LAS VEGAS (PMA, BOOTH # E11), Feb. 9, 2004 - Canon's top-of-the-line i9900 desktop photo printer empowers consumers, photo enthusiasts and working photographers to make their own professional quality borderless photo prints. The 13 x 19-inch inkjet printer features new red and green ink cartridges for rich, accurate color rendition, industry leading 4800 x 2400 dpi* maximum color resolution, microscopic 2 picoliter ink droplets, as well as USB 2.0 Hi-speed** and Firewire interfaces. The i9900 desktop photo printer will be available in May for a suggested list price $499.99***.

The i9900 photo printer is the first in its class to offer eight individual ink tanks. Canon's exclusive ChromaPLUS 8-color ink system adds individual red and green ink tanks to the cyan, magenta, yellow, black, photo cyan and photo magenta inks that are commonly found on six-color printers. The red ink tank allows for an approximately 60% increase in the orange/red gamut over six-color printing and provides for previously unobtainable orange hues and well as richer reds. The green ink adds about 30% increase in green gamut as compared to six-color printing and creates more accurate and deeper greens in grass and foliage. The resulting finished print more closely matches the color characteristics of positive photographic film.

Canon's dye inks produce higher levels of glossiness, more vivid colors, reduced graininess and better contrast photo quality when compared with traditional flat and lack luster pigment-based inks used in conventional printers.

"With the proliferation of higher resolution digital cameras quickly entering the consumer market, the need and the opportunity for people to print larger than 8.5 x 11 inches is rapidly increasing," said Yukiaki Hashimoto, senior vice president and general manager of the Consumer Imaging Group at Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ). "The i9900 Photo Printer allows users of higher megapixel digital cameras to expand beyond the small canvas of traditional desktop printers and print up to 13 x 19-inch borderless photos."

In addition to the two new colors, Canon has further increased the printer's photo quality by doubling the maximum color resolution to 4800 x 2400 dpi* from the earlier generation i9100 photo printer. The i9900 photo printer features the world's longest and highest nozzle-density print head in a consumer product and has 6,144 nozzles, capable of ejecting a staggering 122 million droplets per second**** that are a mere two picoliters in size. The print head uses Canon's exclusive advanced MicroFine Droplet Technology™, which ejects consistent prescribed-volume ink droplets for smooth gradations, accurate skin tones and rich, vibrant colors. To match the look of minilab prints, the i9900 photo printer supports edge-to-edge borderless printing in 4x6, 5x7, 8.5x11 and 13x19 inch sizes.

Photo printing speeds on the i9900 printer remain significantly faster than the competition. Users can print a 4 x 6-inch borderless photo in about 38 seconds, a 5 x 7-inch borderless photo in approximately 47 seconds, an 8.5 x 11-inch borderless photo in about 84 seconds and a full 13 x 19-inch borderless photograph in under three minutes***. For printing text, websites and other documents, the i9900 model features print speeds of up to 16 pages per minute (ppm) in black and up to 12 ppm in color printing***.

ICC Support
ICC profiles provided allow for the accurate translation of color data from any other compliant device into the Bubble Jet i9900's native color space. For professional users reliant on consistent color reproduction across devices (such as scanners, monitors and printers) the ICC profile permits tremendous flexibility by ensuring the retention of color accuracy during printing, irrespective of the image source.

Direct Photo Printing
Direct photo printing is made possible without using the computer thanks to the PictBridge featured on the new i9900 photo printer. PictBridge is an industry standard for digital printers, digital cameras and digital camcorders that allows the direct printing of images from PictBridge compatible digital cameras and camcorders to a PictBridge compatible printer, regardless of brand or manufacturer, without the use of a computer ††.

Bundled Software Easy-PhotoPrint 2.1
Canon's latest release of its Easy-PhotoPrint software - version 2.1‡ - works directly with Canon's new Digital Photo Professional software , improving the professional-level of support.

Together with Digital Photo Professional software, the Easy-PhotoPrint software is now capable of identifying color-space information automatically and transferring it accurately to the Canon i9900 photo printer. Easy-PhotoPrint v2.1 software enables image data obtained in Adobe RGB with a broad color range to be faithfully reproduced on the Canon i9900 photo printer.

Easy-PhotoPrint v2.1‡ software is an ultra-easy high-speed photo printing application equipped with a wide selection of useful printing functions for professional, prosumer and amateur users. Features include functions for batch printing a large number of images of differing types and aspect ratios, index printing to facilitate file management, and for printing out Exif data captured together with the images. It can also print out RAW data when used in combination with Digital Photo Professional. Together with Digital Photo Professional, it ensures the optimum workflow from color management to printing. The integrated workflow of Digital Photo Professional and Easy-PhotoPrint 2.1 enables the color management system to reproduce colors faithful to the original image data.

In addition to Easy-PhotoPrint software, the i9900 photo printer includes Easy-PhotoPrint Plus and Easy-WebPrint software‡. Canon developed the Easy-PhotoPrint Plus software to reduce red-eye problems and smooth out facial imperfections. Easy-WebPrint software facilitates printing from the Internet by automatically formatting and scaling the output so that the entire page is printed even when it extends over multiple screens. This time saving and cost saving feature reduces waste and ensures that the selected pages are printed properly, in color and without trimming the right-hand margin.

Connections
The i9900 photo printer features fast USB 2.0 Hi-Speed and Firewire interfaces to satisfy the needs of professional users. USB 2.0 Hi-Speed is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh systems while the Firewire interface is specifically for Macintosh users. A conventional USB interface is also included allowing up to three computers to be connected to the printer simultaneously.

Compatibility
Compatible with both Windows® and Mac® platforms (Windows XP, Windows 2000/Millennium Edition/98 and Mac OS (8.6 to 9.x) and Mac OSX v 10.2.1 to 10.3.x.), the i9900 photo printer also includes the Zoom Browser EX (Windows) and ImageBrowser (Mac) image management software, and PhotoStitch (for Windows and Mac) that makes composite images from shots taken separately.

Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. The Company is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America, and is ranked #39 on the Business Week list of "Top 100 Brands." Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ) is a top patent-holder of technology, ranking second overall in the U.S. in 2003, with global revenues of $24.5 billion. Canon U.S.A. employs more than 10,000 people at over 30 locations. For more information, visit www.usa.canon.com.

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PictBridge is a Trademark
Specifications subject to change without notice. All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners. System requirements vary by application.
* Resolution may vary based on printer driver setting. Maximum resolution of 4800x1200 dpi used at the bottom edge of the paper.
** USB 2.0 Hi-Speed requires Windows XP (Service pack 1), Windows 2000 (Service pack 4) or Mac OS X v. 10.2.7 to 10.3.x.
*** Prices are MSRP at time materials were created. Prices subject to change at any time. Actual prices are determined by individual dealers and may vary.
****Capacity calculation based on print head frequency times nozzle count.
† Photo print speeds based on default driver mode using Canon Photo Paper Pro. PPM printer speed based on high-speed draft mode. Print speed will vary depending on system configuration, software, document complexity, print mode and page coverage.
†† For a listing of select Canon digital cameras and camcorders featuring Bubble Jet Direct or PictBridge direct printing technology, visit www.usa.canon.com/consumer/directprint. To determine if a non-Canon brand camera or camcorder is PictBridge-compatible please consult the manufacturer.
‡ Easy-PhotoPrint and Easy-PhotoPrintPlus are not compatible with Mac OS 8.6. Easy-WebPrint requires the Windows version of Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5, version 6.0 recommended.
OS compatibility not confirmed as of publication date