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Probably the most important parts of images is presenting your work to others. You might have the very best digital camera on this planet and spend hours enhancing the pictures in software program, however it means nothing if you cannot present it in the best way you need.

In years passed by, that might’ve meant sending off the pictures to a printer in order that they are often printed at a scale and on a paper high quality of your selection. These days, sending to a specialist continues to be an possibility, however dwelling printers have grow to be acceptable sufficient for the duty.

Going to A3 is feasible as some printers are providing that facility. Going any additional is harder territory to crack. The issue rapidly turns into considered one of scale, as whilst you might print at an A4 measurement comparatively simply, going past is tough with out outsourcing to a printing agency.

At A3, you are coming into the realm {of professional} photograph printers, high-quality and fairly costly gadgets that may provide prints on the similar high quality as skilled corporations. Giant format printers can present big prints and are sometimes used at printshops, together with for low-run or one-off jobs.

On the excessive finish, you possibly can find yourself paying hundreds for skilled printers. However, on the worth part of the vary, you possibly can discover a candy spot between getting what you need at a top quality whereas not breaking the financial institution.

The A2-capable Canon imagePrograf Professional-1000 is on the budget-friendly finish of the digital camera maker’s skilled photograph and high-quality artwork printer line. Even so, it’s nonetheless a reliable image-output machine.

Prosumer-friendly

Boasting the power to provide professional-grade prints for its customers, the Professional-1000 matches the outline of each a large-format printer and a extra consumer-friendly printer.

Whereas not fairly the identical stage of simplicity as your commonplace dwelling printer, the Professional-1000 is kind of shut in lots of respects. In its fundamental type, it’s a rectangular and boxy printer with flaps that fold out for holding paper for use and just-printed sheets.

There are additionally comparatively few buttons on the entrance, a fairly easy directional management panel subsequent to a comparatively sizeable three-inch show, and two chunky buttons for energy and canceling a print.

It even connects up in a really user-friendly method, with Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB connections, with the latter used to attach the printer to a Mac or PC bodily. You might additionally use Apple AirPrint assist and Canon’s varied apps, together with Canon Print, Professional Gallery Print, Pixma Cloud, or from a digital camera straight utilizing Wi-Fi Pictbridge.

At a look, it is very consumer-friendly, or somewhat, prosumer-oriented. Certainly, for fundamental operation, there’s not a lot completely different in utilizing the Professional-1000 than different printers.

Besides, there are numerous issues which might be very uncommon that you simply would not see in a client printer.

Huge and heavy for a motive

The primary clue in regards to the Professional-1000 being a extra skilled machine is its bodily measurement. To print to an A2 sheet of paper, it needs to be a a lot greater printer than common.

At 28.5 inches large, 17.1 inches deep, and 11.2 inches tall, it is a significantly greater printer than most individuals might be used to. This factor takes up a whole lot of desk area, much more than that at full stretch.

To take A2 paper, the paper feeder on the high has a fold-out part that may occupy one other 11 inches of depth, whereas comparable foldable parts for printed sheets on the entrance can take up one other 17 inches. That is a complete of 45 inches wanted at full extension.

Then there’s the secondary guide feed slot on the again, which equally folds out. Ideally, to make use of the printer accurately and to entry each paper feeds, you must put it on a rollable desk.

It is also significantly heavy, at 71.2 kilos with the print head and loaded with ink. Canon stated two folks wanted to unbox and set up it, and at that weight, it is comprehensible why that might be a requirement.

So many inks

As soon as you’ve got received it out of the field, the setup course of leans in the direction of a extra skilled set up. Following a information, you are instructed to insert the fairly massive printhead and lock it into place, utilizing a particular provided sheet to make sure every thing is lining up accurately, and you then get to put in the ink.

A typical printer could have two print cartridges dealing with black and colours respectively, or could get away that second into a number of cartridges, so there is a CMYK assortment at play. That is not the case for the Professional-1000, as you may have a complete of 12 inks in a set.

A whole set of inks consists of 11 colours, together with Matte and Photograph variations of Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Grey, in addition to Yellow, Pink, and Blue. The twelfth is a “Chroma Optimizer” tank, accentuating the print by leveling out the droplet heights for a smoother end.

A full set of the 12 ink tanks, every containing a beneficiant 80ml per shade, prices $699 in its personal proper, or round $60 a chunk. That appears excessive, however you will need to keep in mind that it is a professional-grade printer.

Another consumable is ink-related, with the Upkeep Cartridge used to soak up and retailer extra ink, reminiscent of deposits after cleansing the print head. The cartridge within reason low-cost at round $16.

You get a whole set of inks from the beginning, in order that’s not an additional outlay. You additionally get a number of warnings when your print ranges are low, effectively upfront of when it’s worthwhile to substitute them, supplying you with an opportunity to supply substitute inks or one other full set.

This explains the large print head, a “Bubble-jet on Demand” sort that has to deal with all 12 colours. That print head additionally permits a most print decision of two,400 by 1,200 dpi.

With the excessive decision of printing and the possibly massive sheets of paper that might be used, the Professional-1000 continues to be moderately quick in printing a web page. A full A2 print takes roughly 4 minutes to be accomplished, with the pace various based mostly on if it is the primary print of a run in addition to the complexity of the picture.

