Canon U.S.A. Inc. announced it has earned five PRINTING United Alliance 2022 Pinnacle Product Awards. Among the winners were two in the software category, with PRISMAcolor Manager garnering top honors for color management and quality control, and PRISMAsync winning for best Software-RIP (raster image processor). The Arizona 2300 series UV flatbed printers won in two categories, for both UV/Latex Flatbed and UV/Latex Flatbed + White, while the Colorado 1630 series was recognized in the Roll-to-Roll UV (under 80 inch) category.

Open to all PRINTING United Alliance supplier members, the Pinnacle Product Award competition evaluates products that will be available for sale in 2022. A qualified panel of judges across the printing industry evaluated the annual contest’s 160-plus entries in more than 58 categories spanning analog, digital, output and non-output technologies.

Additionally, Canon also won a Pinnacle InterTech Award for Production Printing for its FLXfinish+ that offers the unique ability to print a mixed matte and gloss finish in one print, at the click of a button. See below for more information.

"We are pleased to once again be honored by winning multiple prestigious Pinnacle Product Awards from the PRINTING United Alliance," said Shinichi "Sam" Yoshida, executive vice president and general manager, Canon U.S.A. Inc. "It's gratifying to be recognized in a variety of categories that encompass both hardware and software and to know that Canon continues to be ranked so highly when measured against objective criteria for quality."

Pinnacle Product Award Winners 2022

• PRISMAcolor Manager – Software/Color Management and Quality Control
• PRISMAsync Automated Color Tasks – Software/RIP
• Arizona 2380 GTF – UV/Latex Flatbed ($200,000 - $500,000)
• Arizona 2380 XTF – UV/Latex Flatbed White ($200,000 - $500,000)
• Colorado 1630 – Roll-to-Roll UV (under 80 in.)

PRISMAcolor Manager enables commercial printer operators to manage the complex task of proactively measuring and assessing color by semiautomatically checking and comparing quality and consistency across Canon and non-Canon printers.

PRISMAsync Automated Color Tasks allows Canon cut-sheet toner-based digital press operators to manage the complex tasks of press linearization, sheet uniformity correction, G7 calibration, media color profiling, G7 verification, and results reporting, at the push of a button, completely hands-off, for all loaded job stocks, all in one step.

The Arizona 2300 series consists of true, stationary flatbed printers provide high print quality and versatility for both rigid and flexible media application while the Colorado 1630 works with the industry-certified UVgel 460 inks, formulated for maximum flexibility.

"The Pinnacle Product Award competition represents the best of the best among commercial hardware, software, consumables, and industrial and screen equipment," said Ray Weiss, director of digital print programs, PRINTING United Alliance. "Congratulations to all the winners."

Output devices were judged based on reports generated by measuring color charts and then comparing them to industry specifications.

"This is the only competition I know of that reports on the percentage of Adobe RGB a printer can hit," said Dawn Nye, program manager for Pinnacle Awards, PRINTING United Alliance. "Some categories were decided by tenths of a point, so fierce was the competition this year."

In other news, Canon U.S.A. Inc. has announced it has received a Pinnacle InterTech Award from PRINTING United Alliance for the new Canon FLXfinish+ technology featured in its range of Colorado roll-to-roll large format printers, powered by Canon's UVgel inks. FLXfinish+ is a UVgel feature that is designed to enable print service providers to use only one ink set to produce matte prints, gloss prints and mixed matte and gloss on the same print, independent of the media — without a varnish or additional consumables.

"We are proud to win this Pinnacle InterTech award, which further demonstrates Canon's commitment to delivering the best products and services possible to our customers," said Shinichi "Sam" Yoshida, executive vice president and general manager, Canon U.S.A. Inc. "FLXfinish+ offers capabilities that can help a print service provider uniquely differentiate their business without increasing costs by offering customers matte and glossy finish on the same print."

The Pinnacle InterTech Awards recognize significant new technologies that help improve or advance the printing industry with exceptional contributions in quality, capability and productivity, and are predicted to have a major impact on the printing industry. Canon FLXfinish+, which in the opinion of the judges "represented a new revolutionary and unique feature of UVgel technology," has been honored with a Pinnacle InterTech Award for 2022.

