CHICAGO-- Responding to the growing needs of the production-printing community, Canon U.S.A., Inc., the nation's market share brand leader in black-and-white printing solutions(i), today expanded its family of digital production presses with the introduction of four black-and-white imageRUNNER digital presses. The new imageRUNNER Pro 7150VP, imageRUNNER Pro 7138VP, imageRUNNER Pro 7125VP and imageRUNNER Pro 7110VP operate at 150 pages-per-minute (ppm), 138 ppm, 125 ppm and 110 ppm, based on letter-sized documents, respectively. The new imageRUNNER Pro 7150/7138/7125/7110VP feature a highly modular design for maximum flexibility, enhanced image quality, and a truly open architecture for seamless workflow integration for print providers. With support for a wide range of substrate weights, sizes and thickness; enhanced media feeding; and the ability for digital print quality adjustments, the new imageRUNNER Pro VP production systems are ideal for commercial printers and corporate in-plants who support demanding data center, financial, education, manufacturing, health care and graphic arts applications, among others. "Canon continues to aggressively address the demand for smarter document workflow solutions and quality output in the high-end digital printing business," said Tod Pike, senior vice president, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A., Inc. "The enhanced job management, robust and user-friendly front-end capabilities of the new imageRUNNER Pro VP models, coupled with the proven quality, functionality and productivity of the imageRUNNER family, will help print-for-pay and print-for-use providers deliver premium, offset-like quality black-and-white documents to their customers." The new imageRUNNER Pro devices can print static and variable data applications on a wide variety of substrates with sophisticated in-line finishing capabilities efficiently and cost-effectively. These characteristics enable print providers to meet the demanding turnaround time requirements of their clients, while delivering unique applications that capture attention and produce shorter run to improve return on investment. Key applications include: - Personalized Direct Mail - Book Production - Marketing and Promotion Materials - Transactional Documents - Invoices, Statements, Checks - Office and Business Documents (Manuals, Technical and Training Guides, Price Catalogs) - Newsletters and Booklets - Multiple Inserts and Tab Printing - Imprinting onto Pre-Printed Color Shells The new imageRUNNER Pro devices, which use a 600 x 600 dots-per-inch (dpi) resolution digital print engine, support a monthly volume range of 300,000 to 5 million images with industry benchmarked reliability for maximum uptime. The new models come standard with three paper supply drawers with up to 4,000 sheet total capacity and a Universal Finisher with 3,000 sheet capacity and 100 page-per-set stitch capacity to handle a variety of paper sizes. The new imageRUNNER Pro VP Series is powered by Sun Ultra 45 System Control Subsystems (SCS), feature a 17-inch flat panel monitor with an enhanced graphical user interface and a writeable CD/DVD drive to help with managing archive files. Also, the standard software that accompanies these new devices feature Smart Queues to display up to 150 jobs on the flat panel monitor, and Job-Order Integrity, as well as Review Printing Order and customizable E-mail Job Notification functionality. In addition, a number of accessories are available for these new models, including: - Extended Paper Supply Modules (PSM) to increase total large-format capacity to 4,000 sheets, accommodating job streams that require two-up printing and higher run lengths for large-format jobs, - Roll Feed System that now attaches directly to the device without the need of an additional PSM, reducing the footprint and costs for printers with continuous feed applications, - Removable Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) Toning Station to allow for the printing of secure MICR applications, - Stacker to add up to 15,000 sheets to the paper supply capacity, with output that can either be straight or offset, - Hole Puncher for use with plastic-comb, twin-loop, spiral and ring-bound finished documents, - Booklet Maker that allows for the saddle-stitching of up to 22 sheets per booklet for an 88-page booklet, and - Perfect Binder to create bound booklets from a minimum of 15 sheets to 1.5 inches thick, delivering up to 250 books per hour. In its booth (#1253) at GRAPH EXPO 2006, Canon will be demonstrating a Digital Books On-Demand solution using the new imageRUNNER Pro 7138VP and third-party workflow solutions. Copies of "Call of the Wild" will be printed out during the demonstration. The base imageRUNNER Pro 7150VP, Pro 7138VP and Pro 7110VP production systems will be available from authorized Canon U.S.A. dealers and Canon Business Solutions locations beginning this month with suggested retail prices of $374,000, $315,000 and $203,000 respectively. The imageRUNNER Pro 7125VP will begin shipping later this quarter. The pricing is for base systems, which include marking engine, SCS controller and print production software.