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Lab Test ReportBUYERS LAB

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BuyersLab.com © 2014 Buyers Laboratory LLC. Duplication in any manner is illegal and strictly forbidden without written permission from Buyers Laboratory. Violators will be prosecuted. To purchase reprints, contact BLI at [email protected].

BLI RECOMMENDATION

EUROPEAN EDITION

A Comprehensive BLI Laboratory Evaluation JANUARY 2014

The Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S was an outstanding overall performer in BLI’s two-month lab evaluation. Providing excellent reliability, the unit shone in countless areas. Notably, colour management received an excellent rating as a result of the impressive colour consistency achieved by the iPF6400S when equipped with the company’s optional SU-21 spectropho-tometer. This formidable combination repeatedly provided iden-tical colour output between two Canon S-series models—the iPF6400S and iPF8400S—as demonstrated by the extremely low Delta E measurements recorded on output from both devices, which is indispensable for proofing applications. The new Co-lour Calibration Management Console utility received high marks for its ability to remotely manage and perform calibrations. En-hancing productivity and ease of use, Canon’s new Direct Print & Share utility proved to be a winner for direct file submission, thus bypassing print drivers and application software. The util-ity also successfully enabled files to be stored in the cloud and readily shared among the BLI lab team. The iPF6400S, which contains Canon’s eight-colour LUCIA EX ink set, produced ex-cellent photographic images and a neutral-appearing halftone range with above average smoothness. Moreover, the unit al-

Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400SColour Inkjet Wide format Printer

Test duration: Two months, including a 232.5-square-metre durability test.

More information on the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S is available through bliQ (www.buyerslab.com/bliQ).

Reliability .......................................................................... ExcellentEase of Network Setup.....................................................Very GoodPaper Handling ................................................................. ExcellentEase of Use ...................................................................... ExcellentAdministrative Utilities .....................................................Very GoodPrint Drivers ...................................................................... ExcellentFeedback to Workstations ....................................................... GoodColour Management ......................................................... ExcellentColour Print Quality ........................................................... ExcellentBlack Print Quality ...........................................................Very GoodPrint Productivity .............................................................. ExcellentFeature Set ......................................................................Very Good

Lab Test Report Canon iPF6400S BUYERS LAB

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2 BuyersLab.com © 2014 Buyers Laboratory LLC. Duplication in any manner is illegal and strictly forbidden without written permission from Buyers Laboratory. Violators will be prosecuted. To purchase reprints, contact BLI at [email protected].

Strengths• Flawless reliability

• Unprecedented colour consistency across multiple iPFX400S devices with optional SU-21 spectrophotometer; CCMC utility enables administrator to conveniently monitor and perform calibrations remotely

• Excellent colour photographic images with bright saturation and neutral flesh tones; excellent halftone range with above average smoothness

• Direct Print & Share enables multiple files to be printed without opening print drivers and software applications, as well as efficient sharing capabilities to the cloud

• Ink sub-tanks enable on-the-fly replacement thereby enhancing productivity

• Fastest productivity recorded for eight-ink devices

• Multifunctional Status Monitor features user-friendly Accounting Manager; job queue monitoring; file reprinting; and maintenance procedures

• Clearly labelled, intuitive control panel; media feed and cut operations directly on control panel; effortless roll and sheet loading

• Borderless printing, media-tracking barcode and Free Layout nesting functions

• Wide range of compatible media; Media Configuration Tool enables customization of media entry and removal; two- and three-inch core compatible; two sheet-feeding locations

• Easy job storage and retrieval with 250-GB internal hard drive; three levels of hard disk drive erase, one of which meets DoD requirements

• Bundled with Poster Artist Lite software and Print Plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office

Weaknesses• No control panel USB connectivity

• Spectrophotometer attachment obstructs roll loading

• Moderate bronzing on black-and-white prints

• Access to cloud storage unavailable from control panel

• Every job saved to hard drive by default

• Job preview unavailable from Status Monitor, web page or control panel

• Remaining ink levels not as precise as with some competitors

• Installation of some utilities must be performed separately, thus requiring more clicks overall than many competitive devices

lows for ink tank replacement during printing, a significant and unique advantage for Canon wide format printers. Aimed at the production/proofing and high-quality photographic print markets, the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S configured with the SU-21 spectrophotometer comes highly recommended by BLI.


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Reliability EXCELLENT

The Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S proved to be highly reliable in BLI testing, com-pleting a one-month, 232.5-square-metre durability test with one jam and no service calls required.

Early in the evaluation (after approximately 28 square metres were printed), the end of a roll of plain paper was skewed in the printer, rendering an “out of paper” control panel message, although it was actually a jam. There was no apparent way to remove the skewed sheet other than to carefully and slowly pull it out from where it originated. Since this occurred only one time, it is possible that the media was not wound on the core properly thereby causing this minor issue.

ease of NetwoRk setup VEry Good

Once the inks, printheads and paper were installed on the Canon iPF6400S, the unit was very easily connected to BLI’s network by assigning an IP address for the device from the Interface Setup selection at the control panel. The IP address, as well as other network settings, can be modified within the web utility.

