Canon will announce a new entry level A3+ printer on July 9 [CR3]

Respinder

5D Mark III
Mar 4, 2012
98
87
Just a question for everyone here - I’ve been wanting a photo printer for sometime, but I also do regular printing, and I would ideally like to use a photo printer for all my printing needs. Is it possible to use a photo printer for all purpose printing, or must I own two separate printers?

For me this is the part I get hung up on - I just don’t see the need to own two separate printers, and I still do a ton of all purpose printing (ie document printing, school assignments, etc). The only way for me to make a photo printer work is to use it for everything.
 
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slclick

EOS 3
Dec 17, 2013
4,634
3,040
Just a question for everyone here - I’ve been wanting a photo printer for sometime, but I also do regular printing, and I would ideally like to use a photo printer for all my printing needs. Is it possible to use a photo printer for all purpose printing, or must I own two separate printers?

For me this is the part I get hung up on - I just don’t see the need to own two separate printers, and I still do a ton of all purpose printing (ie document printing, school assignments, etc). The only way for me to make a photo printer work is to use it for everything.
So you use up all your ink/dye in your quality photo printer for basic docs. It takes more expensive consumables than a standard printer. It's not really cost effective. Yes, you can do it but imho, I'd rather have purpose built gear for photography.
 
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They need to update their drivers to allow you to print longer prints like the Epsons allow. Some Linux drivers would be useful as well. The fact that you have to pay more for the drivers than the printer on Linux is insane. If every other manufacturer on the planet can do it Canon can as well.

You should be able to define a custom sheet size up to 26 inches long on the Canon pro 100. I don't know about the pro-10

for the Pro-100:

Non-standard sizes:

You can print on non-standard size paper within the following ranges.

message-id
rear tray

- Minimum size: 3.50 x 5.00 inches (89.0 x 127.0 mm)

- Maximum size: 12.95 x 26.61 inches (329.0 x 676.0 mm)

message-id
manual feed tray

- Minimum size: 8.00 x 10.00 inches (203.2 x 254.0 mm)

- Maximum size: 14.00 x 23.00 inches (355.6 x 584.2 mm)


I'd say it's a bit simpler to print long sheets on the epson's but it works OK on my pro-100 and the ink nozzles don't clog up constantly on the Canon so there are pro's and con's to each.

As far as I can tell the whole point of using Linux is so that you can complain about the lack of support. ;)
 
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My Pro-10 is a beer holder while I drum

I got 2 of the 100's. 1st one free with my camera. Then I got the 2nd one because, bundled with paper and ink, it came with the rebate, it cost less then replacing ink and paper that I needed. Since then, I donated one to Trump to use as a cinder block to help build his damn wall....tax wright off.
 
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Nov 3, 2012
512
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Owning a DSLR isn't a cost effective way of taking pictures.

Printers shouldn't be looked at as cost effective items to save us money on prints, rather a modern version of the darkroom where we are truly able to take our craft from conception to completion.
Absolutely!
Buying my Epson P600 was a step change in my photographic craft. Often images were okay on screen but needed more work for a fine art print.
Its not that expensive to print your own photos - Red River paper has an excellent analysis of printing costs for different printers. And the immediacy of printing is satisfying.
And its not complicated using Epson Print Layout, which is a Lightroom plug-in. Canon have something equivalent.
 
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Oct 3, 2015
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My Pro10 (the one before the 10s update) is still going many years on and isn't an ink hog unlike the pro1 which I steered clear of as looked similar/same quality prints to my eyes. Doesn't take much if have a profiled monitor to then set up software managed/manual colour in the printer menu one times, install appropriate profiles from the paper manufacturers I use. So printing is a simple few clicks of picking profile in photoshop for paper I am using from dropdown and isn't complicated at all.

