noelward
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You May Need This
Speed, Image Quality and Large Page Sizes
by Noel Ward, Editor@Large
This may be the inkjet printer you’ve been waiting for.
It is worth some of your time at PRINTING United in Orlando to get a close look at Canon’s new varioPRINT iX1700, the company’s latest sheetfed commercial-strength inkjet printer.
Generally available in early 2026, it arrives on the anniversary of Canon’s tenth year in the sheetfed inkjet space and complements the varioPRINT iX3200 series, providing a range of sheetfed inkjet printers that support numerous customer requirements. What makes the iX1700 more than a little interesting is speed, high density ink gamut, enhanced image quality, and a sheet size that lets it do more for your business. I saw Canon’s first sheetfed inkjet device, the varioPRINT i300 when it was launched and evolved into an impressive machine. Still, skeptical by experience I wanted to learn more about the new iX1700, a ground-up design developed by Canon in Japan. So I watched the videos and called Michael Patrissi, Technical Analyst, and Bob Barbera, Director of Production Customer Marketing at Canon. Here's some of what they told me:
Flexibility
The overall varioPRINT sheetfed inkjet line is often used for such applications as marketing collateral, short-run book production, photo-specialty products, and manuals. “The varioPRINT iX1700’s capabilities extend this range into light packaging and larger format applications such as 6-page gatefold brochures,” noted Barbera. To meet the pending workload the new machine has an average monthly print volume exceeding one million letter-size pages.
The flexibility begins with printing on sheet sizes up to 14.33 x 26-inches. This size, which Canon dubs B3+, raises the bar on flexibility, compared to B3’s 13.9 by 19.7-inches. This enables you to print letter and legal-size pages 2-up on a sheet or produce documents with larger dimensions. Also think downstream of the output tray, to near-line trimming. Some cutting devices designed for larger page sizes often run jobs on smaller sheets. “The varioPRINT iX1700’s B3+ sizing leverages larger sheet finishing potential, allowing printers to offer a wider range of possibilities,” affirms Patrissi.
The fit of a B3+ device into multiple applications makes sense because most of the world uses B3 for a variety of jobs that don’t require a B2 or B1 size. These include drawings for medium-scale architectural and technical plans, some magazines, brochures, and advertising and marketing collateral.
PRISMA workflow
“The versatility of the printer, the image quality and its size make it a fit for the needs of many shops. It brings high-quality inkjet printing to the market. That’s just the physical side,” explains Barbera. “A key advantage is that PRISMsync is the front end for this device. This enables variable data printing while helping to ensure workflow and color management processes are easy, predictable and reliable for designers and operators.”
Color with a difference
The world expects color documents on a wide range of media. Moreover, color has to be very good, not merely acceptable. Knowing this, I thought it important that the varioPRINT iX1700 uses ColorGrip, Canon’s proprietary conditioning liquid, a proven technology used on other Canon production inkjet devices. “ColorGrip is a transparent liquid that is applied only where text or an image will be printed, allowing for better ink adhesion and color fidelity on both coated and uncoated medias,” explains Patrissi.
While not new, ColorGrip offers a more targeted approach to inkjet color accuracy, quality and adhesion than flood coating of a primer or using expensive pre-coated inkjet media. “The iX1700 also uses a small droplet CMYK palette to help increase the color fidelity and details the iX700 produces at 2400x1200 dpi,” adds Barbera. “The wide gamut achieved through Canon developed inks helps deliver increased color accuracy that puts high-quality color inkjet printing in the hands of more printers and customers.”
The takeaway is that the Canon varioPRINT iX1700 adds the potential of high-quality variable data inkjet printing with full color and the larger size of B3+ cutsheet. This unique combination should let printers say “yes” to more jobs and access new areas of business. My take is that the ideal market segment is for shops seeking to offer high-quality inkjet production at up to165 letter-size impressions per minute or up to 73 impressions per minute for B3 sheets. Given the general decrease in average print run lengths, the iX1700 seems like a good fit that should span many in-plants and commercial shops. Together, this all makes this machine worth a close look at PRINTING United in Orlando.
