Wide-Format & Bluebeam Revu Blog

Lots of people would love to display fine art in their home, but artwork can be really expensive. Luckily, another alternative is to get a high-quality reproduction of a painting called a giclee. Throughout Austin and Central Texas, artists and buyers alike continue to rely on the top-notch giclee printing services of Austin Art & Frame. See how they do it and learn about their business in our exclusive TAVCO Partner Profile.

Even though the new Canon TX plotters have only been released for a few months, many initial orders were placed and a flood of new TX 3000 and TX 4000 printers have quickly been installed in the field. Likewise, some very encouraging feedback has come back from both other dealers and users alike regarding their performance of these new Canon machines.

Leading innovative change in the large-format equipment sector, Canon USA just leveled up another notch with the announcement of their new Canon imagePROGRAF TX Series. This newly unveiled family of printers is specifically designed to meet the needs of customers who have higher productivity needs. Look out, because once these models hit the street, there will be some major shakeups as the TX Series is sure to dislodge plenty of legacy systems in the field—ink jet and toner alike.

TAVCO Services, Inc. is proud to announce our official inclusion in the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) platform via the Canon USA contract (DIR-TSO—3101). Now, Texas State agencies of all types can easily benefit from using TAVCO as a pre-authorized IT equipment vendor for any Canon or Oce wide-format equipment need. This is exciting stuff,and here’s why.

Canon recently announced the release of their updated entry-level “Le-Series” plotter/scanner systems. Built on the same technology and success of the preceding L24 and L36 models, the new L24e and L36e offer a variety of significant upgrades, of which you should take note.

When it comes to researching technology, in Google We Trust! So, in an effort to save you a chunk of time, we are providing a comparison chart that shows how the popular Canon iPF780 and iPF785 plotters stack up against their HP rivals. This let's you easily compare wide-format printers in a side-by-side format. 

There are plenty of new startup companies and small firms that need a solid, entry-level, large format printer for all types of general purpose, CAD, or graphics printing. In this case, two of the top contenders are the Canon iPF770 and the HP Designjet T520. They both have their strengths, but let’s see why the Canon ultimately comes up the winner when compared to the T520.

Drones, also known as UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), have become a staple fixture in our society. The military certainly has relied on these small, remotely piloted aircraft for operations in the Middle East, but their potential is so much more than that. You can easily spot consumer models at big-box retailers and companies like Amazon are experimenting with drone-based deliveries. But, the most promising aspect of these UAVs lies in the enhanced capabilities of drones with cameras for commercial use. They provide companies of all sizes the ability to gather 3D data and capture incredible images. Then, users can send the images to a wide-format printer to make maps or aerial photos. Having the power to print and share drone images is giving companies who invest in this technology a massive advantage over their peers.

Leave it to Canon to raise the bar when it comes to producing new ultra-high quality wide-format printers. And the new breed doesn’t disappoint. In fact, the new PRO Series is turning heads with a multitude of new technologies that are completely different from anything else in the competitive field. Although designed for professional photography and other digital artwork, there are plenty of situations where one of these photo printers would fit nicely. See 9 reasons why the Canon PRO 4000 and PRO 2000 printers will exceed your expectations.

The new generation of ultra-high-quality large-format printing equipment is here. The Canon PRO-4000 and PRO-2000 are Canon’s newest iterations and they promise not to disappoint. Both are designed for the highest quality of output demands to meet the needs of photographers, artists, and marketing professionals. One thing that makes this new wide-format platform so different is that they have been developed as a Canon-to-Canon, camera-to-printer solution. This enables these printers to produce incredible large-format prints that maintain all of the color, texture, and emotion captured in the original image. Check out all of the advantages offered by the new Canon imagePROGRAF PRO Series.

It has been interesting to watch wide-format printing trends over the past few years. Surprisingly, the highest area of growth has been in the graphics and photography segment. This is partially due to companies of all types stepping up their marketing efforts with more display graphic materials. Canon has responded to this new demand by investing their R&D resources on the next wide-format platform, the new PRO Series. This includes both the 24-inch PRO 2000 and the 44-inch PRO 4000. Both promise to be the new graphics and poster printer standard. Here are the highlights of the new improvements.

It’s that time of year when construction projects are heating up and companies purchase new equipment to keep pace with project demands. Over the years, we have seen Q2 as usually a time of higher activity regarding wide-format equipment. Also, since AEC companies are shifting some of their workflow to more digital applications, full-color drawings are increasing in popularity. Likewise, having the ability to scan plans is crucial. This is where it makes sense to upgrade your older, large plotter to a new MFP plotter/scanner. If you are considering a Canon, here are a few reasons why should spring for the SmartWorks MFP PLUS software upgrade instead of simply sticking with the version that comes with the basic system.

If you work in AEC - architecture, engineering, or construction, then you know the way you handle construction drawings has changed dramatically over the years. In the old days, bid sets were printed and distributed by print shops to general contractors and subcontractors. Now, almost all plans are shared electronically via email or some type of online planroom. Obviously, this has resulted in a drop in demand of large volume printing. Traditional reprographic shops have been hit hardest by this change. But, wide-format printing is not dead, it has just shifted.

Canon recently unveiled their new wide format plotter scanner—the L-Series. It comes in two versions, the iPF670 MFP L24 (24-inch plotter/scanner) and the iPF770 MFP L36 (36-inch plotter/scanner). Both of these units provide basic print and scan-to-copy functions at a very affordable price.  The overall functionality of the L-Series is a bit scaled back from the more robust M40 model, but if your wide-format needs are basic, it may be a great option to consider.

Everyone knows that as soon as you buy the latest tech gizmo, it is already outdated. Just look how fast new smart phones are released. This concept appears to dissolve, however, when printers are involved, especially wide-format printers. It is amazing how some companies will hang on to their wide-format equipment for years. Eventually though, the time will come there is no other option. You need to upgrade your plotter. If that is the case, here a few things to keep in mind.