printers from in the Northwest. They may not always be the cheapest, but they are without the best customers service business you’ll ever work with – period!

If you are reading this and were in attendance feel free to leave a comment to let John know how much you learned and appreciated this event as I’m sure he’d love the feedback.

If you’ve never heard of JVH before, I highly recommend them for all of your printer, paper, ink, imageprint and service needs. Be sure tell them you heard about them from this blog when ordering so John will know how much I appreciate him too by sending my readers to him!

Disclosure

I may get a commission if you mention this blog when ordering products from JVH as well as when you purchase using select links from other partners mentioned in this article. JVH is a preferred partner of this blog and provided me with free assistance with my Canon iPF6300 delivery as well as a free space at the digital print festival.

Printing Series: Randy Hufford – Visual Artist and Printing Guru

My Favorite Randy Hufford Photo
Copyright © Randy Hufford – All Rights Reserved

Randy Hufford is the photographer we all dream of being one day because he lives in Hawaii, takes great shots and gets to enjoy selling huge prints clients on a regular basis. Tell me you haven’t dreamed of being Randy!!!

While Randy has been enjoying many great days in Paradise as a photographer, he also has been in the business of printing fine art prints for many great artists on the Hawaiian islands. During this time he has amassed an amazing wealth of knowledge about printing that he has shared in his series The Perfect Print which I reviewed on this blog a while back. I loved this series and it has changed the way I work, but few things in this series has been more fun than chatting with Randy on the phone and getting to tap his vast experience that goes beyond what could ever fit on a stack of DVD’s!

Randy on Epson & Canon Printers

Randy is very unique in all off the people that I have interviewed in my printing series because he is not a Epson or Canon sponsored master printer – he’s even better than that. Randy is an authorized reseller of both platforms, so he not only uses them but sales and services them so he knows his printers inside and out – literally!

In his DVD’s you hear him sing the praises of Epson printers of which he has a long and successful history. More recently after the release of the new Canon iPF6300, iPF6350, and iPF8300 printers he has purchased the Canon iPF5100, iPF6350 and iPF9100 printers to run the largest printing business in Hawaii.

When I talked to Randy about which is better, Epson or Canon, his answer was a pretty common one – “they are both fantastic printers so you can’t go wrong with either”. As an owner of both Canon and Epson printers, I couldn’t agree more!

With his in-depth knowledge of both platforms, Randy is the perfect teacher for those who wish to become a master printer on either platform. If you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to hear him do a presentation on printing, then jump on it as you’ll be hard pressed to find someone more experienced with the finest printers from Canon and Epson.

Copyright © Randy Hufford – All Rights Reserved

Randy on ColorByte ImagePrint

The more I use ColorByte ImagePrint (discount) the more I love the results, and the more I find myself just using it to make my life much more simple/efficient. Randy is the same way as his business depends on quality and consistency. He sites ColorByte as having the largest library of profiles that are better than most people can generate themselves as being a key component that make them the only RIP he recommends for the Delta E tolerances he demands of his work.

ImagePrint has a variety of different profiles for each paper, but a useful tip he had is that he generally finds that the RF2 profiles are his favorite. In fact, he said that he typically will use the Relative Colormetric rendering intent for art reproduction and the Perceptual rendering intent for photographs.

While this advice only applies to Epson printers for now, ColorByte is hard at work with new Canon drivers for the next release of ImagePrint (which I’ll definitely review) that are sure to be a hit. ColorByte founder, John Pannozzo, says that he is able to do things with the Canon printers that simply aren’t possible with the Epson for results that will produce the best prints his software has ever created. I’ve seen some pretty amazing stuff rolling off my Epson from John’s software, so this should be pretty fun – Randy and I can’t wait!

Randy on Profiling

Randy’s “The Perfect Print”  is a great resource on profiling your digital devices, but in our discussion he expanded that he really likes to do profiles with at least 918 patches (the more, the better) and that he does profiles using up to 3000 patches (which means he’s got automation <g> – see my X-Rite i1XTreme review for more info).

Copyright © Randy Hufford – All Rights Reserved

Randy on Paper

Randy is a guy who prints every day so he knows what he likes and he uses a lot of it. This is why he is a huge fan of Canvas and does most of his daily printing on it, but he also said that PremierArt’s Smooth Hot Press Fine Art Paper 500 gsm paper has unreal detail! In fact, he was so excited about it that he even promised to send me some to help me find the religion – woohoo!

