Professional photo printers come in various sizes, specifications, and prices. Canon has printers ranging from A4 to large format commercial models.
The company recently launched three A3+ professional photo printers in the PIXMA range — the PRO-1 (12-colour), PRO-10 (10-colour), and PRO-100 (8-colour). Here we are reviewing the PIXMA PRO-10, the ‘middleweight’ in this series.
Design and Build Quality
The Canon PIXMA PRO-10 is built sturdy with tough polycarbonate exterior. The printer weighs approximately 20kg and has dimensions of 689 x 385 x 215mm, making it less portable. We cannot
imagine why Canon professional photo printers have to be so heavy, while other similar printers weigh at least 5kg less (well, Canon could argue that this will serve as a deterrent for possible robbers). Though we are not alarmed at this, a lesser weight would allow you to clean the table effectively and minimise chances of dust entering the device. The printer has the usual three buttons — On/Off, Resume/Cancel, and Wi-Fi. The device’s large form factor would make it ideal for spacious and sturdy desks.
Key Features
The Canon PIXMA Pro 10 has a maximum resolution of 4800 x 2400 dots per inch. It has a total of 7680 nozzles and uses ten individual ink cartridges — Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Red, Photo Magenta,
Photo Cyan, Gray, Photo Black, Matte Black, and Chroma Optimiser. Though Canon categorises the printer as 10-colour, the Chroma Optimiser (Epson calls this Gloss Optimiser) is not an ink, but a coating that makes the surface smooth, facilitating even reflection of light. The printer delivers ink with a minimum droplet size of 4 picolitres. The device accepts papers from 4 x 6 inches up to A3+ (329 x 483mm) size and facilitates borderless printing up to 329mm, while the manual feed slot can accept papers up to 356mm. It can accept a wide range of printing media from plain paper to Canon speciality paper of up to 350 gsm and CDs. The printer features USB and Ethernet ports in addition to Wi-Fi for PC and network enabled printing.
PRO-1 and PRO-10. This combines two key technologies. The first involves advanced analysis of the image and the various printing modes, paper type, and the end results and determines the exact combination and quantity of ink to be used. The second involves precise placement of ink droplets on the paper, as determined in the first step. The Photo Black, Matte Black and Grey cartridges together produce wide tonality in blacks.
The printer comes with a detailed online user manual (to be installed from CD). The printer software has maintenance tab, which provides access to 11 operations — Cleaning, Deep Cleaning, Print Head Alignment, Nozzle Check, Ink Quality Maintenance, Bottom Plate Cleaning, Roller Cleaning, Power Off, Auto Power, Quiet Settings, and Custom Settings. The PRO-10 consumes approximately
2.3W power on standby, whereas while printing, it consumes approximately 17W.
Ergonomics
The Canon PIXMA PRO-10 is easy to install by following the instructions provided. For all Canon professional printers, you have to install the print head before installing the cartridges. This enables easy replacement in case there is some trouble with the print head. Once the cartridges are installed, the LEDs on them will light up to indicate that they have been installed properly. The buttons are self-explanatory and handling is very easy. We wish the USB and power cord were a little longer since these type of printers need not necessarily be placed very close to the CPU.
Performance
First we tested the Canon PRO-10 with Canon Glossy Photo Paper “Everyday Use” 175gsm. The printing operation was smooth and without glitches. The printer provided mixed results in the test. For example, smudges were controlled very well when fonts were printed on a background colour, but the overall sharpness suffered. We also observed moire patterns in closely spaced converging lines. The printed reproduced a wide gamut of colours, but it was slightly less vibrant that what we expected. Since colour and smudges could be affected by the type of substrate of the paper, we repeated all the tests with Canon Photo Paper Pro Platinum 300 gsm, which is one of the best quality professional glossy inkjet papers available from Canon, but the results remained the same. Bronzing was well under control. Subtle colours were reproduced very well with fine detail, which is very good. Black and White images were printed with very good tonality and gradient.
At the highest print quality settings, the Canon Pro-10 reproduced an A4 borderless image in just under 5 minutes to print alone on glossy 175gsm paper. Spooling took approximately 25 seconds. This is fast enough for a professional photo printer.
Value for Money
The Canon PIXMA PRO-10 carries a price tag of Rs.65,995. At this price, the printer is certainly expensive, considering that there are capable 8-colour A3+ printers available at half this price.
+ Sturdy construction
+ Feature-filled
+ Very useful bundled software
– High price
– Very heavy
| FINAL SCORE | |
| Design and Build Quality | 16/20 |
| Key Features | 18/20 |
| Ergonomics | 17/20 |
| Performance | 16/20 |
| Value for Money | 14/20 |
| Grand Total |
81/100 |
Verdict
The Canon PIXMA PRO-10 printer offers fairly good image quality and good features including Wi-Fi. But Canon has to get the pricing right for the printer to make it big in a price-sensitive market like India.
Sujith Gopinath