I prefer doing it in house as for me it is the paper choice that I care about most as well as having control and fast turnover of being able to have prints same day. I mostly print on ilford galerie gold fibre silk with occasional permajet and fs all of which are papers I can't get similar to from local options at cost they are to me. I use precisioncolor aftermarket ink buying in large bottles, cost me a lot to ship to Europe especially now they don't ship direct so need to use forwarding service but still cheaper than canon and since I UV spray the stuff that matters and most isn't directly exposed anyway it lasts as well as canon for me at 8th of price.
 
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LDS

Sep 14, 2012
1,763
293
Is it possible to use a photo printer for all purpose printing, or must I own two separate printers?

No. A really good photo printer uses inks that are too expensive for everyday printing. If the quality of prints made with a cheaper and simpler inkjet printers for your are OK, you might use the same printer. If you need a semi-pro or pro photo printer, you'll need two printers. That kind of printer won't have good paper management for everyday printer also, like trays for hundred of sheets, or duplex.

Especially, you can get a duplex laser printer, even a color one, which is IMHO better than an inkjet for most documents that aren't photo.
 
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Sep 29, 2018
325
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You should be able to define a custom sheet size up to 26 inches long on the Canon pro 100. I don't know about the pro-10

for the Pro-100:

Non-standard sizes:

You can print on non-standard size paper within the following ranges.

message-id
rear tray

- Minimum size: 3.50 x 5.00 inches (89.0 x 127.0 mm)

- Maximum size: 12.95 x 26.61 inches (329.0 x 676.0 mm)

message-id
manual feed tray

- Minimum size: 8.00 x 10.00 inches (203.2 x 254.0 mm)

- Maximum size: 14.00 x 23.00 inches (355.6 x 584.2 mm)


I'd say it's a bit simpler to print long sheets on the epson's but it works OK on my pro-100 and the ink nozzles don't clog up constantly on the Canon so there are pro's and con's to each.

As far as I can tell the whole point of using Linux is so that you can complain about the lack of support. ;)

Epsons don't have the limitation at 26" length. I can print a 40' pano if I wanted to. If the plan is to give the printers away and them get rich selling ink and paper why not allow us to burn a couple of hundred dollars printing crazy panos if we want?

Linux uses the CUPS printing daemon that Apple developed. Printer support under Linux has been plug and play for atleast a decade across manufactures with the exception of the Canon photo printers. No one is asking Canon to actually do any thing other than to stop threatening the open source community with their non-sense software patents which 90% of the world doesn't recognize. They gain absolutely nothing from stopping the open source community from making applications that allow people to use their Canon gear, unless you think Canon is rolling in the lolly from big sales of their awesome photo editing software.
 
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Sep 29, 2018
325
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No. A really good photo printer uses inks that are too expensive for everyday printing. If the quality of prints made with a cheaper and simpler inkjet printers for your are OK, you might use the same printer. If you need a semi-pro or pro photo printer, you'll need two printers. That kind of printer won't have good paper management for everyday printer also, like trays for hundred of sheets, or duplex.

Especially, you can get a duplex laser printer, even a color one, which is IMHO better than an inkjet for most documents that aren't photo.
I fully agree. I have a pro 100 then put a cheap laser jet in the office. When the toner runs out in the laser jet I just replace the whole printer as it is cheaper than buying the toner alone.

One other comment. In the US out sourcing your printing can make a lot of sense. In the rest of the world that isn't nessicarily the case.
 
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Epsons don't have the limitation at 26" length. I can print a 40' pano if I wanted to. If the plan is to give the printers away and them get rich selling ink and paper why not allow us to burn a couple of hundred dollars printing crazy panos if we want?

