In June 2006 Canon introduced the imagePROGRAF® iPF5000 large format printer aimed at the digital graphic arts industry. The printer uses a standard media cassette tray, as well as an optional roll feed unit for printing long-length output, such as murals or banners, all from 8” up to 17” wide.
The supplies set includes two user-replaceable print heads, a maintenance cartridge and 12 color Type PFI-101 ink tanks. The starter ink tanks that are initially packaged with the printer contain 90ml of ink per color, where replacement ink tanks contain 130ml of ink each.
The 17” imagePROGRAF iPF5100 was introduced in September 2007, with the same specifications as the iPF5000, but using Type PFI-103 ink tanks in addition to select Type PFI-101 tanks. Also, the print heads and maintenance cartridge used are a different design from those used in the iPF5000.
The 36” imagePROGRAF iPF710 MFP was launched in November 2010. Designed for printing technical documents such as architectural drawings, CAD drawings, signs and maps while still capable of handling routine office print tasks, the iPF710 MFP also includes scanning functionality. The number of ink colors used was reduced to 5 and the ink tanks used are Type PFI-102.
There is also a Type PFI-104 magenta cartridge, used by several of the imagePROGRAF wide format printers/plotters. For example, the iPF650, that also uses Type PFI-102 cyan, yellow black and matte black ink tanks.
Numerous other large format ink jet printers have been launched based on the same designs as the above listed printers, with major differences being media width, print speed and/or technological upgrades. Many of them use one or more of Types PFI-101, PFI-102, PFI-103 and PFI-104 ink tanks. For example, the imagePROGRAF IPF5100 uses Types PFI-101 and PFI-103 cartridges, while the iPF5000 printer uses only Type PFI-101. The iPF710 uses only Type PFI-102 cartridges.
All printers that use Types PFI-101, PFI-102, PFI-103 and/or PFI-104 cartridges require a new chip on remanufactured cartridges for correct printer operation.