The awards are presented twice a year by BERTL, an independent testing laboratory, whose main purpose is to provide in-depth reports and analyses on imagined devices and software.  The awards are determined by a combination of information which comes from the laboratory analysis and worldwide customer satisfaction research across 11 testing criteria’s.

BERTL awarded Canon 7 ‘BEST’ awards in the following categories which recognised outstanding image quality, value and performance

• Best Office Multifunctional Line of the Year — Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C5051, Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C2030, Canon imageRUNNER 2530, Canon imageRUNNER C1020
• Best Wide Format Product Line of the Year — Canon imagePROGRAF 8300S and Canon imagePROGRAF 6300S
• Best Segment 2 A4 Desktop Multifunctional Printer — Canon imageCLASS MF5960dn
• Best 44-inch Graphic Arts Large Format Printer — Canon imagePROGRAF 8300S
• Best Segment 2 A3 Colour Multifunctional Printer — Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C2030
• Best Colour Light Production Device — Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C9075
• Best Device Management Solution — Canon uniFLOW V5.0

The 8 colour 44” iPF8300s and 24”  iPF6300s production printers were released in the UK in May 2011. They use Canon’s LUCIA EX inks which give better adhesion and scratch resistance and a greater colour gamut. The printer has a new FAST and Economy print mode which helps to enhance overall productivity and reduces ink consumption by approximately 50%.

Senior vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A, Junichi Yoshitake said “The 2011 BERTL Best Awards displays Canon’s commitment to providing the highest quality products and solutions. These awards are a testament to our commitment to innovation and ensuring our customers are provided with the finest tools to enhance their output capabilities.”

For a sample from any of the Canon Image PRGRAF range or more information visit www.sampleprint.co.uk

Océ Repro Desk Studio now officially supports the following Canon imagePROGRAF printers: the Canon imagePROGRAF , , iPF755, iPF750, iPF655, iPF650, iPF8300S, and iPF6300S. The implementation enables Océ to connect multiple Canon and Océ large format printers to one system. By offering customers one single user interface for Canon and Océ large format printers, Océ can help simplify printing and save time.

With its integrated job tracking and accounting capabilities, Océ Repro Desk Studio can also handle print jobs on Canon imagePROGRAF devices. These include ink consumption when printed through Océ Repro Desk (using the Océ Web Client, Océ Client Tools, or the Océ Repro Desk Console). As well as optimizing internal cost control, these functions ensure that printing costs can be charged to projects or customers instead of disappearing into overheads.

The Canon imagePROGRAF support in the Océ Repro Desk Studio print management software is further evidence that Canon and Océ are stronger together and better positioned than ever to ensure that their customers have access to the broadest and most advanced portfolio of professional print management solutions.
Easy thumbnail viewing in the Océ Web Client

The built-in Océ Web Client provides a uniform way to print to a variety of large format devices using a web browser and simplifies the workflow for the end-user, without the need to install client software on every single end-user desktop. This latest version also has thumbnail previews of the documents showing the actual print layout of drawings. When clicking on the thumbnail, a larger image is displayed, truly enhancing the end-user experience. Using the Océ Web Client end-users can of course also submit sets of files to the Canon imagePROGRAF devices.
PDF workflow improvements

To improve the handling and productivity of printing PDFs end-users using Océ Publisher (the client application of Océ Repro Desk Studio) can now generate thumbnails very quickly without the need of processing the PDFs. The thumbnails provide a WYSIWYP impression of how the drawing is placed on the paper, on basis of which the end-user can easily make his settings. From Océ Publisher the files are then sent straight to the print center or job center without having to process them first. Saving a lot of valuable time.
64-bit support and Simplified Chinese language support

With this release Océ Repro Desk Studio is available with simplified Chinese language support and Océ also supports the installation of Océ Repro Desk Studio on a 64-bit system.
Océ Repro Desk Studio

Océ Repro Desk Studio maximizes printing convenience by providing customers with a single, uniform user interface for all devices, eliminating complexity and reducing time spent on print jobs. Integrated accounting allows jobs to be assigned to users and projects, turning print costs into chargeable income. Océ Repro Desk Studio is part of the Océ Repro Desk family of end-to-end print management software solutions.