Copyright © Randy Hufford – All Rights Reserved

Advice for those who want to sell Fine Art Prints

Randy (like Vincent Versace) says that if you want to become a better photographer you need to print your own work, and to sell those prints you need to get them in front of people. This is why he recommends that you carry more than just an iPad! A physical print portfolio is a must so your potential client can connect with the image. He brought this point home by reminding me the experience you have at a fine art gallery where they dim the lights on the image to help you see the image and connect with it.

Some of Randy’s suggestions for success are:

• Consider yourself as a visual artist and not just a photographer
• Create images that control what the viewer does with their eyes
• Make a statement with your images
• Make sure your prints look good in different lights and conditions
• Create a limited edition series (100 or less prints – ever) of your best work, and keep tweaking and refining those images as you print them for your series so that the last images of the series are the best
• Get feedback from others to help you improve and refine your skills

Printing is Randy’s passion so he reminds us that most photographers only want to shoot, so they could never afford to print everything. However, there’s value in doing the printing yourself as you control the output of your original work.For those who print themselves, this extra step in the creative process shows and it is what sells fine art prints!

Randy Prints HUGE 60” wide prints

Randy believes if you show large, you sell large so he prints this at 60” wide!
Copyright © Randy Hufford – All Rights Reserved

Randy has enjoyed his life in paradise by making sure he’s always selling prints, and his key to success is large prints. He says you earn more money with large prints, so to sell large you must show large! Simple but effective advice so he encourages people to have large prints around their home and studio so you have something that will turn visitors into buyers.

He also points out that the bigger you print, the less competition you have. so if you really want to set yourself apart from the masses – go huge! This is why Randy is a big fan of the 60” wide print on his Canon iPF9100 printer. In fact, he’s so excited he’ll be printing a big 60” wide print for me help me understand why he loves large format printing so much. I’ve discovered a great joy when I’ve done big 24”x53” and 24”x43” prints, so I can only imagine how cool it is to see my work on a huge 60” print!

Conclusion

I had a fantastic time talking for hours with Randy, and I’ve learned a ton from his “The Perfect Print” DVD series. If you’ve got any desire to get into printing and make money from your work, this series is a must as Randy explains the real ins and outs of the business like few have the experience to do.

It was an honor to get to meet and know Randy, I encourage you to get to know and learn from Randy as well by watching his DVD series and by visiting his web sites at:

• http://RandyHuffordArt.com
• http://visualimpact.org/
• http://randyhufford.ivamaui.com/

Special Offer

Visit my article on The Perfect Print DVD series by Randy Hufford to get a discount on his DVD series. I loved this series as it is a more in-depth review of all things in the digital workflow from start to finish. It’s what I wanted to do in this printing series, but just don’t have enough hours in the day to accomplish due to my real day job. I HIGHLY recommend it!

Disclosure

When following links from this article for products that may be purchased, I may get a commission if you complete a transaction. Thank you for supporting this blog by using these links when making your purchase. It doesn’t cost you anything extra!

Canon Lucia EX Professional Printer inks tackle the rain – and SURVIVE!

Actual prints from a Canon iPF6300 left out in the rain overnight
Bottom image Copyright © Talha Bin Tariq, all others Ron Martinsen – All Rights Reserved

I was going out to the trash last night to throw away some bad or test prints that I had done during my printing series, when I noticed it was raining pretty good. These images were going to go into the trash anyway, so I thought - “I wonder what would happen if I left them out in the rain overnight?” I know that prints from normal ink jet printers are destroyed if you so much as sneeze on them, so I thought this was a sure way to destroy them.

When I returned 12 hours later, I was shocked to discover that they had held up just fine! I brought them in my garage and let them dry out and they were in near mint condition again!!!! I decided that I must write about this, so I got them wet again, and put them in funny places so they’d warp (so you could see the raindrops easier) and then left them out in the rain again. The picture you see above was taken after they had been in the rain for about 5 minutes.

While Wilhelm Imaging Research may do ink permanence tests for the Canon Lucia EX (using the iPF8300, but the iPF6300 is the same only smaller), I can’t say that I’ve seen results from something like this in their testing – ha, ha!

