PRINTING United Expo Hot Products Spotlight: Canon imagePRESS V1350

(Editor's note: This review of the new Canon imagePRESS V1350 digital press, which will debut at the upcoming PRINTING United Expo, kicks off an ongoing series from longtime industry consultant David Zwang providing his rundown of "Must See" products that will be on the show floor.)

The Canon imagePRESS V1350 is making its North American debut at PRINTING United Expo 2023 in Atlanta, and it is a ‘must see’. Customers who have this, or the predecessor V1000 that was introduced in 2022, have been blown away by the quality and productivity. Unlike most of their competitors, this press operates at production speeds of up to 135 ipm at a resolution of 2,400 dpi. The fact that it supports media weights up to 450 gsm, provides a great opportunity for commercial printers who are looking at packaging applications in addition to a wide range of commercial printing applications. There are not a lot of digital presses that can make these claims.

Amazing Image Quality

Canons’ unique POD-SURF (Surface Rapid Fusing) technology provides consistent high image quality and productivity regardless of the paper weight or surface condition at rated speed. They use a flexible transfer belt to provide optimal toner transfer for lightweight media and heavyweight media for both tints and solids. The dynamic media transfer technology supports both lightweight and heavy weight stocks, and automatically switches between them; no one else that I know of can do that to optimize the imaging. Canon does this automatically by adjusting a metal plate that moves from an angle to flat depending on the media weight.

Canon imagePRESS V1350

Color accuracy is achieved with a built in ILS (Inline Spectrophotometer). This automated system, consisting of four spectrophotometers across the engine width, does an engine linearization upon startup or operator initiation. It can also do profiling and G7 characterization whether you have the PRISMAsync or Fiery controller, all with a simple selection to start the process. It automatically prints all of the patches and measures them in under 5 minutes. This is increasingly important with the challenges in finding employees with color management skills. I have spoken with printers who have this press and many of their customers would rather have their jobs printed on this than offset.

Enhanced Productivity

This press was designed to start and just keep on running. They didn’t just double down on the registration system in this press, they quadrupled down! As the media enters the press it does the first of four registration checks where it does a skew adjustment and alignment check. After imaging and before duplexing, it goes through a second duplex mechanical alignment check and flips the paper. The paper then goes through a third alignment and skew check before it goes back through the compact registration unit again prior to imaging the second side, and the operator doesn’t have to do anything — it is all checked and fixed automatically.

The imagePRESS V1350 and, more importantly its output, is a must see!