The best Canon photo printers for pro photographers

Each model in Canon's professional range has its own set of core strengths, meaning there's a printer to suit the varying needs and budget of every pro photographer. But how do you decide which Canon pro photo printer is right for you?

Clive Booth had a long career in graphic design before becoming a professional photographer and whether he's shooting high fashion and portraiture or moody monochrome landscapes, he is passionate about printing his photos. The Canon Ambassador has not one but three Canon photo printers at home, installed in a purpose-built live-streaming studio from which he runs online print workshops to share his enthusiasm and pass on his knowledge.

Clive believes professional photographers should buy and run their own photo printers because of the control it gives them. "For very little investment, you can create a colour-managed workflow at home or in your studio," he explains. "You can then monetise your work, selling prints with complete confidence."

So, what should a professional photographer look for in a photo printer? "Top of the list would be colour fidelity and integrity to the original image," says Suhaib Hussain, Canon Europe Product Marketing Lead and print specialist. "Photographers put a huge effort into capturing images and painstakingly processing them, and they want that to be represented in print. Cost is another major concern, so our aim is to make the printing process simple, quick and cost-effective. Photographers need to feel confident that they can get the results they want without adding complications to their workflow or wasting ink and paper."

Here, we take a closer look at three Canon pro photo printers – the PIXMA PRO-200, imagePROGRAF PRO-300 and imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 – to see how they compare.

• How to choose the best Canon pro photo printer for your needs
• Canon PIXMA PRO-200 vs imagePROGRAF PRO-300 vs imagePROGRAF PRO-1000
• Best entry-level professional photo printer
• Best A3+/13in photo printer
• Best photo printer overall

Then there's the type of photos that you want to print, which means thinking about whether you want a printer that uses dye-based or pigment-based inks. For example, dye-based inks are more affordable and are ideal for colour vibrancy, which brings out the best in portraiture and landscapes. On the other hand, pigment-based inks are very versatile and capable of printing on to a range of media, including gallery prints. Pigment-based inks are also ideal for monochrome printing with rich blacks.

Finally, speed can also be an issue if you need to create big batches of large-format prints. To help you make the best Canon printer choice, here's how the latest PIXMA and imagePROGRAF professional printers compare. (If you're new to photo printing, read our best printers and best printers for photo printing guides for home and workplace solutions.)

The Canon PIXMA PRO-200 is Canon's entry-level professional photo printer. Based on eight ChromaLife 100 dye-based rather than pigment-based inks, it's particularly good for printing on glossy and lustre photo papers. The relatively small molecules of ink are fully absorbed beneath the protective top layer of the media giving a real shine to glossy prints. This also means photo prints are touch-dry as soon as they exit the printer.

Printing speed itself is also fast and longevity is very good for glossy prints, rated at over 100 years when stored in an album. Colour rendition is vibrant, suiting high-impact fashion and advertising photography, along with vivid colourful landscapes.

The Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 is nearly identical in size and weight to the PIXMA PRO-200, but is a more advanced printer. It runs on 10 LUCIA PRO pigment-based inks, which are better suited than dye-based inks for printing on matte and fine art paper. That's because the pigments are more robust and deliver gallery-quality prints with exceptional colour and really deep blacks for superior black and white photo output on these types of papers.

The longevity and archival quality of prints is excellent, which can be very important when creating prints to sell to clients. The imagePROGRAF PRO-300 can also deliver excellent results on glossy paper, thanks to the inclusion of a Chroma Optimizer cartridge, which enhances uniformity and minimises bronzing.

The Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 takes everything up a level. It's an A2 printer, so you get a bigger maximum print size of 43 x 56cm, and a longer panoramic length of up to 1.2m. The gamut is even wider, with 12 pigment-based LUCIA PRO cartridges, again including a Chroma Optimizer but also adding photo grey and blue inks. The cartridges themselves each have a much higher capacity of 80ml, compared with 14ml for the imagePROGRAF PRO-300 printer. It's therefore better suited to higher-volume printing as well as simply for creating larger prints. Advanced features include a vacuum-based paper transport system to ensure the utmost accuracy, and additional software for keeping tabs on the price of each print, based on ink and paper costs.