The moral of the story here is that these pro printer inks are WAY more durable than you might imagine, and even if you do get them wet – just chill out and let them dry. From what I can tell, they’ll do fine! :-)

For those who are interested, here’s a list of what printer and paper was used above as well as a quick observation:

• Canon Polished Rag 300 gsm - (Top & Middle Right) – This fiber-based paper has a semi-gloss finish and is a beefy 15mil. It’s media instruction sheet says that its operating temp is 59F to 86F degrees, and that its operating humidity is 30 to 60%. Well last night was in the 40’s and 100% humidity, and while I would urge you NOT to run this wet paper through the printer, it looked totally fine. The semi-gloss finish protected it from contaminants and kept the water from soaking through to the more exposed back side of this paper.
• Canon Fine Art Bright White 330 gsm (Middle Left) – This is a thick 20mil 100% cotton and acid free paper with a matte finish. Despite its tendency to absorb liquid very well it faired as well as the others in this test after given a longer amount of time to dry.
• LexJet® Sunset Photo Metallic (Bottom) – This is a 10mil, 255 gsm high gloss paper that was totally unaffected by the rain. Within about 10 minutes of being inside it was dry and showed no signs of ever being in the rain. It was by far the winner of the test, despite its 70F degree and 50% humidity recommended storage conditions.

Conclusion

Honestly, I have images printed with my consumer grade Canon printer where even in optimal conditions my skin oil can cause the ink to smear. However, in the professional printer line-up you are using the best ink Canon has ever made when you have a iPF6300, iPF6350 or iPF8300 and it shows! Canon touts its durability and scratch resistance, but this is nuts! If archival quality is one of your concerns, then I think the Wilhelm Imaging Research Lucia EX report and this test should give you all the confidence you need to know that this is definitely a special ink!

If you enjoyed this, then be sure to check out my review of the Canon iPF6300 as well as many other articles in my printing series.

Printing Series: Tyler Stableford – Adventure Photographer and Canon Explorer of Light & Print Master

Copyright © Tyler Stableford  –All Rights Reserved

When I was writing my Top Photographers article I was getting feedback from a lot of sources as to who their top photographers were, and someone told me about Tyler Stableford. I hadn’t heard about him, so I did some research and found out that he was consider to be one of the hottest new photographers on the scene at the time I was collecting my data. After looking at his work I was immediately impressed, so I wasn’t at all surprised to see that he was a Canon Explorer of Light and featured on the Digital Learning Center.

Tyler is not only a great photographer, but a member of Canon’s prestigious Print Master program, so it’s no wonder that you’ll find prints of his work in fine art galleries in Denver near his home. His work takes him to some wonderful locations where he creates amazing outdoor shots for companies like Gore-Tec, REI, Polartex, etc… that have caused him to be know as an Adventure Photographer. From cliff hanger shots to ice caves, Tyler has done it! His portfolio is filled with amazing colors of thrilling adventures on land, in the sea and in the air!

Tyler is quick to point out that his web site opens the door for new business, but it’s the print that closes the door to help land the next big job. When you’ve got 3 to 5 busy art directors who are only going to give a handful of photographers 20 minutes to sell their work, nothing beats a great print! I had a great time talking to Tyler about his printing workflow, and definitely look forward to talking to him again next year about photography in general. What follows is Tyler on printing, so I hope you enjoy it this one dimension of a wonderfully multidimensional talent!

Printers

I’m a geek so I like to talk technical details and compare things at the macro level, but Tyler is much more practical. When we talked printers and platforms he was very matter of fact. He pointed out that he prints his own portfolio in-house because he wants the highest quality and to control the process from end to end, so he isn’t going to support a platform  unless he feels it is giving him the best quality. His prints are a reflection of him and send a message to clients about his work, so they need to be top notch. This is why he uses the Canon platform, because he feels he gets the top quality results that his work demands.

When we got into a conversation about the quality of the different platforms, it really came down to two – Epson and Canon, both of which he acknowledged are very good. However, each platform has its strengths, and for a variety of decision points one may be stronger than the other, but in the end they are about the same. What Tyler uses as his final decision point is not the technical details or what you’ll see using a loop under a GTI light box, but what his clients will see. He asks, are clients going to notice a difference? If the answer is yes, then it’s easy to pick the best the product for the job and move on. Today, that means the Canon iPF6350, so that’s what you’ll find him using for his very best prints. 