Standard interfaces for the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S include a 10/100/1000 Base-T/TX port and one high-speed USB 2.0 port.

Canon includes three separate user software disks, one each for Windows X32, X64 and Macintosh operating systems. On BLI’s Windows 7 workstation, a total of 13 clicks were required to install the print driver, the imagePROGRAF Status Monitor, the Media Configuration Tool and the Print Plug-in for Microsoft Office, which took approximately 10 minutes. This installation was accessed via the disk’s installation screen’s top-most icon—“Install Driver.”

From the smaller, bottom-most icon on the installation screen—“Install Individual Soft-ware”— four additional utilities are available for installation—the Colour Calibration Management Console (CCMC); Direct Print & Share; Driver Optimization Module for AutoCAD; and Device Setup utilities, in addition to those that were already installed. Rather than having to search another tab to install the most important of these—CCMC and Direct Print & Share—it would be more convenient to have them available for selec-tion from the top-most icon.

—The CCMC utility required an additional seven clicks and Direct Print & Share required an additional six for installation. The Windows 7 workstation had to be restarted after the CCMC installation.

The unit is compatible with Windows XP, Server 2003, Server 2008, Vista, 7 and 8 (32- and 64-bit) operating systems, as well as Mac OS X 10.6.8 – 10.8.x.

, — and represent positive, negative and neutral attributes, respectively.

test Results aND obseRVatioNs


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The printer’s port is automatically created during driver installation.

O An additional seven clicks are required to install PosterArtist Lite, the free poster-cre-ation software, which is available from a fourth installation disk.

papeR HaNDliNg EXCELLENT

The Canon iPF6400S supports one paper roll. Minimum roll width is 203 mm; maximum width is 610 mm. The maximum media roll diameter is 150 mm. Minimum and maximum roll thicknesses are 0.07 and 0.80 mm, respectively.

The iPF6400S is one of only a few devices that offers two manual sheet-feeding loca-tions, either top- or front-loading. The horizontal front-loading location is used for thick media ranging from 0.50 to 1.50 mm in thickness, while the top-loading position accommodates media thicknesses from 0.07 to 0.80 mm. Only one media source can be loaded at a time. Once a sheet is loaded, both its width and length are automatically detected and conveniently displayed on the control panel and in the Status Monitor. This is especially beneficial to users wanting to make use of odd sizes of leftover media.

There are 61 media selections and 10 special paper selections from which to choose on the unit’s control panel. Among these are numerous photo, proofing, fine art and canvas selections for high quality photographic and artistic print applications; canvas, cloth, banner, backlit and vinyl media for display and signage applications; and plain, bond and coated media for technical printing and everyday use. Each choice automatically enables specific ink, cutting and drying specifications for the particular media.

Moreover, each of the media selections has a sub-menu where additional options such as printhead height, cutting mode, cutting speed, vacuum strength and dry time can be modified for optimum performance.

Canon’s Media Configuration Tool enables users to add custom media types and/or remove existing media types. Custom settings such as media name, ink limiting and paper thickness can be modified here, as well. After performing media updates using the tool, the printer automatically restarts, after which the new media types are accessi-ble on the control panel and in the print driver. Conversely, media types that are removed will no longer be available for selection. This feature can be used to control the media types available to end users.


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Media Configuration Tool (U.S. model pictured)

Common to most wide format printers, finished prints exit the printer from the front and are deposited into a catch basket situated directly below the printer. The well designed basket can be configured to collect pages printed on thinner media in a more orderly fashion than some competitive devices of this size. Pages printed on thicker media, however, tend to curl and roll to the bottom of the basket, as is typical.

BLI technicians observed minor abrasions on some heavy-coverage pages that were printed on thick, glossy media after they had dropped into the catch basket. Users may want to select manual cutting or add a drying time for thicker and/or glossy media types to avoid the risk of this happening.

When a roll of paper is depleted during a print job, the page that was printing will reprint upon loading a new roll. Once the roll is inserted, a prompt on the control panel asks users whether or not to resume the print job.

The Canon iPF6400S has a detect mismatch control panel setting, which, by default, pauses jobs if incorrect media is loaded, thereby saving both paper and ink. Jobs that are slated for the loaded paper type are printed without delay.

The two hubs or end caps that hold a roll of paper in place on the spindle are smartly designed. They are octagonal in shape rather than circular, so that when the spindle is placed on a flat surface, such as a table top, it doesn’t roll.

As with many competitive models, Canon supplies two core inserts that are easily posi-tioned onto both end caps, which enable the use of media wound on three-inch cores. Without the inserts, the end caps support standard two-inch cores.


