thINK and Canon Solutions America Launch the Designer’s Guide to a New Generation of Inkjet

Inkjet printing is faster, more flexible, and more colorful than ever before, opening up new opportunities for designers who work with print and even designers who didn’t think that print had a place in their world. With the ability to change every color and every image to cater to an audience of one while embedding off-ramps to online content or augmented reality, design possibilities are endless. With this in mind, Canon Solutions America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., and thINK, an independent community of Canon Solutions America production print customers, are pleased to announce Designers Guide to a New Generation Inkjet, authored by inkjet design experts, Elizabeth Gooding and Mary Schilling. 

This third edition of the Designer’s Guide series provides relevant information for agency and in-house designers looking to optimize their work for production. The guide is also intended to help designers understand and embrace the creative potential of the latest generation of inkjet presses by making readers aware of where inkjet fits in the overall print design ecosystem and how its unique characteristics open up a range of opportunities to make designs more flexible, colorful, and impactful. Schilling notes, “This version of the guide expands on available media, color capabilities and finishing, to highlight the latest inkjet capabilities. Since many designers are now familiar with the inkjet basics, we have elaborated on the best-practices design workflow for working with inkjet presses.” The restructured guide is organized by design tasks and will direct readers on how to deliver results in print segments like direct mail, publishing, marketing communications, and customer care.

“One major differentiator of inkjet production is cost-effective personalization and versioning,” says Gooding. “In the latest version, we have emphasized the project planning process and opportunities to drive value with designs that run exclusively on an inkjet press, or a combination of inkjet and other processes.” Due to the increased speed of the latest inkjet presses, the guide drives home the importance of design efficiency enabled through an understanding of the connection between media, press, and the specific capabilities of one’s print provider. Readers will have useful information about inks, media, color gamut values, image formats, finishing, inkjet design principles and best practices, as well as several downloadable tools at their fingertips. 

“It is our priority to educate our customers on the creative potential of the latest generation of inkjet presses. Canon’s inkjet presses have not only raised but redefined the bar for print quality and flexibility with media capabilities. Now it’s time to raise the bar on print design,” said Francis McMahon, executive vice president, Production Print Solutions, Canon Solutions America. “Regardless of if you are new to inkjet or are a veteran inkjet user, we encourage you to explore the Designers Guide to a New Generation of Inkjet to learn more about how to create and deliver best-of-the-best designs for marketing communications and graphic arts projects.”