The benefit of digital cameras with resolutions of 8 megapixels and higher is the ability to make larger and larger prints. It’s because of these increased resolutions that large-format inkjet printers have gained in popularity among professional labs and photographers producing their own enlargements. With its imageProGraf iPF5000 printer, Canon offers a printer capable of producing exceptional color and black-and-white prints.
The iPF5000 creates prints using its Lucia pigment inks, which consist of 12 colors (red, blue, green, gray, photo gray, cyan, photo cyan, magenta, photo magenta, yellow, regular black, photo matte black). Offering a lightfastness of 
more than 100 years, these inks are delivered via 30, 720 nozzles using dual print heads, which help to produce fine detail and color transitions at high speeds.
A welcome feature of this system is its ability to go between printing glossy or matte black-and-white prints without having to replace ink cartridges. Unlike some other similarly featured printers, the iPF5000 just switches between the inks as needed. This results in no wasting of ink from the 130ml cartridges, especially if you frequently go back and forth between printing on matte and glossy surfaces.
The wider color gamut provided by the Lucia pigment inks was evident across a variety of prints I created. This was seen in hues of blues and greens that have been challenging to render with other printers. But I was particularly excited by the black-and-white prints produced. Even with no tweaking on my part, the first batch of monochrome photographs was more neutral than I had expected. Though I made some adjustments when I wanted a particular look to my prints, the adjustments were minimal.