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ease of use EXCELLENT

There are 10 clearly labelled buttons on the printer’s control panel. Although the LCD display, which measures 54 mm x 44 mm, is small, it contains a great deal more information than that of many competitive models. While a job is printing, the five lines of text on the display provide virtually all the information needed by a walk-up user. This includes job status, job name, page size, media type and remaining print time. There are four icons at the top of the display representing the Paper, Ink, Job and System menus. Numerous sub-menu selections are available under these headings when the printer is idle.

As with most Canon imagePROGRAF devices, buttons for media feed and cut are located directly on the control panel, which is preferable to some competitive devices, which display these selections in sub-menus.

Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S Control Panel (U.S. model pictured)

Unlike some competitive models’ control panel displays, the imagePROGRAF iPF6400S does not indicate how many pages of a multi-page job have already printed or remain to be printed. However, users can access this information from the Status Monitor at the workstation.

Roll loading is very easy on the Canon iPF6400S, the process for which is slightly obstructed by the optional spectrophotometer attachment. The spindle is lightweight and requires little effort to position a full media roll on. Once a roll is on the spindle, the spindle is placed in the roll paper unit located on top of the printer under a hinged cover. Users simply feed the roll’s lead edge into the paper feed slot, whereby the printer automatically takes hold of it and quickly positions it for printing. Once the media is properly installed, users are prompted to select the correct type on the control panel.


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Although there are selections for 61 different media, conveniently, the last three media types that were loaded are displayed at the top of the list, allowing for quicker selection. The printer displays an “Online” status message within seconds of making a selection.

Loading cut-sheet media is also an easy process, with the four-step procedure provided on the control panel display. After selecting the paper type, the user is directed to open the paper tray cover and the support at the top of the unit. Once the sheet is positioned against a fixed right vertical guide, the adjustable left vertical guide is positioned against the paper’s left side. Once the cut-sheet is in place, pressing the OK button quickly produces a Ready message, with both the length and width automatically detected and displayed.

A control panel paper menu setting—Manage Remaining Roll—enables the media type and length to be printed in barcode and text at the end of the loaded roll before the roll is removed, a useful media-saving feature, especially in busy environments where numerous media rolls are frequently exchanged.

Reinstalling a roll that includes the barcode information simply requires the user to insert the lead edge into the printer when prompted, and the rest of the process is automated. Once loaded, the roll’s width and remaining length are conveniently displayed on the control panel and in the Status Monitor, and the barcode information is trimmed from the roll before the printer returns to its ready state.

Walk-up users can delete a job from the control panel by pressing the Stop button and confirming the deletion by selecting “yes,” which avoids accidental job deletion.

Users are warned on the control panel and in the utilities when an ink tank has reached a low level or is empty. Replacement is an easy process, whereby users simply lift the ink housing cover, then unlatch and remove the empty tank. Replacement can be performed while the printer is in use due to the unit’s sub-tank system, which is a significant time-saving feature unique to Canon imagePROGRAF printers. Replacing several ink tanks on-the-fly caused no delays to the print process during testing. Each colour tank is slotted differently to prevent inserting a tank in the wrong position.

Canon provides ink tanks in two capacities—130-ml and the more economical 300-ml—for each of the eight colours—cyan, photo cyan, magenta, photo magenta, yellow, photo black, matte black and grey.

Replacing the unit’s two identical printheads is also an easy process, and is initiated from the control panel’s System menu. Users are guided on the control panel how to perform this task. According to Canon, the process, which prompts “absorbing ink” and “replenishing with ink” control panel messages, moves ink from the ink cartridges into the lines to the printheads. A printhead alignment is automatically conducted directly after replacement.

The unit employs a user-replaceable maintenance tank for automatic waste ink collection. Housed beneath the printer, the spectrophotometer guide, if that option is attached, must first be removed before replacing the maintenance tank. Not all competitive models make use of maintenance waste tanks.


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Occasionally during evaluation, the printer randomly conducted automatic nozzle checks, which prompt the message “Nozzle check/Keep cover closed” to be displayed on the control panel. In the manual’s troubleshooting section it reads, “At regular intervals, for printer maintenance, cleaning operations will begin automatically, even if the printer is in Sleep mode.” There is a nozzle check frequency setting located in the control panel’s System Setup tab, which is set to “Standard” by default, with alternate selections being “1 Page,” “10 pages” or “Off.”

The unit also displayed “Agitating” on the control panel several times during testing, throughout which jobs that were queued were temporarily paused until the process was completed. The manual states, “At regular intervals, to ensure optimal printing quality, the ink is agitated automatically, even if the printer is in Sleep mode.”

By default, the last 100 files that are printed on the Canon iPF6400S are stored on the printer’s hard drive in a preset mailbox, namely mailbox 00. This is designed for users who routinely reprint files. It would be more practical to have the feature disabled by default, so as not to fill the hard drive/mailbox needlessly. The feature can be manually disabled from the control panel’s System tab or from the Remote UI.