Paper choices galore

The inks are one factor, however the paper is one other.

The important thing characteristic of this printer is that it will probably deal with A2-size prints, however it will probably additionally cope with pages at smaller sizes, together with A5 and B5, and even as little as a 4-by-6-inch print. Utilizing this printer for small prints could also be overkill however nonetheless an possibility.

A2 is not even the most important measurement it will probably take, as you may print on a sheet as much as 1,200mm (3 foot 11.24 inches) in size.

As for the sorts of paper you may print to, it will probably deal with plain paper in addition to matte and gloss, together with Canon’s varieties reminiscent of “Professional Premium Matte,” “Semi-Gloss,” “Shiny II,” and “Luster.”

You may also use paper from different producers, with Canon together with high-quality artwork paper and canvas choices in its settings. It might deal with thick paper, too, with guide feeding supporting 400g/m2 weights and papers as much as 0.7mm in thickness.

Canon warns the guide feed needs to be used for thicker pages typically.

Whereas all of those settings can sometimes be configured when printing from inside your chosen software, it’s also possible to handle a number of the settings from the printer’s interface. That’s, you may inform the printer the dimensions and sort of paper loaded to optimize the print for that specific medium.

Extraordinarily skilled

It needs to be evident that it is a professional-grade printer that has sufficient functionality for use by common customers without having to fuss round an excessive amount of to get one thing printed.

Nevertheless, for individuals who wish to dig deeper, many parts are decidedly geared toward professionals.

Digging across the menu system on the printer itself, you’ll find many various upkeep and settings choices. Right here, you may additionally uncover neat options, just like the vacuum feed system that retains paper flat, one thing you would not discover on home printers.

Since ink will be costly and companies have to account for the price of merchandise, it is attention-grabbing that the logs for print jobs additionally present how a lot ink was consumed per run. This element may help decide which print jobs are burning via ink provides faster, or within the case of multi-user environments, assist work out who’s accountable for excessive ink utilization.

These options aren’t simply restricted to the on-device menu. Canon gives a whole lot of additional software program to work with the printer, aimed largely at skilled customers.

Probably the most important is the Fast Utility Toolbox, which helps you to see ink ranges, configure media, calibrate the colour of paper, and cope with cloud providers. The Skilled Print & Structure app can deal with laying out prints and performing shade administration duties, with Print Studio Professional additionally serving to with photograph print settings.

Then there are extra unique utilities reminiscent of Accounting Supervisor, which manages the price of printer utilization based mostly on details about the print job. This app is useful for skilled printers as a value administration instrument.

There are greater than sufficient methods for an expert printer to make the most of the ability of the Professional-1000. It is greater than a typical person or fanatic might have, however the possibility is at all times there.

Single-track thoughts

Except for measurement, weight, and value, one of many large drawbacks of professional-grade tools is that it’s made with a small vary of duties in thoughts. Within the case of the Professional-1000, it is particularly only a printer.

This does not sound like a real grievance, besides that some customers could think about that multi-function printers are large and ponderous however provide a bit extra utility. For instance, a multi-function printer could have a scanning mattress, opening itself as much as duties like photocopying or faxing.

Multi-function printers are helpful as a result of they do much more and are particularly office-friendly gadgets. Nevertheless, you are not going to get the picture high quality as you’ll with this printer.

Heck, a multi-function printer can typically present duplex printing, the place it prints on each side of a sheet in fast succession. If you wish to print on each side, you must look ahead to the software program to inform you it is completed printing one facet, then manually reload the paper into the tray to print the opposite face.

You aren’t getting any of these additional quality-of-life options right here. The Professional-1000 is strictly about taking a picture and placing it onto a web page as precisely and completely as doable.

That is not totally a foul factor, as the additional options of a multi-function printer will be achieved by utilizing a separate scanner and digital fax providers.

Overkill for many

The Canon imagePrograf Professional-1000 A2 printer is a improbable addition to a critical photographer’s arsenal. It is one factor to have the ability to print your pictures your self, it is one other to take action effectively.

It is yet one more to see the excessive print high quality and having the ability to scale it as much as an A4 sheet. Not to mention the plethora of paper choices and the huge variety of methods you may tweak and configure the printer on your particular wants.

As a big and heavy field with a fairly high-priced barrier to entry at $1,299, it is past what you’ll think about a printer for the occasional photographer.

That is higher fitted to photographers who wish to print off their pictures for posterity or are critical about it being both a side-hustle or a profession selection. With the ability to provide professional-grade prints to shoppers in a short time and with out counting on a third-party print home to create them could be a very empowering and thrilling.

Paying for a Canon imagePrograf Professional-1000 is a large step for photographers to take. It is one which they need to.

Professionals

• Skilled print high quality
• As much as A2 in measurement, panorama printing
• Fairly simple to get going
• Skilled settings and software program obtainable

Cons

• Measurement and weight
• Excessive price of printer and inks
• Prolonged preparation time earlier than printing
• No duplex printing

Score: 4 out of 5

The place to purchase

The Canon imagePrograf Professional-1000 is accessible from Amazon for $1,299, with it additionally at Adorama for $1,299 and B&H Photograph for a similar worth.