About Océ

Océ is one of the leading providers of document management and printing for professionals. The Océ offering includes office printing and copying systems, high speed digital production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and color display graphics. Océ is also a foremost supplier of document management outsourcing. Many of the Fortune Global 500 companies and leading commercial printers are Océ customers. The company was founded in 1877. With headquarters in Venlo, The Netherlands, Océ is active in over 100 countries and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide. Total revenues in financial 2010 amounted to approximately €2.7 billion. Océ is listed on Euronext in Amsterdam. For more information visit .
Océ and Canon: Stronger together

In 2010 Océ joined the Canon Group of companies with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to create the global leader in the printing industry. Canon develops, manufactures and markets a growing line-up of copying machines, printers, cameras, optical and other products that meet a diverse range of customer needs. The Canon Group comprises over 197,000 employees worldwide. Global net sales in 2010 were more than USD 45 billion. For more information visit .

Brooklyn artist Jonathan Brand has constructed every single part of a 1969 Mustang coupe using nothing but paper. Here is the article in the Daily Mail about this amazing creation. Apparently he has also created three other cars in the same way!

Unfortunately, unless you are going over the USA soon you won’t be able to catch this in person. Jonathan’s exhibition entitled ‘One Piece at a Time’ is at the Hosfelt Gallery in New York City until October 29.

Because we were so amazed inkjet media could preform in this way, we couldn’t help but make contact with Jonathon to find out a bit more about this amazing project. Jonathan tells us he used Canon media to achieve this incredible feat. “I tried a lot of paper and found that the Canon Fine Art BW 33ogsm paper held up the best under the conditions I place on the media” Jonathan said whilst he did try various other media, he found some of them preformed so badly he had to remake parts of the car. “I found the Canon media to be superior in strength, colour reproduction, resistance to humidity and ease of cutting and gluing.”  The whole car is vanished with Premiere Art Print Shield which allows him to handle the matte prints with out damaging them.

Here are some photographs courtesy of the Mail’s article that are copyright to Jonathan Brand. Amazing stuff…

P.S. the bottom image is the ‘real’ Mustang Jonathan used as his inspiration.

www.thisiscolossal.com has been created by Christopher Jobson and (in his own words) is “a blog that explores the intersection of art, design, and physical craft”. The imagery is wonderful and truly imaginative and well done Christopher for bring together such a great collection of stories and items on your site.

Many of the pieces of work shown have been aided by the use of large format printers and this is why we picked it up. Here are some of the articles that are about LFP related pieces of work, but please don’t stop there! Check out the whole site.

Do you (or your clients) have any stories or pieces of work that are like the ones on the Colossal site? We would love to hear about them and see them!

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The show will be held at the Business Design Centre in Islington in London on 25th & 26th of October.

The show will be aimed at video, broadcast and still imaging professionals. Visitors can see Canon’s complete workflow solution from image capture to output.

Seminar speakers will be Canon Ambassadors: Jeff Ascough; Wildlife photographers, Jonathon and Angela Scott; Magnum Photographer, Martin Parr; Digital Cinematographer, Philip Bloom; Landscape Photographer, David Noton; Wildlife Photographer and Filmaker, Charlie Hamilton James and Landscape Photographer, Charlie Waite.

Canon intend to demonstrate  a comprehensive line-up at this years show, with focus on the compatiblity of Canon products in a professional digital workflow situation. This will include ASK Electronics; Hasselblad; Hahnemuehle; Hire a Camera;Imageworks TV; Lastolite and Rosco together with the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers, and the Master Photographers Association.

Entrance to the show will be free for those who pre-register or £8 for tickets at the door.

Last years show saw 2800 professionals visit the event and Canon hope to attract more this year by offering the largest and most comprehensive exhibition to date.