Consequent to the automatic file storing, reprinting can be easily conducted from three different locations—directly from the control panel, the web page or the Hard Drive tab in the Status Monitor. From the Status Monitor, files can also be deleted or moved to any of the remaining 29 mailboxes. All mailboxes can be renamed, and for added security, can be password protected via the Status Monitor or web page.

—Although files that reside on the hard drive can be accessed from different locations for reprinting, users cannot preview them. Some competing devices enable monitor or control panel previewing of previously printed jobs, which is useful for identification purposes before reprinting.

A common selection in most print drivers, Canon’s “Open preview when print job starts” option enables the viewing of files not yet printed, thereby allowing users to verify proper sizing and content before printing, which will likely prevent the waste of media, ink and time. When a preview is open, each page of a multi-page file can be previewed. Unique preview features include length and width ruler guides; the ability to centre the image on the page and/or remove empty spaces at the top and bottom of the page before the file is printed.

aDmiNistRatiVe utilities VEry Good

A valuable mainstay for all Canon wide format printers, the Status Monitor auto-launches by default when a file is sent to the printer. The Status Monitor is an extremely useful tool that BLI technicians referred to throughout the printer’s evaluation. In the Printer Status window, users can view the progress of a print job, as well as paper and ink supplies. The utility also can be opened from either the Windows Programs menu or from a tab on the print driver. Especially helpful when monitoring output, both the page number and time remaining information are provided while a job is printing.


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Status Monitor – Printer Status Tab (U.S. model pictured)

The user-friendly Accounting Manager is a particularly noteworthy feature found in the Status Monitor that offers comprehensive accounting for all print jobs. By simply enter-ing the actual costs for individual inks and media types, a cost per job is automatically calculated and displayed here. Users can enter additional costs for a print job, such as laminating or finishing, in the “Other” tab. The media type, square footage used, ink consumed and total print time are listed for each job, as well. By double-clicking an indi-vidual job name, more detailed cost and consumption information are provided. Users can even obtain a value for overall ink and paper consumption, as well as total job cost, by highlighting all jobs in the list. Cost data can be saved in .CSV format and opened in Excel.

Accounting Manager (U.S. model pictured)


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—The ink remaining information provided in the Status Monitor and in the device’s web page is presented only in 20 percent increments. In fact, an “ink tank supply low” message will be displayed when a 20 percent volume remains. Some competitive models provide remaining ink information in more precise 1-ml. increments.

The Status Monitor’s Information tab offers useful status, system and log information that can be updated, printed and/or saved from within the various selections in the tab. While from the Maintenance tab, a user can conduct nozzle check, printhead cleaning and printhead and paper feed adjustment procedures for image quality optimization.

Canon’s web-based Direct Print & Share utility is available for the iPF6400S and is installed via the user software disk. Launched via a desktop icon, one of the utility’s functions is as a direct printing tool, which technicians successfully and easily utilised throughout the evaluation. Users add PDF, JPEG and TIFF files to the utility and then submit them together to the printer, thus bypassing application software and print drivers, a productivity-enhancing process. Print settings can easily be modified before files are submitted.

Direct Print & Share window with files ready for printing on the Canon iPF6400S (U.S. model pictured)

—Some competitive utilities enable direct printing of more file types than the three—PDF, JPEG and TIFF—that the Direct Print & Share utility is capable of printing.

Once a user creates a free Google drive account, which is used for “cloud” file storage, the drive is readily accessed via the “Cloud service integration” tab within Direct Print & Share. Conveniently, the utility’s sharing capabilities can be utilised immediately by checking the “Share settings when uploading” box. After clicking “Upload” and entering recipients’ email addresses, they will receive a notification email that the file is available. Simply clicking on the file name within the email launches the Google drive, where it can


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be viewed and/or downloaded. This process will likely be easier than sending files via traditional email, which has file size limitations, or via FTP, which will typically require IT intervention. This process was conducted numerous times throughout the evaluation without incident.

Cloud Service Integration: Accessible files on Google drive (top window); downloaded files ready for printing (bottom window) (U.S. model pictured)

Although it is not possible to print file types other than PDF, JPEG and TIFF from the cloud storage location, there are virtually no restrictions to size or type of file being uploaded for sharing. In fact, in addition to PDF, JPEG and TIFF files, BLI technicians uploaded seven other file types – DOC, XLS, PPT, DWF, DWG, HP2 and PRN – ranging in size from 56 KB to 78 MB, in approximately three minutes.

In fact, a 1-GB file was uploaded successfully to the Google drive. As would be expected, it took approximately 45 minutes to complete the process.

Google Drive Account (U.S. model pictured)


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—Unlike the Canon iPF6400S, some competitive units have an embedded email address, enabling files to be printed that are emailed to that address.

—Likewise, some competitive models enable cloud access from their control panel for file retrieval, which the Canon iPF6400S does not.

