What is the Canon iPF6450?
iPF stands for imagePROGRAF. The iPF6450 is a 6400 printer with an 250 GB internal hard disk. This is the printer we use at Next Level Photography to create our prints and canvases.
The iPF6450 is a 24”/609.6mm, 12-color water-based pigment inkjet printer. It consistently delivers amazing print quality and has been reliable. The iPF6450 has an optional spectrophotometer unit and calibration link.
Setting up the Canon iPF6450
I picked up our printer from FedEx. The box and pallet fit in my minivan.. with maybe two inches to spare! Setting up the printer was a dream. I mean, someone took the time to package this thing the best way possible. Canon’s packaging is awesome, easy to figure out, and the instructions were simple to follow. It took me about an hour and a half to get it completely ready to go, only needing another person to help with the last steps.
Inserting the first ink tanks that came with the printer was tricky, but the regular ink sizes, both the 130ml and the 300ml sizes are very easy to insert.
How we use the printer
We are a photography studio so we use this printer for our prints and canvases. Customers are stunned with the quality of the printing. We use it with Moab’s Entrada Bright Rag and Hahnemuhle Photo Canvas. But we’ve used a lot of different papers, and as long as we put in the recommended paper profiles, we’ve had fantastic results.
It does need to be maintained from time to time. Luckily it’s really easy to do test prints, head cleanings, and alignments and nothing takes more than a few minutes.
Issues with the iPF6450
We encountered one problem that was solved with a quick call to Canon’s customer service (an actual person picked up the phone and walked me through the paper adjustments needed AND followed up). I was getting lines on the prints that was apparently from the print head scraping the thick paper. After making the adjustment to the print height, we did not have that problem again.
Little things I really like about the iPF6450
So I love that the printer knows how much ink is in the ink tanks and warns you way ahead of time when you are low on a particular color. Plenty of time for us to place an ink order and receive it before it runs out.
I also love that they offer the 300ml inks. They last a really long time, and there’s a big savings by buying the larger ink cartridges.
The Photoshop plug-in to print is included, and it’s easy to use. It has Canon paper profiles already built in, and it’s easy to add other profiles.
Little things that annoy me about the iPF6450
It looked like the iPF Layout Plug-in for canvas prints would have been helpful because it calculates and automates the process of making the canvas wrap area, so you have the perfect size to wrap your artwork. However, you can’t save this; you have to go directly to print from here. I don’t like the blur or solid color wrap options and would gravitate toward the image reflection, but sometimes that just adds weirdness to the wrap. Would be really nice to export to Photoshop to clone out unwanted reflections and then go to print. But you can’t.
Overview from Canon’s website
The imagePROGRAF iPF6450, 24-inch large format printer was designed for professionals in the graphic, fine art, photography and proofing markets that seek the highest possible standards for quality-control and image reproduction. An incredibly large colour spectrum is produced by the 12-colour LUCIA EX pigment ink set, which also provides better scratch resistance and smoother gradations. The new Multi-sensor included with this printer provides improved colour density detection and allows for a full calibration to be completed within 15 minutes, with the ability to use non-Canon branded media. A new colour Calibration Management System allows for colour calibration targets to be created using the iPF6450 with optional spectrophotometer and shared across all new iPFX400 12-colour printers, and the included software allows for all printers on the network to be monitored from one central location. The printer supports ink tank sizes of 130ml and for the first time, 300ml, and the new sub-ink tank keeps some ink in reserve to allow for tanks to be changed without interrupting a print. In the printer’s highest print mode, the order of ink application and layering is optimized to maintain the highest print quality with fewer passes, making this mode twice as fast compared to previous models. The iPF6450 is also equipped with a large 250GB hard drive, geared to increase productivity in high volume printing and streamlined workflows, while allowing for faster processing of large files as well as the ability to reprint jobs directly from the printer.
As an optional add-on to the iPF6450, the SU-21 Spectrophotometer features a scan speed of 10 inches per second and can accommodate media of different thicknesses (Canon or non-Canon branded) thanks to the mobile carriage the device is placed on, which attaches right onto the front of the printer. The device also includes a user-switchable UV blocking filter that can be switched on and off according to paper type, eliminating the need to purchase individual sensors. To expand printing options and capabilities, the iPF6450 printer comes bundled with a Print Plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Digital Photo Professional, and Microsoft Office. The enhanced Print Plug-in for Adobe Photoshop includes a new Adjustment Pattern Setting which allows for multiples of an image to be printed at once with different colour values implemented and displayed. Gallery wraps for canvas prints can now be created using the new Gallery Wrap Feature. To improve versatility, the iPF6450 has a media configuration tool which allows customers to not only utilize existing Canon-branded media, but also with third party media. Designed for efficiency, reliability, and above all quality, the iPF6450 is the professional’s answer to superior quality large format prints.
We hope you found this review of the Canon iPF6450 24″ printer helpful.
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