Moving from using a print service to creating large format prints in-house can feel like a daunting task — but many professional photographers suggest the transition was as smooth and seamless as those giant prints. Five photographers recently shared the different ways they use Canon’s large format and photo printers in-house — and what they wish they knew before they made the switch.

Darren Jew, Underwater Photographer

As an underwater photographer, capturing an image for Darren Jew is much more than taking a walk down the street with a camera in hand — and the printer finishes the process. “I feel a photograph isn’t really complete until it has been printed — it’s the final expression of what my vision was when I took the picture,” he said.

The underwater photographer says his current Pixma Pro and large format printer line by Canon delivers the best quality that he’s seen yet, while the DreamLabo printers allow high-quality prints packed inside of a photo book.

Eugene Tan, Photographer and Gallery Owner

Switching to an in-house printer, for Eugene Tan, allows his beach gallery to create cost-effective images all on site, including anything from foam core prints to giant wall mounts. The photographer has even worked with Canon to print one of his images on the bottom of a pool. Tan chose the Pro Series printers because, in his work flow, he prints off small test images, then fine-tunes the colours to perfection, then moving to the large format print.

Tan says the software is surprisingly simple with just a click and drag that made it easy for his staff to make the switch to printing in-house. With the large format printers, Tan’s gallery can create same-day prints, or leave large print stock runs overnight.

Jeremy Cowart, Photographer

But large format printers aren’t just for displaying images.  When well-known photographer Jeremy Cowart couldn’t find the exact backdrop that matched his vision for a shoot, he asked a graphic designer friend to create one. Using the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-4000, the photographer had a custom 40 by 60” background — and it only took a half a hour.

Andy Farrer, Landscape Photographer

Outsourcing prints is actually what led Andy Farrer to his own in-house printing system. After getting a large format shot outsourced, he was so impressed by the quality, he asked the shop what printer they used. He then decided to test out the Canon PRO-2000 himself and was so impressed that he bought two Pro line printers in two sizes. Besides lowering the print costs, the change helped add another income source to his business too.

“If, like me, you print on both glossy/lustre and matte/fine art papers, it used to mean printing in batches to minimise wasting ink, which in reality is an utter pain,” he said.   ”…the PRO Series doesn’t waste a single drop of ink when switching from photo black to matte black as it has its own proper ink head for each.”

Clive Booth, Commercial Photographer

While working with a luxury brand, a tiny LCD screen is no way to show off the quality of your work. That’s why photographer Clive Booth used an on-site 12 ink Canon iPF PRO-4000 to create proofs for the client before even leaving the site, showing the quality and colour of the images.

“There’s nothing better than seeing your work in print, nothing,” he said. “ It’s the only way a photographer can truly show their vision to another person.”

For more information on Canon’s large format printer range, reach out to the Photo Direct Customer Service team at (03) 9894 1644.