The Canon iPF6400S web page, or Remote UI, offers limited functionality compared with both the Canon Status Monitor and the web pages of competitive units, and in fact, was little used during testing. As mentioned, the Status Monitor is a user-essential for job and consumables monitoring, as well as performing accounting tasks, among many other operations.

When logged in as an administrator, an administrator password can be assigned or modified from the web page Device Manager. Security and network protocol settings can be configured here, as well.

pRiNt DRiVeRs EXCELLENT

The imagePROGRAF iPF6400S print driver is graphical and includes six tabs that offer straightforward selections. The most commonly used settings such as Media Type, Print Quality and Colour Mode are selectable from the Main tab.

Canon iPF6400S Print Driver (U.S. model pictured)

There are eight Print Target Settings from which to choose on the Main tab, which, when selected, automatically provide the optimal settings for a print job based on the selected target. Among the choices are Photo (Colour), Photo (Monochrome), Poster, Faithful Colour Reproduction, Photo (Adobe RGB), Office Document, Perspective GIS and CAD (Colour Line Drawing). The number of Print Target choices varies depending on the media type selected.


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The Get Information print driver selection was used frequently during BLI’s evaluation and proved a time-saving feature. After numerous media exchanges on the printer, instead of searching for the exact media type from the dropdown menu on the print driver, clicking on the Get Information tab applied the newly-loaded media type, auto-matically retrieving the information from the printer’s control panel.

A noteworthy feature available for all Canon wide format printers is the Free Layout function. Selectable in the print driver, this easy-to-use image nesting feature provides media-, time- and cost-savings by enabling users to merge different file formats across a single page before printing, which is especially beneficial when using expensive media. Once enabled in the driver, a thumbnail image of each submitted file appears in the newly opened Free Layout window. The user can reposition and/or resize each of them by clicking on the image and dragging it to the desired location. When all the images are suitably positioned, all the files will be printed on one page. Conveniently, crop marks or cut lines can be turned on before printing and will be placed around each image to aid in cutting.

Free Layout Function (U.S. model pictured)

As with many wide format printers, the imagePROGRAF iPF6400S enables borderless printing on numerous types of roll media. When selected, images are printed directly to the edge of the media, thus reducing trimming and finishing requirements. Additionally, via selections in the Layout tab’s page options section, users can choose to print the date, time, user name and/or page number on their prints, functions that are available in only select competitive print drivers.


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Also a familiar and time-saving feature with many wide format devices, up to 50 different user-configurable Favourites can be created in the driver’s Favourites tab, each of which comprises any number of user-specified settings, such as colour or monochrome, paper type/orientation/size and print quality. Once established, users can select a Favourite with one click rather than making the individual print setting choices for each job.

As mentioned, maintenance procedures can be performed via the print driver, as well as from the Status Monitor and web page.

Canon’s Print Plug-in for Office enables large format printing of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.

User-selectable paper sizes in the driver include ISO, ANSI, Arch and Photo, among several others. Conveniently, when scrolling above each selection, the specific page dimensions are listed in both English and metric units. These can also be hidden if cer-tain size standards are not used. Additional media settings for modifying drying time, margins, cut speed and mirror printing can be applied individually for each print job via the print driver’s Advanced Settings tab.

feeDback to woRkstatioNs Good

The Status Monitor can be displayed as either a pop-up window or task-bar icon, and can be configured to automatically launch either when printing starts and/or when the Windows operating system is started. Errors and/or warnings such as ink out, paper out and ink low can be set to display.

Status Monitor – Display Options (U.S. model pictured)


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Email server settings can be configured in the Status Monitor, which will allow notifica-tions of errors and warnings to be sent to up to two email addresses. Some competi-tive systems allow notifications to be sent to a greater number of addresses, as well as mobile device destinations.

Warning and/or error messages are provided in the web page as well as the Status Monitor. Some competing devices also provide this information in the print driver.

colouR maNagemeNt EXCELLENT

The imagePROGRAF iPF6400S contains a built-in multi-sensor (or densitometer) posi-tioned on the printhead that is used to conduct a colour calibration, which the company states can be applied to all media (Canon and third-party) used on the device. When a calibration is executed from either the control panel or the Colour Calibration Manage-ment Console (CCMC), a test pattern is automatically printed and scanned, and an adjustment value is applied to all supported media types based on the scanned results. The entire process takes approximately 12 minutes and Canon recommends that it be carried out when the printer is first installed, after printhead replacement, if colours appear visibly different over time, if room conditions change dramatically or when con-sistent colours are required from multiple printers (in which case firmware versions and all print driver settings must be identical.)

Canon’s optional SU-21 spectrophotometer is available for the two smallest imagePRO-GRAF models containing a hard drive—the iPF6400S and the 12-colour iPF6450, and can be added to those printers at any time.

