Canon made its commercial print intentions clear with its largest ever drupa stand, showcasing a growing array of digital printing technology.
With seven distinct zones – including the Print-For-Pay, CRD, Large Format Print, Commercial Production Printing, as well as the Canon Essential Business Builder area – it represents one of the largest demonstrations of Canon’s commitment to the graphic arts industry ever assembled.
Highlights of the Canon stand include the latest additions to the imagePRESS range, the imagePRESS C6000 and imagePRESS C6000VP. The presses are equipped with several powerful server options, capable of handling complex jobs involving static or variable data.
The imagePRESS C1+, the first colour device with clear toner for the light production market – designed to enhance colour and black-and-white areas when printing – is also being demonstrated. According to Canon the new device presents a cost effective way of adding value to the print product in print-on-demand environments.
The presses are being demonstrated with new front-end workflow options that suit hybrid print environments. Canon is displaying Heidelberg’s Prinect and Agfa Graphics’ Apogee solutions that can operate digital and conventional offset printrooms using just one workflow system.
Canon’s large format devices have undergone a 40 per cent sales growth during 2007 due to an unprecedented roll-out of 11 new products. The business unit is continuing the momentum at drupa by showing off another two products specifically designed for the 44” CAD sector – the imagePROGRAF iPF810 and iPF820. Scheduled to launch in September, the five-colour dye and pigment printers combine fast output production speeds with efficient ink usage and a low total cost of ownership.
Underpinning all these devices is the Canon Essential Business Builder Program, a service that delivers modular training and consultancy for every part of a digital printer’s path to increased profits. Two new modules, looking at variable data printing and Web-to-Print are being demonstrated for the first time.