• Competitive entry-level purchase price
• Eight dye-based inks 
• Excellent quality for glossy prints with completely uniform reflectivity 
• Extended gamut compared with conventional six-ink photo printers 
• Three black and grey inks for enhanced black and white photo output
• Very fast, with A3+ bordered photo prints in as little as 90 seconds¹
• A3+ borderless output on gloss or matte media
• Panoramic prints of up to 99cm in length 
• Sturdy build quality based on a metal chassis 
• Compact footprint for an A3+ pro printer 
• Compatible with Canon's free-of-charge Professional Print & Layout software 
• Wide-ranging support for Canon and third-party photo papers

To build confidence and streamline the workflow, pro-level software is consistent across the range. "The whole range of printers is very robust and has the same simple interface," explains Clive. "Canon Professional Print & Layout (PPL) software is like the glue that sticks everything together, which I absolutely love. When you buy a Canon photo printer, you're supported by software that works with your workflow and really simplifies the process."

• 10 pigment-based inks for enhanced gamut
• Includes both photo black and matte black inks for matte and glossy paper 
• Outstanding colour quality on matte and fine art media 
• Superior black and white photo print quality, especially on matte and fine art paper 
• Borderless A3+ output on both matte and glossy papers 
• Chroma Optimizer cartridge to minimise bronzing on glossy photo paper 
• Direct support for fine art papers from suppliers like Canson and Hahnemühle 
• Panoramic prints of up to 99cm in length 
• Automatic detection for blocked print head nozzles to avoid degradation of quality 
• A3+ borderless prints in approximately 4 minutes 15 seconds 
• Compatible with Canon's free-of-charge Professional Print & Layout software 
• Sturdy build quality based on a metal chassis

Suhaib points out that the pigment-based LUCIA PRO ink set is formulated for creating gallery-quality photo prints. "Compared with dye-based inks, this is what we recommend if you're selling prints, creating prints to hang in galleries or for exhibitions, and for archival purposes. With the addition of matte black as well as photo black and grey inks, monochrome photo printing is absolutely fantastic on all kinds of photo paper and fine art media. And the Chroma Optimizer used in all imagePROGRAF printers really helps to minimise bronzing."

Reliability is a key requirement for any professional kit, and Clive confirms that none of his Canon printers has ever let him down. "These are immensely complex machines that work to the tightest tolerances, and I've been amazed at how Canon manages to build such reliability into them," he says.

"The PRO-1000 has a vacuum-based paper transport system that keeps the media absolutely flat as it passes through the printer," adds Suhaib. "For ink reliability, every current imagePROGRAF printer features an automatic nozzle recovery mechanism. The molecules of pigment-based inks are larger than those of dye-based inks, so nozzles are more at risk of clogging. However, the thermal inkjet design of Canon's FINE technology in the print heads enables an extremely high density of nozzles."

Like other printers in the PRO line-up, the PRO-1000 includes direct support for Canson®, Hahnemühle and other paper brands, so you can make the most of fine art media, with quick and easy application of ICC printer profiles to ensure that prints look their absolute best.

So which Canon professional printer is the best? In summary, Suhaib says that the Canon PIXMA PRO-200 is a comparatively entry-level professional photo printer that's very affordable and equally well suited to photography students and enthusiasts, as well to pro photographers on a tighter budget. It's perfect for creating glossy and lustre photo prints. The pigment-based imagePROGRAF PRO-300 and PRO-1000 are superior for printing on matte and fine art media, as well as for creating black and white photo prints. There's little to choose between the print quality of the PRO-300 and PRO-1000 printers, but the pricier PRO-1000 wins out if you want to make prints larger than A3+. Also, its high-capacity ink cartridges make it ideal for printing in higher volumes.

^1. Photo print speed is based on the default setting using ISO/JIS-SCID N2 on Canon Pro Platinum paper, A3+ with border.