While utilizing the SU-21 configured on the iPF6400S, BLI successfully proved that Can-on’s claim of colour consistency could be achieved between it and a second model, the iPF8400S, which was concurrently undergoing lab evaluation. The straightforward pro-cedure was carried out on a glossy heavyweight third-party media that was first added to the iPF6400S via the Media Configuration Tool. After conducting a colour calibration, an .am1 (custom media information) file was automatically created. This file was then uploaded to the iPF8400S via its Media Configuration Tool. The same glossy heavy-weight paper was installed in the iPF8400S, and a calibration was conducted. An IT8 colour patch chart was then printed on both devices using the same driver settings, and the result of these processes was an extremely low Delta E colour difference of 0.92, a measurement obtained via a third-party software. The process was effectively repeated using a different paper, matte coated, which produced a Delta E colour difference of 0.79.


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Colour consistency between the Canon iPF6400S and Canon iPF8400S (U.S. model pictured)

Canon’s Colour Calibration Management Console (CCMC) utility, available from the soft-ware installation disk, enables an administrator to remotely track each unit’s calibration status from a central location and perform calibrations when necessary. The utility dis-plays a progress bar for each media type indicating when a colour calibration should be conducted. Moreover, the utility features a Delta E threshold setting, which can be set in an effort to obtain the low Delta E colour difference described above. The default threshold value is 2.0 on a scale of 0.4 to 5.0.


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CCMC Before Glossy Heavyweight Calibration (U.S. model pictured)

CCMC After Glossy Heavyweight Calibration (U.S. model pictured)

Typical for most wide format printers, the imagePROGRAF iPF6400S offers numerous colour modification settings in the print driver. Sliders are available to make adjustments to C, M, Y and R, G, B, as well as to brightness, contrast, saturation and grey tone. Adjustments can be applied to images, graphics and/or text. A helpful graphic display of the selected changes is provided as a thumbnail in the driver.

For colour matching purposes, from the print driver’s colour settings tab numerous matching modes and matching methods are selectable, which can be applied for each file.


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pRiNt Quality

colouR pRiNt Quality EXCELLENT

The imagePROGRAF iPF6400S produced colour photographic images on Canon Premium Glossy paper that were excellent using the driver’s Standard quality setting. Colours exhibited bright saturation and high contrast, fine shadow and highlight details, natural flesh tones and no evidence of graininess or banding.

Common for wide format printers, the unit’s colour output remained highly consistent over the course of testing. No noticeable changes were detected in a visual observation of a group of images printed at the end of the evaluation compared to the same group printed at the start of the test. Likewise, the device’s colour gamut remained consistent over the test’s duration.

The imagePROGRAF iPF6400S produced an average-sized colour gamut on Canon Premium Glossy paper as compared with other eight-ink wide format printers evaluated by BLI. The colour gamut was slightly larger in the cyan and green regions of the spectrum, while in the orange, red and magenta regions the gamut was somewhat smaller when compared with like devices.

The unit displayed slightly higher than average ink densities on Canon Premium Glossy paper compared with other eight-colour devices evaluated.

As has been observed with numerous other wide format printers, BLI technicians detected no significant differences in image quality, density or the colour gamuts of prints that were produced on Premium Glossy paper using the Standard print driver quality setting versus those printed using the High quality setting. As a consequence, BLI suggests using the Standard driver setting when printing high-quality photographs and images, which can aid in both time and ink savings without sacrificing quality, though the results at these settings will depend on the media in use.

Under magnification, however, subtle improvements were observed in fine lines and text on output printed at the High driver setting, which were not discernible without magnifi-cation.

The Economy print driver setting produced adequate, low density, draft-quality prints. Common on most printers, the Economy setting contributes to lower ink usage and faster print speeds, but at the expense of image quality.

black pRiNt Quality VEry Good

Black-and-white photographs exhibited very good image quality on Canon Premium Glossy paper at the Standard driver setting, producing very fine shadow and highlight details with no apparent graininess or banding.


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Halftone range was excellent, with greyscale visible over a broad range. Grey tones appeared neutral with no colour tints observed and exhibited above average smooth-ness.

—However, under typical indoor lighting conditions and when examined under a Graphi-clite D5000 viewing booth, technicians observed moderate bronzing on black-and-white prints produced on Canon Premium Glossy and Satin Photo papers, a common occur-rence for many wide format printers.

Black output remained consistent throughout the course of the evaluation with no deg-radation visible in a group of images printed at the end of the evaluation compared to the same group printed at the start of the test.

pRiNt pRoDuctiVity EXCELLENT

The Canon iPF6400S’ productivity when printing BLI’s job stream of five A1-size high resolution files on Canon Premium Glossy paper was the fastest of all competitive models in the group.

When printing a single A1-size high resolution test file at the Fast and Standard print driver settings, the Canon iPF6400S delivered print speeds that were on average 57.0 and 55.7 percent faster, respectively, than the competitive models in this group.

