iPF5000

Epson has had the high-end art-print and proofing market pretty much to itself for a while, using pigment ink processes that have left Canon and HP trailing behind. But the arrival of competition was inevitable, and Canon has taken the opportunity to tackle the weaknesses in Epson’s current printer range.

Given this printer’s enormous size and weight – it requires two people to manoeuvre it – it’s a surprise that the build seems a little plasticky. The chassis is solid, but the casing, trays and other extras don’t really suggest this printer is built to stand up to heavy use. It would perhaps have been reassuring to see a chunkier build with more metal in the casing, plus sturdier trays and flaps.

Software installation wasn’t entirely trouble free. The iPF5000 includes Ethernet and USB 2 as standard – with FireWire only available as an extra. The USB option worked first time, but the Ethernet option failed to register the printer’s IP number. Ethernet seems more likely to work if the printer is on a network with a DHCP server that sets its IP number remotely. Either way, Canon needs to fix this.

12-ink printing
Canon’s main selling point is a new 12-ink process offering significant advantages over Epson’s eight-ink K3 system. With more inks, colours should be smoother and more natural. In practice, the Epson and Canon processes create different gamut envelopes, each with their own strengths. The Canon performs better, producing clean dark and mid-blues, which are a challenge for any CMYK print process.

Reviewing this printer’s colour performance in detail would need a feature of its own, so in summary, output is more than adequate for professional proofing, fine art and photography, all on a wide range of media. If you’re looking for simple CMYK proofing, the 12 inks may be overkill, but for photo and art printing, the quality is impressive.

A useful extra feature is Canon’s 12-bit Photoshop plug-in. While most printers work with an 8-bit colour resolution, the iPF5000 can use Photoshop’s 16-bit file feature. Because true 16-bit resolution is still too expensive to be practical, this is reduced to 12-bit colour before printing. The difference isn’t huge, but design professionals will appreciate the advantages of the higher resolution and not needing to down-convert first.

An important difference is that the Canon isn’t as prone to blocked heads, and needs less ink to clean them. Instead of a single manual cycle, the Canon collects information as it works and runs one of a number of head-cleaning routines automatically. However, we didn’t see any banding or other print head artefacts, and it seems likely that saved ink will be wasted on cleaning.

The key advantage is that the Canon can print both gloss and matte black inks without swapping. This gives it an edge over the Epson, which requires time consuming and money-wasting manual swaps that can cost as much as £30 a go. For anyone who prints both gloss and matte regularly, this alone makes the Canon a winner.

The set of 12 inks – cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, light magenta, red, blue, green, glossy black, matte black, light black and light/light black – are supplied half full as 130ml cartridges. Around 20 per cent of this is used on the initial charge, so the amount is further reduced before you print for the first time. Considering that a full set costs between £500 and £600, this seems a tad stingy, but ink consumption isn’t excessive. Canon’s own quoted figures suggest this printer is cheaper to run than the alternatives, and comments from professionals seem to bear this out.

Operational issues
The most frustrating problem with the iPF5000 is that the print driver doesn’t allow full remote operation because the printer asks you to set media type and size before each run from the LCD panel. There may be an option to turn this off, but if so, the less than comprehensive manual doesn’t mention it. Including both panel and driver control means the printer can’t be in another room – difficult for professional operation.

The drivers also work in a way that’s far from transparent. Various selections and page choices are don’t seem necessary. The Media Library tool, which is supposed to make it possible to define media presets, doesn’t seem to work at all.

These issues aside, this is an excellent all-round A2 printer, with exceptional print quality, high speed and reasonable running costs. Epson should be worried.