Speed, Image Quality and Large Page Sizes
by Noel Ward, Editor@Large
This may be the inkjet printer you’ve been waiting for.
It is worth some of your time at PRINTING United in Orlando to get a close look at Canon’s new varioPRINT iX1700, the company’s latest sheetfed commercial-strength inkjet printer.
Generally available in early 2026, it arrives on the anniversary of Canon’s tenth year in the sheetfed inkjet space and complements the varioPRINT iX3200 series, providing a range of sheetfed inkjet printers that support numerous customer requirements. What makes the iX1700 more than a little interesting is speed, high density ink gamut, enhanced image quality, and a sheet size that lets it do more for your business. I saw Canon’s first sheetfed inkjet device, the varioPRINT i300 when it was launched and evolved into an impressive machine. Still, skeptical by experience I wanted to learn more about the new iX1700, a ground-up design developed by Canon in Japan. So I watched the videos and called Michael Patrissi, Technical Analyst, and Bob Barbera, Director of Production Customer Marketing at Canon. Here's some of what they told me:
Flexibility
The overall varioPRINT sheetfed inkjet line is often used for such applications as marketing collateral, short-run book production, photo-specialty products, and manuals. “The varioPRINT iX1700’s capabilities extend this range into light packaging and larger format applications such as 6-page gatefold brochures,” noted Barbera. To meet the pending workload the new machine has an average monthly print volume exceeding one million letter-size pages.
The flexibility begins with printing on sheet sizes up to 14.33 x 26-inches. This size, which Canon dubs B3+, raises the bar on flexibility, compared to B3’s 13.9 by 19.7-inches. This enables you to print letter and legal-size pages 2-up on a sheet or produce documents with larger dimensions. Also think downstream of the output tray, to near-line trimming. Some cutting devices designed for larger page sizes often run jobs on smaller sheets. “The varioPRINT iX1700’s B3+ sizing leverages larger sheet finishing potential, allowing printers to offer a wider range of possibilities,” affirms Patrissi.
The fit of a B3+ device into multiple applications makes sense because most of the world uses B3 for a variety of jobs that don’t require a B2 or B1 size. These include drawings for medium-scale architectural and technical plans, some magazines, brochures, and advertising and marketing collateral.
PRISMA workflow
“The versatility of the printer, the image quality and its size make it a fit for the needs of many shops. It brings high-quality inkjet printing to the market. That’s just the physical side,” explains Barbera. “A key advantage is that PRISMsync is the front end for this device. This enables variable data printing while helping to ensure workflow and color management processes are easy, predictable and reliable for designers and operators.”
Color with a difference
The world expects color documents on a wide range of media. Moreover, color has to be very good, not merely acceptable. Knowing this, I thought it important that the varioPRINT iX1700 uses ColorGrip, Canon’s proprietary conditioning liquid, a proven technology used on other Canon production inkjet devices. “ColorGrip is a transparent liquid that is applied only where text or an image will be printed, allowing for better ink adhesion and color fidelity on both coated and uncoated medias,” explains Patrissi.
While not new, ColorGrip offers a more targeted approach to inkjet color accuracy, quality and adhesion than flood coating of a primer or using expensive pre-coated inkjet media. “The iX1700 also uses a small droplet CMYK palette to help increase the color fidelity and details the iX700 produces at 2400x1200 dpi,” adds Barbera. “The wide gamut achieved through Canon developed inks helps deliver increased color accuracy that puts high-quality color inkjet printing in the hands of more printers and customers.”
The takeaway is that the Canon varioPRINT iX1700 adds the potential of high-quality variable data inkjet printing with full color and the larger size of B3+ cutsheet. This unique combination should let printers say “yes” to more jobs and access new areas of business. My take is that the ideal market segment is for shops seeking to offer high-quality inkjet production at up to165 letter-size impressions per minute or up to 73 impressions per minute for B3 sheets. Given the general decrease in average print run lengths, the iX1700 seems like a good fit that should span many in-plants and commercial shops. Together, this all makes this machine worth a close look at PRINTING United in Orlando.