Similarly, when printing five pages of the same file at the Fast and Standard settings, the Canon iPF6400S exhibited speeds that were on average 44.0 and 44.7 percent faster, respectively, than the competitive models in the group.

featuRe set VEry Good

BLI evaluated the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S configured with the optional SU-21 spectrophotometer. Conveniently, the SU-21 is field-upgradeable for users wishing to add the option after printer purchase.

Common to many wide format printers of this size, the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S has a 250-GB internal hard drive.

Available from the control panel’s System tab, Canon offers three levels of hard disk drive data erase—High Speed, Secure High Speed and Secure, which meets Depart-ment of Defense requirements.

Canon’s PosterArtist Lite software is included with the imagePROGRAF iPF6400S. This program can be used to create posters for any number of applications such as office presentations, trade show graphics and retail signage.


BUYERS LAB


The full version of the Canon Poster Artist software, which is an option, offers advanced features such as Auto Design, Variable Data and in-application editing features along with royalty-free photos and clip art. In addition to full compatibility with Canon’s image-PROGRAF line, according to the company the software works with Ocè wide format printers and Canon PIXMA photo and imageRUNNER series printers with limited func-tionality and support.

Canon bundles a Print Plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Digital Photo Professional with the iPF6400S, which allow users to directly process and print RAW image files from either application.

As mentioned, the company also includes a Print Plug-in for Microsoft Office, which aids in direct printing from Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications.

A unique feature among Canon wide format printers, the Canon iPF6400S employs an ink sub-tank system, which enables the replacement of any of the eight ink tanks on-the-fly, without stopping the print process.

The eight user-replaceable ink tanks—cyan, photo cyan, magenta, photo magenta, yellow, photo black, matte black and grey—come in two capacities – 130ml. and 300ml, the larger of which provides for longer unattended print runs. The unit ships with 120 ml. starter tanks for cyan, photo cyan, photo magenta and grey, and 90 ml. starter tanks for each of the remaining four colours.

Other user-replaceable items include two printheads, a cutter blade, a waste mainte-nance cartridge and roll holder sets for multi-roll users.


BUYERS LAB


Test Environment: This product was tested in BLI’s 929-square-metre U.S. test lab, in an environment monitored by an Extech RH S20 Digital RH/Temperature Recorder and Honeywell Model 61 Seven-Day Temperature/Relative Humidity Chart Recorder. All products are powered by dedicated circuits that are protected by ESP (Electronic Systems Protection, Inc.) surge protectors to prevent transient power and communication disturbances from affecting equipment under test. All paper used in testing was allowed to acclimatize inside the lab for at least 12 hours before being used.

Test Equipment: BLI’s dedicated test network, consisting of Windows 2003 and Microsoft Exchange servers, Windows 7 and XP workstations, 10BaseT/100BaseTX network switches and CAT5 cabling.

Test Duration: Products are tested for two months, a portion of which consists of a durability test. For 42-inch/1067-mm printers and larger, a volume of 929 square metres is run. For 36-inch/914-mm printers, a volume of 697 square metres is run and for 24-inch/610-mm printers, a volume of 232.5 square metres is run. All print volumes are evenly divided on a daily basis over the course of the test.

Tested Configuration: Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S 24-inch/610-mm eight-colour inkjet wide format printer configured with the SU-21 spectrophotometer option.

Test Procedures: The test methods and procedures employed by BLI in its lab testing include BLI’s proprietary procedures and industry-standard test procedures. In addition to a number of proprietary test documents, BLI uses industry-standard files including an IT8 test file and an ASTM monochrome test document for evaluating colour and black image quality, respectively. Besides a visual observation under a Graphiclite D5000 Standard Viewer, colour print quality and gamut size are evaluated using an X-rite Eye-One spectrophotometer and Gretag’s Profile Maker 5.0 software. Density of black and colour output is measured using an X-Rite 508 densitometer.

suppoRtiNg test Data

John Lawler, CEO

Anthony F. Polifrone, Managing Director

Gerry O’Rourke, Managing Director, BLI International

Patti Clyne, VP of Sales

Joe Douress, Chief Marketing Officer

Daria Hoffman, Managing Editor

Dr. Simon Plumtree, European Managing Editor

Lynn Nannariello, Assistant Managing Editor

Tracie Hines, Senior Editor, Competitive Analysis Reports

Jamie Bsales, Senior Product Editor, Solutions

George Mikolay, Senior Product Editor, A3 MFPs

Marlene Orr, Senior Product Editor, Printers and A4 MFPs

Lisa Reider, Senior Product Editor, Scanners and Environmental

Carl Schell, Associate Editor

Dan DiGiacomo, Associate Editor

Priya Gohil, Senior Editor

Jessica Schiffenhaus, Research Editor

David Sweetnam, Head of European Research and Lab Services

Pete Emory, Manager of Laboratory Testing

Martin Soane, European Lab Manager

Pia Beddiges, Manager of Competitive Services

T.R. Patrick, Art Director

Anthony Marchesini, IT Director

buyeRs laboRatoRy llc • North America • Europe • Asia


BUYERS LAB


Reliability

Beginning of Test(Meter Count) 0 square feet

End of Test(Meter Count) 2,500 square feet

Total Jams 1

Total Service Calls 0

pRiNt DRiVeRs

Canon imageProGrAF iPF6400S Print driver Features

Print Quality Settings Up to 3 (depending on media type)