At the Canon EXPO 2010 in New York, the Canon reps chose a wonderful image from Tyler’s portfolio to use as a test canvas print on the huge iPF9100. The picture below doesn’t do it justice as the colors are hard to sort out in that mixed color environment, but I think you can get the idea that it was a cool print that I can assure you looked awesome in real life.

Photo by Ron Martinsen taken of Tyler Stableford’s image output from a Canon iPF9100 printer

Favorite Papers

Tyler’s favorite paper is the Moab Entrada Bright White 190, which is what he uses to print his portfolio work. However, he’s quick to point out that his busy schedule has kept him from trying out the equally great and similar Canon Fine Art Bright Whitepaper. He loves a great matte paper with a nice cotton fiber texture and no glare, so if you are in the same camp then Tyler’s paper recommendations are just the ticket!

Tyler also loves the Canon Fine Art Rag Paperswhich he uses for a variety of projects as well.

Copyright © Tyler Stableford  –All Rights Reserved

Q&A Session

I asked Tyler about a lot of different printing topics during our interview, so some are best handled in a Q&A format for his response. Here’s a short transcript of some of those Q&A’s:

What volume of printing do you do over the course of a year and what’s the purpose (teaching, fine art resale? Exhibition?, etc…)?

I enjoy making a lot large format prints for the subjects in my photos. It is the true highlight of my relationship with them! I also keep three versions of my portfolio. I am currently considering selling prints online, so if that happens then I’ll be doing much more in the future.

What things to look in a print before it’s ready for Fine Art resale?

I do a lot of shooting straight into the sun which means my images have tones ranging from bright whites to deep blacks. On top of that I crank my saturation, so I’m looking for a smooth gradation of the colors to ensure that the represent my artistic intent.

Do you do custom profiles?

Yes, I use some custom profiles, but I don't create them myself. I use InkJetArt.com and have them create custom profiles for me. It's a great service that keeps me focused on the things I want to do rather than printer profile generation. [Yes, readers - I'll be covering services like this in the future!]

Copyright © Tyler Stableford  –All Rights Reserved

How many prints do you typically do before you feel you've got the perfect print that is ready for your signature?

I typically do around 5 to 10 test prints. I'm working on a current print and have three tests here and I'm still a ways from where I want to be! It's always like this.

I want it to look as good as possible, and so I judge the print itself - not how it may compare to the original scene, the results in-camera, on my display, etc... The print is the final output, so I stop printing when I look at it and feel that it's done.

What color space and bit depth are your images, and what rendering intent do you mostly print in?

I image using the ProPhoto RGB color space with 16-bit images. When I print, I typically use the perceptual rendering intent, but I’ll soft proof or even run a print sometimes to compare to see which is best for any given image.

Do you calibrate your displays?

Yes, I use an X-Rite Eye-One Display. The reality is that the color temperature is the most important thing, but I don’t worry about variances between devices. As long as those variances are consistent I can figure it out. That’s the most important thing to me, because without consistent results it's much more challenging.

Conclusion / Parting words

Photo taken by Ron Martinsen of Tyler Stableford  @ the Canon EXPO DLC training event

I had the pleasure of hearing Tyler teach at some of his mini-classes at the Canon EXPO in New York, and I quickly saw a man who is passionate about his work, yet patient with students to help them improve their skills. This is definitely a guy who I want to learn more from and hope to take a class with one day. I’m also proud to have him on my Top Photographer’s list and suspect he’ll be there for quite some time!

It was a pleasure to interview him, and despite his super busy schedule he gave me twice as much time as he actually had available to make sure I had all the info I need. That’s the mark of a true professional, so it’s no wonder that he’s in such high demand.

Great work is one thing, but it’s even better when you enjoy working with the artist who can provide it, and Tyler is definitely one of those types of guys. With his adventurous spirit, generous volunteer work, passion for the environment, and amazing composition skills, I think Tyler is definitely a great person to follow on many levels to know. He defines what it truly means to be a Top Photographer!

Visit Tyler’s cool portfolio here!