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| It's
in the bag: Or, in
this case, you'll find a useful Microtech
Zio CompactFlash reader in the printer box
(a $49 value). |
Canon
uses its own Advanced MicroFine Droplet Technology
to improve image quality and detail in the S800.
This enables the printer to vary the size and
shape of the ink drops. By combining that technology
with high 1200 x 2400-dpi resolution and four-picoliter
drop size, the S800 delivers up-close detail that
must be seen (and magnified) to be fully appreciated.
You don't even need the printer's maximum resolution
to make great prints. In fact, the default photo
print settings have the resolution scaled back
to fine mode instead of super fine to speed up
printing and use less ink. Unlike many other printer
drivers we've used, the S800 hides the print resolution
setting in a manual-mode sub-dialog that takes
some searching to find.
The
default mode is so good, anyway, that only a
finicky photographer (or shall we say expert?)
would want to boost the resolution and take
the hit on print speed. The manual mode also
allows you to set other parameters, including
special effects printing, color balance, and
print gamma. A setting called Photo Optimizer
PRO works especially well at improving images
taken with digital cameras or created in imaging
programs that don't support color management
(more on that a bit later). However, this printer
doesn't support the new Print Image Matching
(PIM) technology found in the newest Epson printers
and a variety of new digital cameras. The special
effects are limited to turning your photos into
line drawings that you can colorize, but luckily
the imaging software included with the printer
does more than that.
Canon's
PhotoStitch 3.1 software is a logical choice
to include with the S800, which can print up
to 65 inch long banners and photos. If you plan
to use this printer for text documents and photos,
you're in luck. In the manual mode on the Mac
and the main menu on the PC, you can select
the Photo Optimizer Pro setting, which automatically
enhances photos on a printed page while leaving
text alone. This printer also does a decent
job of printing photos on plain paper, another
plus when printing reports and documents.
Canon
includes several neat utility and imaging programs
with the S800, including PhotoRecord for the
PC, ImageBrowser for the Mac, and PhotoStitch
3.1 software for making large panoramic prints.
The printer also provides a scanning utility
that works with the optional 300 ppi Canon IS-52
scan head. When inserted into the printer instead
of the print head, the IS-52 turns the printer
into a color document scanner or copy machine.
That's a really cool feature, but for the same
price you can get a dedicated flatbed scanner
from Canon with twice the resolution.
IMPROVEMENT
NEEDED
Image-retouching programs such as Adobe Photoshop
6.0 and Photoshop Elements provide support for
color management systems such as ColorSync on
the Mac and ICM 2.0 on the PC. But try as we
might, we couldn't get the Canon S800 to output
accurate color images using the ColorSync setting
in the manual mode window—perhaps because
Canon ships only one generic color profile for
the printer, which doesn't handle all of the
media choices accurately. However, we got decent
results when we printed our test photo using
Canon's own Photo Mode setting (not the manual
mode set to ColorSync) with the generic BJ Color
Printer 1999 profile selected in Photoshop's
print window. And we got great results when
we used our own profile and set color correction
to "None" in the Manual Mode window.
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