"This juried competition represents the best of the best among commercial hardware, software, consumables, and industrial and screen equipment, and judges are basing their decisions on objective criteria," said Ray Weiss, director of digital print programs, PRINTING United Alliance.

Combining the best aspects of alternative ink technologies in one, UVgel is designed to offer the color gamut and light fastness of ecosolvent, the fit-for-indoor use and quick drying time of latex, and the productivity and low-temperature printing process of UV. And with customers benefitting from zero VOC emissions, zero hazardous air pollutants and a low average ink usage of .6ml/ft2 across the more than 2,500 UVgel engines installed worldwide, UVgel has already proved itself to be a sustainable and cost-efficient alternative for latex and eco-solvent technology.

"We'd like to thank PRINTING United Alliance for recognizing the innovative FLXfinish+ technology," said Robert Reddy, senior vice president of large format solutions, Canon U.S.A. Inc. "We hope this award shows how FLXfinish+ really breathes life into the prints."

In other news, Canon U.S.A. Inc has announced the new MAXIFY GX7020X inkjet printer — utilizing a high-volume continuous ink supply system that can help reduce ink costs by utilizing high-volume ink bottles. Now, Canon's authorized B2B independent dealer network will — for the first time — be able to directly procure a desktop inkjet printer from Canon U.S.A. Inc. in addition to A3/A4 laser devices. With this technology expansion, end customers who increasingly seek hybrid work solutions to accommodate a workforce that is both in-office and work-from-home will be able to go to a single dealer to fulfill their organizational needs, regardless of their preference for laser or inkjet print technology.

"As a company built on innovation, it's important to expand our technology and differentiate ourselves to help ensure we meet the needs of our dealers and customers," said Shinichi "Sam" Yoshida, executive vice president and general manager, Canon U.S.A. Inc. "Canon believes a hybrid work environment necessitates choice — and is proud to deliver solutions designed to meet new customer and dealer needs through the continued expansion of our product offering with both laser and inkjet technologies playing a key role."

The MAXIFY GX7020X is a four-in-one (print, copy, scan, fax) printer offering single-pass duplex scanning. Whether used in a home office or a small business, the Canon MAXIFY GX7020X inkjet printer is designed for ease, convenience and productivity. This workhorse color printer has the ability to print on a variety of media, such as envelopes and labels. It also includes two front-loading paper trays and a rear feed tray for a total capacity of up to 600 pages to help improve the overall workflow of daily activities.

Due to its MegaTank design, the MAXIFY GX7020X printer can reduce the frequency of replacing ink cartridges and simplify replacement by incorporating an easy-to-fill ink process. Keyed nozzles for each color make refilling easy and error-free.

Additional features of the MAXIFY GX7020X inkjet printer include:

• Low Total Cost of Ownership & Increased Productivity – Thanks to their high-volume yields, the ink bottles produce approximately 14,000 sheets in color and approximately 6,000 sheets in black ink at low running costs
• Small Footprint – While sufficiently compact to fit neatly in limited space, such as a retail store counter, medical reception surface or home-office desk, the MAXIFY GX7020X inkjet printer delivers high productivity and efficiency.
• Business Quality & Media Versatility – The MAXIFY GX7020X printer delivers professional print quality via a four-color pigment-based ink system for sharp, crisp prints that are less likely to smudge.

As hybrid work is now the norm for many companies, employers, employees and technology providers seek technology solutions that enable the ability to be productive from "anywhere." uniFLOW Online Cloud Link Print Connection was designed with this need in mind. This new subscription service available for the MAXIFY GX7020X inkjet printer can be added to your uniFLOW Online subscription, to provide the following benefits:

• Organizations can centralize print usage and related costs for compatible in-office MFPs and at home MAXIFY GX7020X inkjet printers.
• Remote workers can seamlessly print and scan documents from their home office, using their MAXIFY GX7020X inkjet printers, while using security levels set by their organization.
• Canon independent dealers can add a uniFLOW Online Cloud Link Print Connection subscription to manage at-home MAXIFY GX7020X inkjet printers to an existing uniFLOW Online subscription on compatible in-office MFPs to ease solution implementation.

The result is a print and scan infrastructure that is flexible and built for the future of hybrid work.

The Canon MAXIFY GX7020X inkjet printer and uniFLOW Online Cloud Link Print Connection subscription are available now for ordering.