Linux uses the CUPS printing daemon that Apple developed. Printer support under Linux has been plug and play for atleast a decade across manufactures with the exception of the Canon photo printers. No one is asking Canon to actually do any thing other than to stop threatening the open source community with their non-sense software patents which 90% of the world doesn't recognize. They gain absolutely nothing from stopping the open source community from making applications that allow people to use their Canon gear, unless you think Canon is rolling in the lolly from big sales of their awesome photo editing software.
Not sure if there is an actual physical limitation but yes the 26in limit does seem arbitrary. I probably wouldn’t print any wider than that but I can see where others might. Interesting regarding the print drivers but that’s outside my sphere so can’t comment on that.
 
Upvote 0
Oct 3, 2015
98
103
Just a question for everyone here - I’ve been wanting a photo printer for sometime, but I also do regular printing, and I would ideally like to use a photo printer for all my printing needs. Is it possible to use a photo printer for all purpose printing, or must I own two separate printers?

For me this is the part I get hung up on - I just don’t see the need to own two separate printers, and I still do a ton of all purpose printing (ie document printing, school assignments, etc). The only way for me to make a photo printer work is to use it for everything.
also dedicated photo printers in large size tend to be very slow compared to regular general purpose types, even when printing equal a4 size on regular quality slightly faster modes they are usually significantly slower than a GP printer set to high quality slow mode generally. Very much different tool for different jobs and it is far less cost effective using a decent dedicated photo unit for general print jobs as one is for quality and accuracy in a small niche and one is for convenience and speed in general use. If you are on the fence you'd probably be safe living without one as those who would get the use from it know it generally.

Plus the paper you'll likely feed it isn't worth it for general prints or throwaway short term stuff even if find one that is as quick since printing on generic cheap instant dry microporous paper in such a printer is not just a waste of expensive ink but could cost a fortune if you get headstrike from it curling when saturated as cheap papers can thus damage a printhead. For convenience swellable cotton rag or alpha cellulose papers and the like tend not be be handleable for a while and can take a while to dry (days before framable) so not suited for general purpose printing even if they were not so expensive at a few £/$/€ per sheet. Again made for longevity and high quality specific results when used with correct inks.

By sounds of it if you are in the market for a printer at all you maybe want a general cheap all purpose one if you want anything. If you don't care about the main points of dedicated semi decent pro printer you'd get buyers remorse and little back in return since they wont serve any other function well and more expensive a mistake to make than buying a generic double figures max all purpose unit only for it to gather dust if not used.
 
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nebugeater

CR Pro
Feb 26, 2011
105
7
I have a Pro-100 and use it enough to know I like what I can do with it. I have not used OEM ink for about three years. I use this and to my eye I cannot see a difference from the OEM


TS 8-PK CLI-42 CLI42, Compatible Ink cartridges for PIXMA PRO-100 Printers (1 Black, 1 Cyan, 1 Gray, 1 Light Gray, 1 Magenta, 1 Yellow, 1 Photo Cyan, 1 Photo Magenta)
 
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Would be nice if Canon ever wrote some Linux drivers for their printers. I'd really like to scrap my last remaining Windows PC, except that I must have it available if I want to print to my Pixma Pro-100. Maybe I'll just take a cue from the other replies to this article and scrap both the Windows PC and Pixma Pro-100, rather than entertain the thought of updating to another expensive to maintain Canon product that does not suit the way I like to work. And, from may of these comments, it sounds like a printing service would probably probably a lot cheaper in the long run.
 
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LDS

Sep 14, 2012
1,763
293
Would be nice if Canon ever wrote some Linux drivers for their printers

Many pro photo printers lack Linux drivers, not only Canon ones. Simply, the market is too small to write official drivers, and support them across different distros - and there are the usual IP issues that keeps away some hardware manufacturers from GPL code. Maybe one day the situation will change, but right now it's this.

You'll find Linux drivers for other printer models, but it looks high-end photo printing is mostly not done from Linux.
There are third party drivers you can use, though. TurboPrint AFAIK does support the Pixma Pro 100.

Printing services are usually cheaper - unless you require expensive papers and special processing - but you have far less control but with high-end ones which will work with you to get the print you wish - but then they become expensive again.
 
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