For more information and to register

Sample Print, who has been producing Canon large format print samples since 2008, has added cityscape artist and 3D visual specialist Piers Bourke to their website. Bourke, based in London, specialises in producing cityscapes and 3D images from all around the world. Two of his images appear on the Sample Print website, ‘Van at Night’ and ‘Saigon at Dusk’. A director for Sample Print, Rob Andrews, said ‘We are very pleased to add Piers’ work to Sample Print and chose these images as they reflect a wonderful example for fine art applications. Photography is already well represented on the site but we wanted artists and fine art users to have a better choice of what could be achieve with the Canon large format printers.’

Sample Print specialises in offering samples to potential Canon customers, all of which have been produced by photographers and artist using Canon EOS camera and outputted on Canon imagePROGRAF printers. The site currently displays work from fashion and portrait photographer, Drew Gardner; contemporary landscape artist, David Anthony Hall and industrial and architectural specialist Keith Cooper. ‘The samples we offer are all from photographers and artists working every day in their chosen field, the images are all from real commercial applications.’ said Andrews ‘We think this is important and something that differentiates Sample Print as it highlights the printers ability in a way potential customers can relate to’.

Bourke’s own iPF6300 printer was purchased with the help of the Sample Print website. After spending too much money and losing creative control on outsourcing, he made the decision to buy. Bourke said ‘After receiving a print from Sample Print and visiting the Canon Pro Photo Solutions show last year, I realised I could achieve a finish that I’d previously thought was only available through professional print rooms. I now have total creative control and don’t have to compromise anymore. I can now satisfy my artistic direction every time I print’.

Recognised for delivering outstanding image quality, value and performance, BERTL Best Awards were awarded to Canon in the following categories:

Best Eight-Colour, 24-Inch Graphic Arts Large Format Printer – Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6300S
Best Departmental Monochrome A3 MFP – Canon imageRUNNER 2530
Best Departmental Colour A4 MFP – Canon Color imageRUNNER C1030
Best Monochrome High Performance Compact Desktop Printer – Canon imageRUNNER LBP3470
Best Security Feature Rich Monochrome Desktop Printer – Canon imageRUNNER LBP3560
Best Color Midsized Workgroup MFP – Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C5051
Best SOHO Monochrome Desktop Printer – Canon imageCLASS LBP6650dn
Best Micro and Small Office-Workgroup B&W Printer – Canon imageCLASS MF4450

“The 2011 BERTL Best Awards showcase Canon’s unique ability to provide category-leading solutions across a wide range of output environments,” said Junichi Yoshitake, senior vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. “With end-users demanding greater performance and flexibility from their output devices, Canon continues to draw upon its expertise in developing advanced imaging technologies to meet today’s business needs.”

“In the Spring 2011 voting session, BERTL’s expert analysts were tremendously impressed with how Canon’s devices performed during our testing process, a process which has been honed over the past 15 years of analysing office equipment and software systems. The quality and dedication of the people at Canon is apparent in their devices which have won these prestigious awards,” said Art Wynne, president, BERTL, Inc.

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., April 27, 2011 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today announced the addition of two new media types for use with Canon’s award-winning imagePROGRAF large format printers, Premium Glossy Paper 2 (280 gsm) and Premium Semi-Glossy Paper 2 (280 gsm). Designed for precise, ultra high-quality print performance, the new media help deliver enhanced color range and improved durability at an affordable price point. In addition, a new version of PosterArtist poster creation software has been announced with enhancements which will make the task of completing a project easier than with previous versions.

“With Canon media, users can be confident they will consistently produce images of superb quality,” said Jim Rosetta, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. “The addition of these two new media types further shows Canon’s commitment to providing our users with the highest quality of both input and output products.”

Premium Glossy Paper 2 (280gsm) is a heavyweight glossy media for a variety of high-end applications including photographic, graphic arts and signage. The paper has a high whiteness factor through the use of ultra white pulp that makes the media less susceptible to light illuminant changes.

Premium Semi-Glossy Paper 2 (280gsm) is a heavyweight slightly textured semi-gloss paper providing end-users another option for their final output depending on the desired output texture. In comparison to the Premium Glossy Paper 2, this media has a similar whiteness but softer finish and less reflection that can be more attractive to specific applications such as fine art photographic reproductions and exhibitions.

The Premium Glossy Paper 2 and the Premium Semi-Glossy Paper 2 are expected to begin shipping in June of 2011.