Economy Mode Selectable with certain media

High Quality Mode Selectable with certain media

Watermark Yes

Page Stamp Yes

Mirror Image Yes

N-up Printing 2 to 16

Media Status Yes*

Ink Status From Status Monitor only

Predefined Print Settings/Shortcuts Yes – Up to 50

Autorotate No

Image Rotation 90°, 180°

(Show) Print Preview Yes

Borderless Printing Yes

Fit to Roll Width Yes

Acquire (Get) Info Yes

Print Page Number Yes

Print Job Settings Yes

Link to Status Monitor/Web Page From Driver Yes

Thicken Fine Lines Yes

Unidirectional Printing Yes

Sharpen Text No

CMYK Balance Adjustment C, M, Y, Grey Tones

Lightness Adjustment Yes

Contrast Adjustment Yes

Saturation Adjustment Yes

Advanced Colour Management Options3 matching modes,

4 matching methods


BUYERS LAB


Disable Cutter Yes

Remove Top/Bottom Blank Areas Yes

Crop Marks Available in Free Layout

Secure Printing/Account ID No

Reduction/Enlargement 5% to 600%

Legacy Printer Emulation No

PANTONE Colour Emulation No

Set Monitoring Preferences No

Conduct Nozzle Check Yes*

Conduct Head Cleaning Yes*

Conduct Head Alignment Yes*

Conduct Paper Feed Adjustment Yes*

Conduct Firmware Upgrade No

*Via link to Status Monitor

pRiNt Quality

Colour density readings – Canon Premium Glossy Paper

Fast Standard High

Dot Fill: 100% 50% 100% 50% 100% 50%

Cyan 0.93 0.57 0.90 0.59 0.94 0.59

Magenta 1.41 0.52 1.42 0.50 1.45 0.50

Yellow 0.99 0.42 0.98 0.42 0.99 0.42

Black 1.81 0.59 1.84 0.59 1.83 0.58

Colour density readings were measured on solid colour patches (100% dot fill) and at 50% dot-fill for Premium Glossy paper at three quality settings.

Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S Colour Gamut – Premium Glossy 280 (U.S. model pictured)


BUYERS LAB


pRiNt pRoDuctiVity

Job Stream

Sets/Mode Actual Time (Min:Sec) Calculated A1-Size Pages Per Hour

1/Fast 15:16 19.7

1/Standard 20:53 14.4

1/High 25:54 11.6

BLI’s job stream consists of five high resolution Giclee A1-size images. This test replicates the type of traffic a typical wide format device might experience in a real-world, multi-user environment. All of the files are submitted to the printer while the Canon GARO print driver is paused. The stopwatch begins when all the jobs are queued and the print driver is released from the pause mode; timing ends after the last page is cut. The printer was loaded with a 24-inch (610-mm) roll of Canon Premium Glossy 280 paper and the driver was set to landscape orientation.

A1 First-Page-out and Five Page Throughput Productivity

Actual Time (Min:Sec) Calculated A1-Size Pages Per Hour

First Page Out: Fast 2:55 20.6

First Page Out: Standard 4:08 14.5

First Page Out: High 5:02 11.9

Five Pages Out: Fast 15:11 19.8

Five Pages Out: Standard 23:31 12.8

Five Pages Out: High 26:22 11.4

One and five copies of a high resolution A1-size Tiff test file were printed on a 24-inch (610-mm) roll of Canon Premium Glossy 280 paper in landscape orientation at the Fast, Standard and High Canon GARO print driver settings. The actual time indicated is the time it took to RIP, image and deliver the pages to the collection bin.

LAB TESTED

RELIABILITY CERTIFIED

2014

Anthony F. PolifroneMANAGING DIRECTOR

DATE

CERTIFICATE OF RELIABILITY

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT OFFICE PRODUCTS TEST LAB AND BUSINESS CONSUMER ADVOCATE

NORTH AMERICA EUROPE ASIA WWW.BUYERSLAB.COM

BUYERS LABORATORY LLC

COPYRIGHT ©2014 BUYERS LABORATORY LLC. REPRODUCTION WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF BLI IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.

JANUARY 2014

This is to certify that when subjected to a 232.5-square-metre Buyers Lab durability test, the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400S proved to be a highly reliable product.

Awarded to

CANON, INC.for the performance of the

Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400Sin BLI’s in-house durability test.

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