The Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 A3+ printer is solid, the interface/driver is very comprehensive and the colour prints it produces have plenty of ‘bite’!The Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 features a 10-colour pigment ink system, with separate cartridges. Pigment inks add a solid layer of colour to the print, and manufacturers also claim that the clarity and colour of a print lasts longer. As well as a host of colour ink cartridges, the Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 also accommodates three mono inks – Photo Black, Matt Black and Grey, which should allow the it to achieve neutral-looking mono prints with a smoother tonal range compared to a single black cartridge. It’s worth noting, though, that the Photo Black and Matt Black don’t work in unison; the Matt Black is suited for use with non-gloss media, while the Photo Black is called into action when a gloss finish paper Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 uses Canon’s FINE (short for Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) print head that prints up to a maximum resolution of 4800x2400dpi.
The Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 has quite a utilitarian, understated design, featuring built-in wheels to move the printer round your desk if required. Underneath the predominantly plastic exterior is an 8-piece metal chassis with solid metal output rollers that should protect print quality. If you need to print onto especially thick media (up to 1.2mm), it can be printed flat through the flat paper path, rather than having to run through the sheet feeder.
The Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 supports PictBridge for direct printing from a digital camera without the need to print via a PC, though this seems a little redundant for printers focused at the photo-enthusiast and professional. It can also print directly onto compatible CD/DVDs, with supplied software to help you do this.
The printer driver software for was easy to install and to get familiar with, offering a wealth of features and when printing, the Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 was surprisingly quiet in operation – apart from the odd whirr and buzz when the paper is grabbed or spat out at the end, it was almost silent in operation.
Time-wise, the Pro 9500 churned out an A3+ borderless print in 14mins 22secs at its High setting, and produced a print with a border in just 4mins 55secs.
The build of the Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 is solid, the interface/driver is very comprehensive and the colour prints have plenty of ‘bite’, thanks to the more saturated colours. Mono shots did suffer from a slight magenta cast, but this doesn’t stop it from being a great printer.
Specifications:Refill: £110
Cartridges: Photo Black, Matt Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Photo Cyan, Photo Magenta, Red, Green, Grey.
Price per cartridge: £11
Interface: USB 2.0
Additional features: PictBridge
Max print size: A3+
Borderless printing: Yes
Special features: DVD/CD printing
Print resolution: 4800x2400 optimised dpi
A3+ print time: At High setting: 14mins 22secs (borderless), 4mins 55secs (with border)
System requirements: Windows 2000, Me, 98, XP or Vista. Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher.
Dimensions: 660x354x191mm
Weight: 14Kg
Visit: www.canon.co.uk