Canon ‘moves worlds’ at FESPA
Against the theme ‘Move Your World’, Canon’s busy stand at FESPA Global Print Expo 2026 saw a constant stream of prints and tactile applications created on Canon’s portfolio of high-performance production technologies for large-format print, including Arizona, Colorado, and imagePROGRAF printers, displayed in a visual and interactive sensory gallery on stand. Canon’s focus for the event was on showing how its wide-format production technologies and customer-led approach combine to create bold, high-impact prints that can transform spaces and connect with audiences.
Steven Badger, Head of Sales and Professional Services, Canon Production Printing says: “Our aim was to create an experience designed to support PSPs and packaging converters to make confident decisions when looking for the right technologies and partners to support their next steps. This meant that each part of our stand was deliberately designed to reflect core business priorities for decision makers – from new commercial opportunities to ways to futureproof their businesses.”
“Ultimately, Canon’s origins are as an imaging company and that was clearly evidenced across all the technology and smarts we had on show at FESPA.”
Whilst the new Colorado XL-series 3.4 m printer, making its European event debut and showcasing how the proven advantages of Canon’s UVgel technology have now been extended to the 3.2m graphics market, was naturally attracting plenty of attention, Canon’s Colorado M-series and Arizona flatbed printer were quietly setting about their business too.
For the Colorado M-series, the event was all about demonstrating its UVgel Factory capability: linked to a Fotoba jumbo roll JRL media feeder, output cutter and rewinding taping unit to demonstrate mass-customised, automated wallpaper production on the Canon stand, while across the aisle on the Neolt stand, a similar set-up was operating as a highly automated, on-demand UVgel Factory for Barcelona-inspired posters.
Badger adds: “The momentum Canon creates for its customers is achieved through a rich ecosystem of trusted technology and media partners.”
“Whether you’re a signage and graphics producer, or a packaging converter, we were able to show that Canon’s equipment, pitted with the right partner systems, is able to offer a wide array of impactful applications.”
Badger continues: “The software and integrated technologies that sits behind these systems plays an especially important role, supporting our customers to deliver first-time-right prints and simpler production, even across complex jobs – from file preparation to printing the job, through to shipment.”
Supporting print demonstrations across all its on-stand printers was Canon’s PRISMA XL Suite of workflow solutions. PRISMA XL is an open, flexible workflow that integrates seamlessly with existing systems and software partners, like OneVision and Onyx, demonstrating how an open, non-proprietary approach to workflow solutions can increase operational flexibility and profitability.
Canon’s AI advancements were also on show, in particular through demonstrations on Canon’s true flatbed Arizona range, where AI tools linked with a range of Adobe products were being used to help simplify the process of creating elevated print, ‘essentially copying a desired effect like a tile or stained glass’.
Badger adds: “Because it’s a true flatbed, and the media is stuck down, you have the ability to repeatedly lay the same image, and the smarts behind it are that the printheads are slightly raising each time they pass, which creates the feeling of texture on a flat print. This facilitates plenty of options when it comes to real-world printed applications from across the retail, interior décor, Point of Sale, corrugated and packaging segments.”
But whilst all this offered a colourful backdrop to the Canon stand, the real show-stopper was Canon’s new Colorado XL-series 3.4m printer, as endorsed by an off-the-stand sale via Currie Group to CMYKhub.
Extending the proven advantages of Canon’s UVgel technology to the 3.2m graphics market, the Colorado XL could be seen printing banner, paper, vinyl and films to soft signage, heat-sensitive materials, foam board, fluted polypropylene, acrylic and aluminium composite boards (up to 52mm thick), at print speeds of 70m² per hour in quality mode, 106m² per hour in production mode and up to 211m² per hour in express mode.
“The real advances here are in the printhead evolution,” explains Badger. “Whereas before for our traditional Arizona 6100, which was our flagship flatbed printer, you needed 6 printheads per colour – so 36 printheads for 6-colour work – now the new printers, like the Colorado XL, only need two printheads for 6-colour work, with a third if you’re adding white ink.”
“It’s also using a tri-drive belt, rather than a straight belt over two pins, so this helps with constant tensioning of the media, and if there is a minor misalignment, the system will slowly adjust the printheads to make sure that you get no banding and that you get that really accurate output.”
Badger reflects: “At FESPA, we were essentially able to create an experience designed to support PSPs and packaging converters to make confident decisions when looking for the right technologies and partners to support their next steps. I’m confident that those people who were able to visit our stand saw clear proof of the exciting future of large format print and packaging.”
